Personally, I have been struggling with finding work-life balance and keep hitting roadblocks when it comes to focusing more on my life and hobbies outside of work. After some work with a therapist and heavy reading on the matter, I realize that my attitude towards work is not conducive to the common refrain of seeing work merely as a way to afford to live AND THAT'S OKAY: I may be part of a percentage of people that are an outlier in that regard.
(Note: regardless of what I say further I am still a strong supporter of the antiwork and labor movement that has swept through the U.S. and abroad. I will always vote to support unions and the workers over executives and the oligarchs)
In “Jobs, careers, and callings: People's relations to their work” Dr. Wrzesniewski, proposes that based on goal motivation people come to have three attitudes or orientations towards work: job, career, and calling.
Job orientation is probably the most talked about attitude towards work right now. A person with a job orientation towards work sees work as a means to a financial end so they can engage in nonwork activities like hobbies and other pastimes or ambitions.
Career orientation is probably the second most common attitude toward work and while it may have be derogated it does have its place. Individuals with a career orientation value status, promotion, pay, and prestige because they lead to higher social standing, increased power, and higher self-esteem.
(you may disagree with this attitude but please respect that there are people out there who view the world differently than you)
Individuals with this attitude toward work are focused on career advancement and promotion and thus have their personal identity closely tied to their career/work.
–>This is the attitude executives and the oligarchs want EVERYONE to have.
Calling orientation is the rarer attitude towards work of the three; individuals with this attitude see work as a vocation or a passion. They are focused on making a difference and value the sense of fulfillment work provides them while contributing to making the world a better place. Work provides a sense of well-being, balance, life satisfaction, meaning, and wholeness. For them, “work is my play” and oftentimes their passion for their job is abused by leadership because they focus on doing it well to the detriment of money and status.