There are three ways.

Employed people can look at what we do all day.

A job is really just a means to an end, something you do to get the money you need to pay bills.

A career is something you take on with an eye

toward rising in the ranks. It assumes a particular sort of ambition. And a calling? Well,

that's the thing we're presumably born to do. An occupation we love so much, we might even do it if we

didn't need the money. From KERA in Dallas, this is Think. I'm Chris Boyd. So which orientation do you have and which

one should you have? A job sounds transactional, a career sounds lucrative, and a calling sounds noble.

But really, there are pros and cons to each, and the right choice will be different for different

people.

What's important for our quality of life is that we examine which we want and why.

Christopher Wong-Michelsohn is a philosopher and business advisor, opus distinguished professor at the University of St. Thomas, and on the faculty at NYU's Stern School of Business.

His book, written with Jennifer Tosti Karras,

is called Is Your Work Worth It? How to Think About Meaningful Work. Christopher, welcome to think. I can't believe how lucky I am to speak with you. Thank you. What kinds of

existential questions did you find the COVID pandemic raised for many people about the value of their working lives? Like, why did we rethink work during that time?

That's a great question. And the funny thing is about this book, we had started writing it well before COVID. We'd started thinking about it, actually after 9-11.

But then the pandemic raised a series of new questions about work.

I think one reason that we started asking about what makes work worth it during the pandemic

was that so many people took risks to do their work just to show up and be around other people

who were possibly breathing infected air was a risk for many people.

And then, of course, there was heroic work being done.

And we recognized, at least for a time, just the heroism of healthcare.

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