Last Updated on December 28, 2025 by Brian Beck
A couple of decades ago, I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in years at a high school reunion.
We did the usual small talk — family, life, time passing faster than any of us expected. Then, mid-conversation, she asked me a question that completely caught me off guard:
“Do you enjoy what you do for a living?”
I wasn’t prepared for it.
Not because it was complicated — but because no one had ever asked me that before.
I remember pausing. Long enough for it to feel uncomfortable. I don’t even remember exactly what I said, only that it wasn’t a confident answer. It was probably something vague. Safe. Polite.
That question has stuck with me for over twenty years.
Most People Don’t Love What They Do
As I’ve replayed that moment over the years, I’ve realized something uncomfortable but true:
Most people don’t enjoy their jobs.
They tolerate them. Endure them. Survive them.
Work becomes something you get through so you can get to the rest of your life. And for a long time, I was no different.
I didn’t hate what I did back then. In fact, I enjoyed parts of it. I was competent. I worked hard. I cared.
But enjoyment and purpose are not the same thing.
Enjoyment Without Purpose Has a Ceiling
Up until about six or seven years ago, I would have said I “liked” what I did. But looking back, I didn’t have a clear why. I didn’t have a defined objective beyond making a living and doing decent work.
There was no larger mission. No north star. No sense that what I was building mattered beyond the next job, the next season, the next paycheck.
And without purpose, motivation is fragile.
Without intent, effort eventually erodes.
Today, I’d Answer That Question Differently
If someone asked me that same question today, I wouldn’t hesitate.
Yes. I love what I do.
Not because it’s easy. Not because every day is fun.
But because I finally have purpose, focus, and intent.
I know why I do what I do.
I know who it’s for.
I know what I’m trying to change, improve, and leave better than I found it.
That didn’t happen overnight. It took years of trial, failure, doubt, and recalibration. Purpose is built — not discovered like a hidden object.
Purpose Changes Everything
When someone loves what they do — truly loves it — something fundamental shifts.
They don’t quit when it gets hard.
They don’t cut corners.
They don’t phone it in.
They show up with care. With patience. With pride.
Purpose fuels persistence.
And persistence is what creates mastery.
You Are Not Trapped
One of the reasons I wanted to write this is because I know there are people reading this who feel stuck. Who believe their current job is their permanent reality.
It isn’t.
You may not know your purpose yet — and that’s okay. I didn’t for a long time. But you don’t have to accept a life where work is something you resent.
You are allowed to build toward something that matters to you.
You are allowed to evolve.
You are allowed to answer that question honestly someday — with confidence.
If someone asked me today whether I enjoy what I do, my answer wouldn’t just be prepared.
It would be earned.
