What Motivates You to Work?

🥓What motivates you to get up in the morning? Playing on your PS4. Cheerleading practice. The virtual school bell. Bacon. Your father.

The motivation to apply for college may not have the same urgency because it seems so far down the road. 

As you prepare to enter the future workforce, Ken Costa, author of Know Your Why, reminds us that we are called to worship God in every area of our lives.

He writes that we need "to make our workstations our worship stations." 🛐

Most high school students are not thinking about this marketplace ministry mindset sitting in their classrooms. Even as followers of Jesus.

For those students, it's simply about graduating high school, being accepted to a college, and finding a way to pay for their education.

Let's stop and think about Costa's three reasons why people work. Which group you see yourselves in right now?

💰 Some want to work for cash – to make ends meet.

💼 Some want to work for a career – to move up a ladder.

🤝🏻 Some want to work for a cause – to make a difference.

For the majority of adult workers, I would believe that cash is the motivating factor.

My high school junior is focused on cash. Apparently, he needs another pair of sneakers!

As you research your careers and colleges, which motivating factor (cash, career, cause) is informing your decisions?

When deciding on a major for your career, you need to know your why. Developing your vocational calling - the type of work God has created you to do in the marketplace - will make that decision easier. 

Also, college admissions officers know you have "passion" for your chosen field. Is that enough to set you apart? Is that enough to motivate you to "work for the Lord" (Colossians 3:23)? Is that your why?

Know that God wants the best for you - plans to prosper you, plans to give you hope, plans to give you a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Not to flounder without motivation.

🤷‍♂️ As you think about what motivates you to work, what conversations do you need to have with parents, teachers, mentors, or advisors to help you shift the focus to your calling?

Photo: Cristofer Jeschke (Unsplash)