Labore or Vocare: your choice

I recently witnessed my grandparents spending time with my daughter as GREAT grandparents attending grandparents day with my daughter!

When my grandparents sat on kindergarten floors in the 1930s, radios (not TVs) were home entertainment, and refrigerators were a luxury.

A lot has changed.

What hasn't: the power of story. The importance of connecting our lineage. The importance of connecting the human experience across generations. These stories provide depth to our family tapestry, and the depth of our life dictates its quality.

I get to witness these incredible moments — the bridging of Generation 2 to Generation 5.

Every morning, we face a choice at the door of our family business:

Do we see our work as labore (Latin for toil: labor as burden)?

Or do we see it as vocare (Latin for calling: work as vocation)?

Family business is messy. It’s hard. At times, it might suck. That's when ego gets loud and tries to drag us toward labore.

When we connect our work between generations, it's easier to transform labor into vocation. 

That's the essence of stewardship: contributing to the basket during our brief moment before passing it to those who come next.

The family business gives me more opportunities to connect to vocation than any normal job could. It gives my children richer access to their lineage. And when I see my work as a vocation, I show up for my family, my team, and my community as a better version of myself.

How we see our work is our personal choice: Vocation or labor.

The family businesses that transcend time collectively see the work as vocation.

Onward,

Matt

PS - I stumbled into this great framework of our work from Arthur Brooks using the Maslow hierarchy framework I referenced last week. Life is short. We must do our life’s work. (calling)