Hard workers, long workers and vision workers: Which one are you?

Hard work is what your roofer does. Hard work is what your yard worker does. Hard work is what I did driving 12-14 hour days cross country for several weeks at a time without a day off, sleeping in my van often because the money was short.

Long work is what an attorney does who does not love his job when he works long hours.

Vision work is mission work. It’s a part of your mission in life. This blog is that for me. You are consumed by it. You are energized by it. You live it.

Hard workers almost never strike it rich.

Contrary to what you’ve heard all your life, hard work will not get you there. Hard work — by itself — is not how you strike it big.

If that were true migrant workers would be billionaires and run the country. If that were true we’d all be swarming the popular eateries to land that 12-hour-a-day job scouring pots and plates at the hot and swampy sink in the kitchen.

I’ve had that job, maybe you too. The only riches it brought was its spur to move on to easier ways of making a living.

Effort channeled into long work or vision work, that’s different.

Long workers generally become affluent. They work long hours at a profession that is financially rewarding.

Vision workers — mission workers — are rich regardless of their circumstances. They live and breathe a greater vision. Every action is choreographed toward that vision. Encounter a vision worker and you can feel the vision in their presence. It’s palpable. It’s in the air they exhale. It’s no accident that we celebrate vision workers.

They are Oprah, Jobs, Buffet, Edison, Ford.

They are Vonnegut, Matisse, (Maya) Angelou, (Woody) Allen, (Twyla) Tharpe.

They are Mother Teresa, Thich Nhat Hanh, Martin Luther King, Jr.

They are Leo Babauta, Steve Pavlina, Christopher Foster.