
Does your livelihood
align with your values?
A livelihood is a “a means of securing the necessities of life.”
Right Livelihood is a Buddhist concept. It sits within the Eightfold Path of Buddhist ethics alongside Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Effort (etc), and generally refers to doing work that doesn’t harm other beings.
Right Livelihood does NOT refer to a one-size-fits-all, single correct way to earn a living, as defined by some external authority. (For the record, that’s not really how Buddhism works.) Rather, it suggests that each of us can consciously choose a livelihood that aligns with our values.
Some of the questions that have guided my own exploration of Right Livelihood:
- What do I value?
- How much is enough?
- What is necessary in my life?
- How can I get what’s necessary without harming other people, animals, or the planet?
- What constitutes meaningful work, and why / when does this matter?
- How much do I agree with commonly-accepted definitions of success?
- What will it take to pursue my own vision of success?
- What beliefs and assumptions — conscious or unconscious — inform my attitude toward money?
- What systems and conditions make it harder for certain types people to make choices around money and work compared to others?
- How might I contribute to making these systems more equitable for all?
Much of my career has focused on supporting individuals, nonprofit organizations, and social enterprises as they work through similar questions. May the tidbits shared below inspire your own exploration of Right Livelihood. _/|\_
What I believe about money
I believe: …that money was designed to work for human beings, rather than the other way around. And I mean that in terms of the actual historical context of money’s origins, not in the capitalist, our-money-should-earn-money, passive-income sense. My own relationships with money and work are constantly evolving. There’s always more to learn, and I…
My favorite money people, organizations, and resources
Here are some of the people and organizations that have inspired me most in my Right Livelihood journey: Vicki Robin’s book, Your Money or Your Life, sparked the beginnings of my own Right Livelihood journey back in the early ’90s. (I wrote more about that here.) Unbeknownst to her, this book also launched the entire…
Why it’s so important to support each other through hard times (if we’re in a position to do so)
During a video call with my family earlier today, I learned that my parents had just received delivery of 10 pounds of duck. Turns out that after reading an article explaining that small farms and food processors are suffering because they’ve lost the bulk of their restaurant business thanks to the coronavirus situation, my dad…
What’s your Printery?
I love everything this video reveals about this man, his vision, his spirit, his work in the world… Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr, please take my money! https://vimeo.com/382994332 You will not get a degree You will not go into extraordinary debt You will print all day, every day You will clean type Wipe up ink Smell…
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How to charge on a sliding scale
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Expensify this
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Dean Fidelman finally getting the kind of attention he deserves (and not only for StoneNudes)
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Sick of waiting to get paid? Invoice payment terms can help you get paid faster
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When should you hire an accountant?
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Cloud accounting: good for business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAiWuEab7fw&w=560&h=315 I hope I don’t need to explain why it’s important to do your business accounting. (How the heck can you make strategic business decisions without knowing what’s going on under the hood?!) But if you’ve never tried using cloud accounting software, aka accounting software that lives online vs on your computer, you’re in for…
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I’ve been thinking a ton lately about how to put myself “out there” more. Start a vlog, for real this time (the one I was going to launch at work has been put on the back burner… again)? Write another (gasp) book? And also wondering if it’s possible to promote whatever I’m putting out there…
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