Dr. Arthur Brooks (speaker) argues that joy in work does not come from money, power, position, or prestige. Instead, joy arises when people create value, earn success by serving others, and dignify and lift others through their labor; this claim is advanced as broadly applicable across occupations (e.g., roofers and professors).
Joy comes from work under two circumstances that have nothing to do with money and power and position and prestige. Nothing, nothing, nothing has to do with earning your success, which means that you're creating value with your life. You believe that you're needed and that you're serving other people. There's you're doing something that's actually good for other people. And I've got the data, I've seen this for years, that people will love their jobs, whether they're putting roofs on houses or their college professors like you and me, or whatever they happen to do. They sanctify their work by earning their success, creating value, and doing it in the service of other people. Your job, through your work, is to love others, is to dignify others, is to lift other people up in everything that you do.
