In this week’s episode of Retire in Texas, Darryl Lyons, CEO and Co-Founder of PAX Financial Group, reflects on the deeper meaning of work, beyond the paycheck and the hustle, and explores how our jobs can serve as a spiritual journey.
This episode offers a thoughtful look at the concept of the dignity of work, making the case that how we work – and how we view work – can shape not just our careers, but our character and communities. Darryl shares personal stories, scriptural insights, and life lessons that challenge the cultural narrative of busyness and control.
Key highlights of the episode include:
• Why work isn’t just about making money, and how giving can transform your perspective.
• The power of workplace connections and the unexpected moments that reveal human kindness.
• How small acts of improvement and growth can make work more fulfilling.
• The myth of control in our professional lives, and what it means to truly trust in the long game.
• How reframing your understanding of work can lead to less anxiety and more purpose.
If you’ve ever questioned the point of work, or found yourself weighed down by the day-to-day grind, this episode will offer a fresh and encouraging perspective. Whether you’re in the thick of your career or mentoring the next generation, Darryl’s message is a reminder that work, done with intention, can be one of the most meaningful parts of our lives.
For more insights and to connect with a PAX Financial Group advisor, visit http://www.PAXFinancialGroup.com.
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Transcripts:
Hey, this is Darryl Lyons, CEO and Co-Founder of PAX Financial Group. And you’re listening to Retire in Texas. This information is general nature only. It’s not intended to provide specific investment, tax, or legal advice. Visit PAXFinancialGroup.com for more information. So Randy Alcorn is an author. He said, well, they were asking him what he thought about leaving a bunch of money to his kids, and he said, “How dare I take away from the character-building privilege and divine calling of working hard?”
Warren Buffett also said something else. He said, “A very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing.” So, it’s very tempting to talk about money here, but I actually want to talk about work. We have a couple individuals that recognize that leaving money to the next generation can rob them of a divine calling.
That’s pretty powerful. We, I mean, we discount the dignity of work. Politically, if we don’t get this thing right, some of the decisions we make get off track. Do you believe that there’s dignity in work? I mean, just beyond, like, just the everyday stuff, like running spreadsheets or, you know, selling widgets or putting a shovel in grout?
I mean, all that stuff is like, you have got to do the job. It’s work. It’s tough. It’s just part of what we do. It overwhelms us at times. But do we ever take a step back and just say, is this spiritual? Is there a spiritual element to this? 25% of our waking hours is at work.
So, we could say that it’s just work. It’s just busyness. We’re just like a bunch of ants. How are you doing? I’m busy. How are you doing? I’m busy. But what I’d like to suggest to you is that there might be something more than just busyness.
I mean, I would like to believe there would be. I mean, like I said, 25% of our waking lives are at work. And in the beginning, weren’t we called to keep and cultivate this garden?
Like this idea of keeping and cultivating, you know, building stuff, building buildings, tilt wall buildings or discovering new things like quantum computing and AI and bringing around like abundance, you know, through the capital markets and stocks and bonds. I mean, like all of that is part of the keeping and cultivating, and it’s a spiritual journey. But somehow, in the midst of like all this spiritual journey, we’re like knee deep in anxiety and worry about the future.
And so maybe if we just kind of reframe for just a moment that work is much more than just work, maybe we can think about it in a different way, the dignity of work. And so let me just kind of tease out the three elements of work that may help us reframe work for just a moment. Now, this content, if you’re retired, may not mean anything to you.
Maybe it encourages you to get back to work. Maybe you’re fond of doing your deal. But I would pass this along to people that you love, that are younger, that are in the grind. Let’s dive into this. Okay. So, the idea, I think one element of work that I think is discounted and it prevents us from really recognizing the divine nature of work.
And so, this first element are just the connections that happen at work, the water cooler stuff, the memories, you know, I paid my way through college. I went to work at Bank of America at Bandeira and Woodlawn. And that doesn’t mean that a lot of people who aren’t from San Antonio. But it’s like a really poor area, primarily Spanish speaking area.
And I really became friends with a lot of people in that community “Que habra cuentes de cheques y de horros.” So, I learned a lot of Spanish, as you would imagine. And then I got one of my buddies to work there. His name’s Jason Zamora. We call him Zamora. And one of the things that I remember Jason had that I didn’t have, and he didn’t come from a lot of money, but he had some Timberland shoes.
I don’t know if you remember, those Timberland shoes were really popular. And he just, and he probably doesn’t even remember this. He just gave them to me. And maybe he saw my shoes out or maybe felt sorry for me. I don’t know, we didn’t have much money. And, you know, I was working my way through school, but he just gave me his Timberland shoes.
Like, you can just have them. Now, for a lot of people, that would mean, like, a meaningless connection. But to me, I looked at them and I thought, why would somebody give shoes when they could sell them and they get to make money? Or maybe he could sell them to me. Like, why? What is compelling him to just give me something, he could make money off this.
And then it hit me. I was like, and I just became curious. I was like, maybe there’s people in this world that just give, sometimes without expecting something in return. And, if you guys have ever read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, there seems to be like in certain demographics, this idea that you only give something to somebody else with the expectation of getting something in return.
But when your world is opened up to just giving out of just kindness, you become part of this different group of people that are doing great things in society. There’s a different group of people out there that are keeping and cultivating this garden and working together and not expecting things always in return. I never knew that existed.
I never knew that people like that existed. And then I recognized that a whole group of businesspeople and people that are out in the marketplace doing great things, they behave that way. There’s a lot of good, kind people out there. I just never knew that you could give something to somebody else without expecting something in return.
I know that sounds like a little bit of a breakthrough, but if you’re from certain demographics, if you lived in certain trailer parks, if you’re from certain areas, you know that that’s just how it is. You’re always going to get something. And I just never knew that existed. So that’s a breakthrough connection. That’s like something that happens when you’re at work and you’re bumping into people and a transaction turns into a spiritual experience, and it takes some intentionality to recognize that you have to practice the presence of people.
You’ve got to see people. You’ve got to see people in new ways. You’ve got to see people through a lens that they’re the little girl or little boy that they really are inside of this overgrown body. And we’ve got to figure out a way to bump into each other to enjoy these connections at work without worrying. And hey, look, I’m there with you, worrying about being liked or other people’s approval.
But that’s where we’re at today, being liked, other people’s approval. But if we can change our work experience, recognize these connections, good and bad and indifferent, are in fact oftentimes spiritual. So, the next one I think that is often discounted in this work journey is this idea of constant improvement. I’ve never had a really steady hand.
I always get a little nervous, shaking. And sometimes that doesn’t translate. That confidence factor doesn’t translate with the females as I’m growing up. So, when I met my wife, I had to actually write. I actually wrote down questions on the date that I could ask her so I wouldn’t forget. And I was just trying to just get better, just always getting better.
And, I thought, you know, for me to really get to the other side of whatever success looks like, I’ve got to figure out how to break through these shaky hands. So, I did ToastMasters, and that was great. I actually spoke in a speaking competition, and I’m so proud of myself for even coming in last place. They actually didn’t announce last place, but I could tell I was last place.
But look, I did a speaking competition. I’m very proud of myself. And in work, there’s opportunities to look at the grass you mowed and take a step back and be proud of it. Right. Whenever you mow the grass, you look at it and man, I did a good job there. Oh man, I missed a little spot.
But overall looks really good. Especially on those beautiful spring days. You’re like, man, it looks good. Well, that’s like when I make marginal improvements in my own personal journey here. One of which is ToastMasters. And just making marginal improvements, my communication or the way I do things like maybe even something in Excel or something nerdy.
I mean, these things are worth just enjoying, and that’s a part of the spiritual improvement at work gives us this platform just to constantly improve. And so, what happens when you master this art of living through our vocation. This way, when you master this art, you have a hard time distinguishing between work and play. And it’s this idea of constant improvement.
So work, recognizing our connections can actually be spiritual. And then this idea of constant improvement makes this whole game totally different. The other element I want to talk about with work is this illusion of control. Look, some days you’re the pigeon and some days you’re the statue. That’s just how life works. But I think we definitely overestimate how much control we have.
And we just have this constant anxiety at work about the future and what it’s going to look like. I just know that, you know, when I was just starting out in the business, completely broke. And, I was a financial advisor, and I was a broke financial advisor. It’s like a shop teacher with no fingers.
I pull up to the office at [4:00] in the morning. I’m going to work my way out of this mess. We only had one car at the time, and I left the office keys at the counter, kitchen counter, and I just sat in the parking lot. I couldn’t get in the office until somebody showed up and opened the door for me, and I just cried.
And I remember sitting in the car by myself and I told God. And, you know, it wasn’t like this audible thing, but I said, I’m going to put my money where my mouth is, I’m going to trust you. And I started giving, and it was at that moment I started giving the first fruits of everything I made, which is 10%.
And I just made a commitment to start giving when I was broke and I hadn’t stopped since, I have not stopped giving since. Obviously, the numbers are bigger now and I’m not broke anymore. But that was a really difficult time, and I definitely felt out of control. It definitely felt out of control.
But it’s kind of crazy that those circumstances, in those situations, we work through those things somehow, someway, we break through those, and we get to the other side and whatever the other side looks like. I don’t know what it looks like for everyone. Some sometimes it’s like freakish success. Like if you think about Colonel Sanders, he didn’t actually start doing the chicken thing until age 65.
And he just started it with his Social Security check. And since we’re staying on the same vein of money, you know, Warren Buffett, 99% of his wealth was after age 50. And I know we’re spending a lot of time worrying at different ages in life, but there’s this idea of thinking about things a long term that I reinforce that is very real.
I even think about my own mom, like my mom, she had me when she was 16 and she worried about money a lot. Even my dad did, for that matter. And I just think that there was something bigger going on. When they were worrying about money, I was edging the skirting of our mobile home in Castroville, and I was becoming curious about money because we didn’t have any.
And so here in this environment of not having money, there’s this 17-year-old, maybe 18 at the time, who became infatuated and curious about money, not rooted in selfish ambition, but just what it could do in the lives of other people. And it transformed me and the next generation. So, sometimes we have these circumstances that, you know, feel overwhelming and we overestimate those circumstances.
But there’s something happening long term and oftentimes even generationally. I know that’s a lot to digest. But the reality is that at work, we give ourselves too much credit that we’re in control and that there may be something bigger going on. So those are the three things that I was able to think about deeply to maybe reposition your thinking when we think about work and whether or not is worthy of our attention from a spiritual perspective, given that it’s 25% of our waking hours, I would suggest that there is something spiritual, something about keeping and cultivating that garden that is extended to where we are today.
And, if you decide to discount this, you will end up in a default situation, which a default situation is where everyone else is at, full of anxiety, full of busyness. It reminds me of a guy that went to a fortune teller and the fortune teller said, “You want to know about your future? She looked in the crystal ball and said, you’ll be poor and you will be unhappy until age 45.”
And the guy said, “Well, then what happens?” And she goes, “Then you’ll get used to it.” So, if you want to continue being anxious and insecure and uncertain about work, then I guess you could, you know, the world offers you that. But I would suggest to you, if you think about it spiritually and if you read the Bible and you get behind this idea of keeping and cultivating, I think you can reimagine, what work is like.
And it’s not about the ant being busy. It really is divine. And I’ll leave you with this final scripture that reinforces this idea that work is spiritual. In Colossians [3:23] – 24, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward, it is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Thanks for tuning in to Retire in Texas and as always, you think different when you think long term. Have a great day!
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