A few years ago, I was leading my Dharma of Money program for a large group of anesthesiologists. The group started opening up about their work lives and one person shared something that resulted in a lot of head bobbing from the rest of the group: “We spend most of our productive hours doing this incredibly important work and, at the same time, we are burning ourselves out.” He went on to explain that in non-residency situations, anesthesiologists can make a lot of money if they really hustle for the most lucrative weekly opportunities. 

But this kind of constant grind comes at a great cost. The problem with burnout is that it’s sneaky - you often don’t recognize it until it's already taken a serious toll on your health and well-being. In other words, striving to earn more money for a few years might actually lead to less lifetime income and less job satisfaction if burnout forces you to reduce your hours or just quit (as some of them were considering doing). Ironically, by chasing short-term goals, many people in the group were on a trajectory to minimize the things they wanted to maximize: long-term wealth and joy/fulfillment.

The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Detmer and Diana Chapman emphasizes the importance of getting clear on two things: 

• where you're adding the most value at work, and 
• what aspects of your work you're enjoying most

The aim here is to populate your work week with those activities where you deliver the most impact for others, and the most joy to yourself.

In The Genius Zone, author Gay Hendricks refers to four quadrants:

1. Incompetence (you don’t add value and you don’t add joy)
2. Competence (you add value, but you don’t add joy)
3. Excellence (you add value, and some joy)
4. Genius (you add both in a big way!)

Using my own work as an example:

• #1 is me prioritizing low-level work emails over an impactful work project. 
• #2 is me doing work I’m skilled at but don’t enjoy much anymore, like figuring out the details of someone’s financial plan
• #3 is me leading a program for a group of people who are there because they have to be, not because they choose to be.
• #4 is me strategizing with a client on how to make the best use of their finances, or leading a group of people who are motivated to transform their relationship to money and work.

Very few of us spend 100% of our productive awake hours in category #4. But if you can shift just 10% more of your time toward work that’s both impactful and enjoyable, the financial benefits tend to follow naturally. I've seen this pattern both personally and with countless clients.

Hendricks suggests that you ask yourself these questions: 

What work do you do that doesn't seem like work?

In your work, what produces the highest ratio of abundance and satisfaction to the amount of time spent?

What is your unique ability?

I’d go one step further and suggest that you also talk to people to find out where they think you bring the most value. Sometimes we underestimate or overlook our impact. This is especially true for consultants when results aren’t always measurable. 

The path to both wealth and fulfillment isn't about working harder—it's about working more intentionally. When you align what you're great at with what energizes you and others, you enter a sweet spot. Your income grows, but more importantly, your work starts to feel like an expression of who you really are.