| Most of us face a daily dilemma: we have to earn a | | | | In the most basic sense, this refers to your ethics. |
| living. We do this by going to work. And most of us | | | | Regardless of our religious or national affiliation, each |
| don't enjoy work. We think of work as... well, work. Just | | | | of us has a personal code of ethics, whether we've |
| watch The Office and you'll see some of the | | | | explicitly articulated it or not. To access this code, |
| associations that ring true for the show's millions of | | | | check in with your gut. For example, imagine your boss |
| fans. Its mostly gloomy characters work at uninspiring | | | | tells you to fabricate an optimistic financial report for an |
| jobs surrounded by incompetent, amoral or socially | | | | upcoming presentation to the CEO. "This will buy us |
| challenged coworkers. Why do so many of us live | | | | more time to increase our revenue," he says. Whether |
| notably less funny versions of this reality, day in, day | | | | or not you're concerned about the very real prospect |
| out? Because we need the paycheck, and because | | | | of getting caught, chances are your gut may be |
| most us believe this is the only way to get it. | | | | churning, or your heart racing as you consider the |
| Is there an alternative to The Office mentality? Can | | | | directive. These are signals from your body that this |
| work be called, as my former employer suggested, | | | | action doesn't fit your personal code of ethics. In |
| "play"? In short, yes. There are millions of people out | | | | addition to ethics, values also refer to broad objectives |
| there for whom work is not only financially fulfilling, but | | | | for your work, like helping people, making a difference |
| also personally fulfilling. | | | | or working in a diverse environment. |
| One example of a person for whom work is | | | | To see how Oprah followed her inner calling, let's start |
| meaningful? Oprah. Yes, Oprah. Not because she's | | | | by looking at her talents. She's personable, articulate, |
| incredibly successful and rich. On the contrary, Oprah is | | | | self-aware, and connects to people from different |
| successful and rich specifically because she followed | | | | backgrounds. A great combination of qualities for a talk |
| her inner calling. What does this mean? Following your | | | | show host. More importantly, she enjoys her work. |
| calling has two components. | | | | How do we know this? We witness her interest as |
| First, to follow your inner calling, ask yourself, "What | | | | she delivers relevant questions and shares her |
| am I good at, and what do I enjoy doing?" These two | | | | opinions. |
| questions must be asked together, because many | | | | Now the kicker. Oprah incorporates her values into her |
| people are good at tasks they don't enjoy. For | | | | work. She has embraced a nontraditional "talk show" |
| example, I'm pretty good at data entry. But if I were to | | | | role by delivering a message that is personally |
| pursue a career in data entry I'd spend the rest of my | | | | meaningful to her. Show after show, Oprah |
| life hating work. This doesn't mean if you enjoy data | | | | encourages viewers to honor their spirit, to go for it, to |
| entry, there's something wrong with you. Because | | | | live the life of their dreams. Why is Oprah qualified to |
| each of us has our own unique talents and passions, | | | | deliver this message? Because she lives it. For Oprah, |
| and because we are each so different, there is more | | | | work is play. And it can be for us, too. All we need is |
| than enough work to go around. | | | | the courage to claim the life of our dreams. |
| Second, you must be able to work within your values. | | | | |