The Point: What Makes Work Worth It?
Breakpoint
Colson Center
4.8 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 18 January 2022
⏱️ 1 minutes
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Summary
Recently, Medium's Tom Whitwell reported, "a study of 14,000 Australians over 14 years found that neither being promoted nor being fired has any impact on either emotional well-being or life satisfaction."
The fascinating study compares the emotional impact of a variety of life events, from retiring to going to jail, being robbed, getting married, or having a baby. Some of the results are what you'd expect. For example, major health issues hurt both emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction; and though getting married can be stressful leading up to the event, it brings distinct positives afterward.
But surprisingly, neither getting fired nor getting promoted have long-term effects. That certainly challenges the idea that climbing the corporate ladder is the secret to happiness.
Of course, other studies show the high value of work in general: as the Harvard Business Review summarizes, "being unemployed is miserable." All of which points a generation struggling with the meaning of work to the truth of how God made us. Work is a worthy endeavor … but not our ultimate identity.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What is work? For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with the point. Medium's Tom Whitwell |
| 0:04.6 | reports that a study of 14,000 Australians over 14 years found that neither being promoted nor being |
| 0:10.1 | fired has an impact on either emotional well-being or life satisfaction. This fascinating study |
| 0:16.3 | compares the emotional impact of all kinds of life events, from retiring to going to jail, |
| 0:20.5 | to being robbed, |
| 0:21.2 | to getting married, to having a baby. Some results you'd expect. Major health issues hurt both emotional |
| 0:26.2 | well-being and life satisfaction. Getting married is stressful leading up to the event, but brings |
| 0:30.7 | distinct positives afterwards. But surprisingly, neither getting fired nor getting promoted have long-term |
| 0:36.8 | effects. That certainly challenges the idea that climbing the corporate ladder is the entire secret to happiness. |
| 0:42.3 | Of course, other studies show the high value of work in general. |
| 0:45.3 | As a Harvard Business Review summarized, being unemployed is miserable. |
| 0:49.3 | All of this points a generation struggling with the meaning of work to what it's all about because of how God made us. |
| 0:55.4 | It's a worthy endeavor, but not our ultimate identity. |
| 0:58.3 | I'm John Stone Street. |
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