For most of us, work takes up the majority of waking life. We spend decades building careers, chasing goals, and trying to balance ambition with meaning. And yet, so often, something quietly unsettling lingers beneath the surface of work life: a sense that something is off, even when everything appears “successful” from the outside.
We may feel it as a quiet dissonance—a gap between what we do and who we really are. Our calendars are full, our inboxes never empty, and some part of us still wonders: What is this all for? We may push this question aside for a long time, but at some point, it almost inevitably demands our attention. Are we making a life or just making a living? Is it possible to do both in a way that makes us whole?
These are not new questions. Across cultures and centuries, wise traditions have asked us to consider the ethical and spiritual implications of how we earn our livelihood. In Buddhist teaching, right livelihood is part of the Eightfold Path—a guide to ethical living that calls us to earn our living in ways that cause no harm and cultivate compassion. In Western spiritual frameworks, we find echoes of this same principle: the Christian idea of vocation as a divine calling, the Jewish notion of avodah as both work and worship, and the Quaker commitment to honoring the inner light in all people, including through one’s labor.
But we don’t need to subscribe to any particular religious tradition to sense that how we make our living shapes who we are and who we ultimately become. Increasingly, psychological research is affirming what these spiritual frameworks have long taught: that purpose, alignment, and meaning at work are essential to our mental health and our sense of self.
How What We Do Affects Who We Become
There are two fundamental dimensions to purposeful livelihood. The first is what we do—how our work impacts the world around us. The second is how we do it—the quality of our day-to-day experience, and how our work relationships and actions shape our inner lives.
What is the impact of your work? Decades of psychological research suggest that humans are wired for contribution. When we perceive our work as meaningful, we are more resilient, engaged, and fulfilled (Allan et al., 2019). By meaningful work, I mean it in the sense defined by Brent Rosso, Kathryn Dekas, and Amy Wrzesniewski in their 2010 study “On The Meaning of Work” (Rosso et al., 2010). That is, work that feels significant, aligns with our personal values, and contributes to something greater than ourselves.
When there’s a mismatch between our values and the outcomes of our labor, we begin to experience what some scholars call occupational moral injury—a condition first studied in military and healthcare settings, where people come to feel complicit in actions that violate their ethical beliefs (Litz et al., 2009). But this moral injury can happen anywhere. In corporate boardrooms, restaurants, advertising agencies, warehouses, tech startups—anywhere. Any time we feel pressured to compromise what we know to be right, moral injury can find us if we let it.
This isn’t just an ethical problem; it’s a psychological and even a spiritual one. When we’re caught in jobs that conflict with our integrity, the consequences show up in our bodies and minds. Rates of burnout, anxiety, depression, and disengagement rise sharply when people feel their work lacks purpose or goes against their conscience (Maslach & Leiter, 2016; van den Bosch & Taris, 2014).
The Second Dimension: How We Go About Our Work
Even when our work seems ethically sound, the way we do our work also matters. The tone of our daily experience—our interpersonal relationships, our sense of agency, and the level of authenticity we bring to each task—can either support or erode our wellbeing.
Research on workplace engagement and psychological safety shows that environments where people feel seen, respected, and empowered tend to foster greater motivation, creativity, and resilience (Kahn, 1990; Deci & Ryan, 2000). The quality of our work experience shapes our personality development, often more than we realize. As we adapt to the expectations of our professional roles, we reinforce particular ways of being—sometimes at the expense of our deeper selves.
Over time, working in environments or roles that erode our sense of purpose and contribution can lead to what Viktor Frankl (2006) described as an existential vacuum—a feeling of inner void, often masked by busyness or productivity, but ultimately empty of personal meaning or fulfillment. In this state, we may achieve our external goals while losing touch with our internal compass. The question is no longer whether we are “succeeding” at work—but whether we are becoming someone we actually want to be.
Work as a Site of Becoming
It’s so common for us to talk about work in terms of our titles, achievements, performance, output, or even our earnings. It can feel good to reflect on our accomplishments and status, but accomplishments and status are not actually a part of who we are, and don’t say much about our inner identity. What if instead we viewed work as a practice—a daily arena in which we are constantly forming and refining ourselves? How would approaching your livelihood as a practice of personal or spiritual development change the way you go about your day?
This practice can transform the work experience from one of menial tasks to transformative presence and eudaimonic wellbeing, which emphasize purpose, authenticity, and self-realization over pleasure or short-term gratification (Ryff & Singer, 2008; Waterman, 1993). From this point of view, right livelihood is not just about avoiding harm or doing good for the world—it’s about creating the conditions for our own growth and wholeness.
In spiritual terms, this is the difference between work as duty and work as personal development, spiritual practice, or devotion. In psychological terms, it’s the movement from extrinsic motivation (status, money, approval) to intrinsic motivation (meaning, curiosity, contribution). And in both cases, it points to a deeper truth: The work we do is shaping us, moment by moment.
A Mirror and a Path
Ultimately, our work reflects and reinforces the state of our inner lives. Depending on how we engage with it, it can become a mirror for our values, a forge for our character, or a trap for our fears.
When we begin to see livelihood through the lens of purpose and wholeness, the goal of work shifts. It’s no longer just about climbing ladders or checking boxes. It becomes about congruence—about living in alignment with who we are and what we believe. It becomes about presence, integrity, and the steady practice of becoming.
And that is where the path of right livelihood begins—not necessarily in a new job or a radical career change, but in a shift of attention. A willingness to ask the deeper questions. A courage to live them.
References
Allan, B. A., Autin, K. L., & Duffy, R. D. (2019). Meaningful work and mental health: Job satisfaction as a moderator. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 66(2), 224–236.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press.
Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692–724.
Litz, B. T., Stein, N., Delaney, E., Lebowitz, L., Nash, W. P., Silva, C., & Maguen, S. (2009). Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: A preliminary model and intervention strategy. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(8), 695–706.
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Burnout: The Cost of Caring. Malor Books.
Rosso, B. D., Dekas, K. H., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127.
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 13–39.
van den Bosch, R., & Taris, T. W. (2014). Authenticity at work: Development and validation of an individual authenticity measure at work. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(1), 1–18.
Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 678–691.
