I Love Work ❤️

"I love work"

When did you last hear anyone say that out loud?

I heard it over lunch recently from one of the most inspirational people I know. She wasn't performing it. She talked about work as the thing that motivates her, stretches her, keeps her growing. She was genuinely excited.

It stopped me in my tracks.

Because most of us don't talk about work that way. We talk about the drudgery. The responsibility. The requirement. And if you're heading into September after a good summer, or bracing yourself with that big sigh of right, let's get to the end of the year, you'll understand what I mean.

But what if it didn't have to be like that?

Your brain is built to notice what's wrong 🧠

We all have a negativity bias. Your brain is wired to scan for threat, for what's missing, for what might go wrong. That was useful when the risks were physical. It's less useful when it means you walk into a Monday already primed to find it heavy.

The Black Dot is an incredible illustration of this: a white page with a single black dot on it. Ask people what they see and they describe the dot. Nobody mentions the page. Watch this video before you pick work up again this September, because it's exactly what your brain does with a working week.

Not all hours cost the same ⏳

There's a strand of neuroscience called effort based decision making. Before you consciously decide whether something is worth doing, your brain has already run the numbers: what this will cost you, what you stand to gain, whether the energy is worth spending.

Which is why ten hours on work that matters to you feels nothing like ten hours in meetings that go nowhere. The clock says they're identical. Your brain knows they're not.

• An hour of familiar work versus an hour of hard decisions
• An hour with clear priorities versus an hour switching between competing demands
• An hour building towards something you care about versus an hour wondering why it matters

So the useful question is rarely how many hours. It's what is making these hours so expensive?

The word that changes the maths 🔑

Swap "I have to work" for "I get to work."

Nothing external moves. Same job, same deadline, same inbox. What changes is agency, and agency is what turns effort from a burden into a choice.

And it isn't only about purpose-driven work - you don't have to be a doctor or run a charity. Leading a team is one of the most consequential things a person can do. You shape how other people experience their working lives and that is not a small thing.

Gratitude does something measurable 💛

This isn't wishful thinking. Gratitude has a demonstrable effect on the brain and on wellbeing, and the research on it is now substantial. Noticing what's working is a skill your brain can practise, and like any skill, it strengthens with use.

The last 4 months of 2026 🚀

There's still a limit, and no reframe fixes chronic overwork. Recovery, sleep, and real boundaries are not optional extras.

But most of us will be working either way. So the question is: what do you bring to it?

Choose your attitude. Let it be curiosity, or challenge, or joy in the structure and purpose that work gives your days.

You don't just have to work.

You get to.

References 📚

• Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389.
• Rozin, P., & Royzman, E. B. (2001). Negativity Bias, Negativity Dominance, and Contagion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5(4), 296-320.
• Westbrook, A., & Braver, T. S. (2016). Dopamine Does Double Duty in Motivating Cognitive Effort. Neuron, 89(4), 695-710.
• Botvinick, M., & Braver, T. (2015). Motivation and Cognitive Control: From Behavior to Neural Mechanism. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 83-113.
• 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.