This is Part 1 of the Mindful Earning series of articles.

On the surface, the labor market appears to be undergoing a crisis that is especially hard on young adults at the beginning of their careers. But if we examine the drivers of what is really happening, we start seeing with fresh eyes and discover a goldmine of opportunity to design our work and our lives that gives us the freedom to flourish and find fulfilling work.

I was not surprised to read In a recent study of 180 million employees in Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace, that 87% of workers are "not engaged” or “actively disengaged" in their jobs. That is a whopping 7 in 8 people waking up everyday, to spend majority of their lives doing something they do not find meaningful. As a society, we have been schooled into a scarcity mindset and a pessimistic approach to work - with the assumption that we do it only because we have to. But what does that do to our well-being and quality of life?

While the rise of “mindfulness” and “give-back” programs in corporate organizations are a great start, the real work is in actually showing up at our work from a place of service, and designing our work environments that make us a better person through our work.

There is a video I really like by CGP Grey called “Humans Need Not Apply”, that went viral for painting an alarming future where people will be unemployed by no fault of their own. As we are getting to a point where computers would teach themselves how to learn, it is a matter of exponential time that machines will be able to replace not only our physical labor like stacking boxes, but also our mental routine work like writing, analysis and decision-making, that are prized even in our professionals. Living in Silicon Valley, it is already a reality to find yourself beside a self-driving car, or getting better cancer treatment outcomes recommended by data rather than a doctor.

Global youth unemployment is rising, a discouraging fact in itself. This is forcing youth to look harder at what they really want to do, instead of following a standardized path. Those who have successfully navigated these waters see a new approach to the job market. With unbounded energy, idealism and a search for meaning, more young people are creating their own opportunities through service, entrepreneurship, or the gig economy, re-thinking the secure job as a merely a backup option.

Our careers are becoming non-linear and are moving from a ladder to a lattice structure. This also means that success is no longer defined by seniority, but by doing what personally matters to each individual in terms of meaning and mastery. And when we change how we work, we change how we live, and new ideas like the "quarter-life crisis", taking mini-retirements, and living a new life every 7 years are becoming increasingly popular, painting a new picture of what work actually is and what we understand by work.

Why do you work? What is work anyway?

This is Part 2 of the Mindful Earning series of articles.

Our beliefs about work are so embedded in our culture that we often forget to pause and examine our understanding of work. How we view our work gives us our story of why we work, what good do we work for, and when we should work, and gives us the very reason to work in a way that is meaningful.

We realize that “having no choice but to work hard for money” may now be a view that is rooted in outdated models of human nature, and in the story of scarcity. This is starting to be challenged with the new science of motivation in a world that is so interconnected, so resource- imbalanced, and yet generating so much waste - not only in material and food waste, but also the tragic waste of human potential.

Schools have it backwards when they try to prepare our children based on an attempt to forecast the skills and jobs that would be most in-demand. The context is always changing, and will be changing at an exponential pace going forward. How then can we cultivate our ability to be resilient, stay relevant, and learn the art of seeking opportunities to create value no matter the context and environment?