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Burden or Opportunity?

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Edison

You are an entrepreneur.

Throughout this course, we’ve been discussing a broader definition of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs combine virtuous self-interest with creating value for others, making the pie bigger and co-creating the world with God.

You can be an entrepreneur in your role as a dad or mom, a nurse or a firefighter, a babysitter or a priest. You can create value in any arena of your life, not just your career.

But certainly, many of us will spend much of our time in life working. Something like one third of your life is spent working.

Many people see work as a rat race: working for “the man” all week and living for the weekends, caught in a cycle of unfulfilling work until they retire.

Now that you’ve started discovering your personal vocation, you know better than to follow that path.

But work is still an enormous part of your life.

Is it something you have to do… a necessary evil? Or is it something bigger?

Expanding on our knowledge of entrepreneurship and Catholic Social Doctrine, we can see work in the bigger picture of God’s plan for salvation.

Work develops us personally as individuals. Work develops creation. And work can solve problems —even some of the world’s biggest challenges, such as poverty.

As you’re finalizing your Odyssey Project and preparing your Moral Compass, it’s easy to get lost in the details of planning the next two years of your life. This module will help reorient you to the big picture of your calling and broaden the scope of how your years at work could be a force that changes the world.

Your Mission: Interview

How will your chosen life path change you and develop you? What kind of skills do you need for it? One way to learn before you get to the challenge of your life is to hear the journey of another person.

For this module, pick someone whose life or career is related to your Odyssey Project. This person could be the CEO of a company or a stay-at-home mom: whatever best fits your particular Odyssey Project. You will spend some time in class preparing your list of questions.

Your questions should focus on the role of work in this person’s life. How many types of jobs have they done? How did that work change or challenge them? What was their life journey like? What plans did they have, and how did those plans change?

These questions should follow a few guidelines:
Ask “what,” “how,” or “why” questions. These types of questions help you uncover a person’s story because they can’t be answered by a “yes” or “no.”
Look back over your Odyssey Project work, your Life Model Canvas, and your leadership retreat. What questions can you ask that will correlate your plan and the experience of your interviewee? What fears or hopes do you have? Share these with your interviewee and gain their perspective and insight.
As you ask questions, listen with empathy and follow emotion. Notice their expression and tone when your interviewee is talking about what really matters to them.
The bulk of your questions should focus on your interviewee’s path through life, how they provide value to others, and how they find meaning in their work.

Document this interview however you wish: by recording it (with permission), taking photos, etc. You’ll write a short reflection on this interview to be included in the Odyssey Project presentation at the end of the course, or in a short in-class presentation if this module is being taught on its own.