There is a difference between you and your work.

Work can be for money, passion or growth. Different stages of life needs different purpose

There was a time in my life when I stayed with my grandma from my mother’s side. During this period, I lived in a household with more than ten people. A normal part of life was visiting the farm during planting and harvesting seasons.

In the beginning, I felt like it was forced labour. But later I learned that was how the household got its food. My grandparents had retired and had to support us by providing food while we stayed at their place. Farming and livestock keeping were the way they provided for us.

During the holidays, we had to wake up early. We walked long distances to the farms and stayed there until late. Depending on the season, we spent the entire day doing hard labour.

For years, it started being fun, because all the neighbors did that too. Our friends were doing the same thing. It became part of life. And that was my first experience with work in life, to be precise lets call it labor. That was also the first time I learned that I had to work to survive.

I then had my first experience of entrepreneurship. I kept asking my mother to buy me football boots, and they rarely lasted long. One day she told me to do what our neighbours’ kids were doing to get money.

Their mother was a vegetable vendor. She woke up early, gathered fruits and vegetables, and then sold them in the streets. During weekends and holidays she would make her children do the same. That is how she provided for her family, and how the kids’ got pocket money for their personal use.

I remember my first day. I woke up early, feeling tired. I walked slowly behind our neighbour as she taught me how to find vegetables and fruits in the market. Then came the long journey back home to prepare them on a yellow dish.

“Spray plenty of water on the fruits and vegetables. Then, place them where they are visible as you carry the dish on your head.” She instructed me when we reached home.

That first day, I walked more than ever before. I spent five hours shouting, “Vegetables, fruits, fresh, from the market, at your door!” The neighbour’s kids were used to that; they never wanted to take a rest. They said they only rested once they finished selling.

They finished faster than I did, and they took my stock and sold it too. We went back home; I slept till the next morning. That was my first taste of entrepreneurship. During that holiday, I paid back the money I borrowed from my mother, saved up for my football shoes, and learned a bit about business. And this was my first experience of working specifically for money.

When I finished my second year at the University of Dar es Salaam, I completed my internship at KPMG Tanzania. This is one of the Big Four auditing firms worldwide. During our internship, only three of us were hired.

That was my first experience of a professional workplace were skills and time were key to growth. I learned about employment rules and policies. I came to understand the nine-to-five culture, the office politics, the salaries, and, most importantly, the ebb and flow of people.

There, I understood the concept of working to grow, from an intern to possibly being a director or even a partner one day.

During my internship at KPMG, I learned how companies register, earn money, and grow. This gave me a more sophisticated view of business than my experience selling fruits and vegetables on the street. I created my first company, AweDin, which just meant Awesome Dinero.

That first company at the university was the foundation for many adventures. One venture led to another for years, continuing to this day. These included AweSome Magazine, MobiAd, Emakat, Watushule and now Mentamo.

During all these phases of life, there is one thing that has never changed. I have always focused on it no matter what was happening in my life. That is storytelling. The first story book I read was in grade three, a book that my mother brought home to start our first home library.

It was a simple book about frogs and rabbits, and the lessons they bring to life. I loved the format and the power of stories to teach. I started finding more books, joined the national library. I started attending book clubs and literary events.

The more I learned, the more I wanted to share my knowledge. I started writing about these lessons. I joined school debates and delivered Monday morning speeches at St Joseph primary school and Pugu secondary schools.

I began sharing them online in whatever format was easy—posts, audios, videos, or articles. And here we are now; you are either reading this somewhere or listening to or watching this. I discovered my passion by storytelling without pay or exhaustion; I did the work simply because I loved it.

My journey might be unique in its own way at face value. But if you pay attention to the why, it reflects a universal truth about how we live. People will work to survive, work to grow or work for their passions.

Work has evolved over generations. We now live in the AI era, yet some aspects resemble the hunter-gatherer days. These were the days where humans had no permanent shelter.

At first, humans worked only to survive. Healthy, fit group members would hunt and gather food. Others would protect and care for the young and sick.

And then came the agricultural era. This is where life changed for these communities. Societies started to have farms and keep livestock. That meant they started staying in one area for an extended period of time.

During this time, work became broader. Some people became pure farmers, while others tended to livestock. And it started creating classes in the community, the owners and labourers. It also brought the concept of surplus, because people could store their harvest. And this is where the concept of status emerged.

People saw farm owners with more land, livestock, workers, and surplus goods as rich. The wealthy were more respected in the community and accrued power.

Agriculture fostered the era of civilization, skills, and crafts. This led to innovation and growth until industrialization took shape. This was another change to human history; now people were going to work in factories and plants.

Many types of roles appeared. These included labourers, machine operators, and plant staff. There were also accountants, clerks, and managers. This era ushered in the modern economy and the creation of offices.

The town’s modern life meant adults left for work in the morning. They spent their day in offices, selling their time and skills until evening. They did this from Monday to Friday and some Saturdays. This environment helped establish careers for bankers, doctors, teachers, and lawyers.

Schools created programs to prepare children to follow the same routine. This set a clear path: going to school, passing exams, attending university, and working until retirement. This cycle continued for years until the internet arrived.

The internet removed a lot of barriers to where, when, and with whom people work. It eliminated the notion that one must work only in an office. It also enabled people to work together from anywhere in the world.

The internet boosted globalization and information sharing. It created new job opportunities and platforms for people to sell their time, skills and expertise.

New careers emerged, including freelancers, consultants, traders, YouTubers, influencers, and comedians.

And now we are embarking on the AI age. We do not know yet the extent to which this will change the work environment. But based on current signs, we see that AI will replace most of the work established during previous eras.

Machines will take over much of the manual work from the agricultural and industrial eras. Robots will replace most of the office work that requires repetition and consistency.

AI models like ChatGPT and Claude will take over many jobs that rely on skills in fields such as accounting, law, photography, art, and writing.

We are heading into an age where the most valuable asset to have in the market is being human. AI cannot replicate experiences, emotions, human connections, dreams, and goals.

But that does not change the reality of why people work. Work changes from one generation to the next. So, how should we approach it on an individual basis? It’s not about being either employed or self-employed.

The problem is that work, whether through employment or self-employment, has become our identity. Most of us think that our work is an extension of who we are. That leads to a lot of problems in our lives. Some keep working in horrible jobs because they think they cannot change careers.

Some people stick to failing businesses because their identity is linked to them. Some work on passions that do not pay because those pursuits define who they are or who they are meant to be.

The most important things in life come in threes, and so it is with work.

Work, whether you’re employed or self-employed, should focus on survival, passion, or growth. Different stages of life need different purposes of work.

There is a time when you have to work for money, to survive.

There is a time when you have to work for passion, to thrive.

There is a time when you have to work for growth, to improve.

Working for money

Working for money is the most practical motive. I could not argue with my grandmother about planting or harvesting when I was under her roof. The food we got from the farms was what we ate.

We sold some of it to neighbours and friends so we could get other things needed for our livelihood, like sugar, cooking oil, clothes, and more.

I couldn’t turn down my mother’s idea to sell fruits and vegetables. This way, I could earn money to buy my football boots. This need was so important to me that I was ready to work to get the money.

Money ensures survival, stability, dignity, options, and responsibility. It pays rent. It feeds the family. It creates independence. There is nothing shallow about wanting money. Often, seeking money is not greed. It is security. It is relief. It is the ability to stand on your own two feet and help others.

But money has limits.

When money is the only reason to work, a person may feel empty inside, even if they seem successful outside. They may earn well, but find no meaning. They may survive financially, but slowly die emotionally. When work is only a transaction, the soul begins to detach from what the body does every day.

So money is necessary, but it is not sufficient.

Working for passion

Working for passion sounds noble. I have always loved the profound impact that stories have on people’s lives, often changing entire generations for better or worse. Jesus and Muhammad, for example, have influenced billions of people through stories about God.

Ancestors shared their visions, hopes, fears, and dreams with the community through stories. The stories we hear and tell ourselves are the ones that shape our lives. I have spent most of my adult life finding stories and sharing them.

Passion brings energy, aliveness, curiosity, creativity, and meaning. When you care deeply about something, work feels lighter. You can handle more challenges when the work feels tied to your inner self. Passion makes effort feel voluntary instead of forced.

But passion also has limits. I often stopped finding or sharing stories because the process became too hard. The idea for Watushule came to me when I was a Form Four student at Pugu Secondary School. That was 2008. I have been in and out of this project for over 16 years.

Passion can be unstable. You will not feel inspired every day. Some work that matters deeply still contains routine, boredom, administration, repetition, and sacrifice. Also, not every passion can immediately pay the bills. Focusing only on passion can lead to financial weakness, lack of discipline, or disappointment with reality.

Passion is powerful, but it is not always reliable.

Working for growth

This is the long-term view. When I started as an intern at KPMG, I knew nothing about the auditing and finance world. I knew nothing about positions at the corporate level. I learned that if I worked well for a long time, I had a chance to be a director or even a partner.

By studying different types of auditing and company operations, I gained a deeper understanding of business mechanics alongside personal and corporate finance.

It was a smooth transition for me to go to PwC, another of the Big Four auditing firms in the world. And I saw a clear path from starting as an associate to possibly becoming a director. I was exposed more to how the business world works.

I learned office politics, the nine-to-five culture, the hustle culture and everything in between. I managed to experience employment while running my own startup. I learned about the concept of leverage and how people made money in different ways.

I learned how corporate and business growth would shape who I became in the long run, and I knew there would come a time when I had to make a choice.

This means choosing work not just for money or enjoyment now, but for who it helps you become. Growth-centered work develops skills, character, discipline, resilience, judgement, patience, and competence. Sometimes the work you need most is not the work you love most today, but the work that prepares you for the future.

Growth can justify struggle.

A difficult job may be worth doing because it is training your mind. A low-status season may be worth enduring because it is building your foundation. An imperfect opportunity may still be valuable because it is stretching your capacity.

But growth also has limits.

If a person is always living for future growth, they may never arrive in the present. Life becomes permanent preparation. They keep pushing on, delaying, improving, and giving up things. But they never stop to ask if the path is still worth it. Growth can become another trap if it turns into endless self-improvement without peace.

So each motive has wisdom, and each motive has danger.

Money without meaning becomes emptiness. Passion without discipline becomes instability. Growth without restbecomes endless postponement.

That is the dilemma.

A mature person comes to understand that the real question isn’t, “Which one will I choose forever?”

The real question is: What should lead in this season of my life?

Different seasons require different priorities.

At one stage, money may need to lead. If you’re struggling, feeling stressed, raising kids, or just trying to get by, you might not have the chance to focus on what you love. In that season, stable income is not betrayal. It is wisdom.

At another stage, growth may need to lead. You might accept discomfort, lower pay, or slower recognition. This is because you’re building skills that will be valuable later.

At another stage, passion may need to lead. Once you’re stable and have the right skills, you might want to find work that truly fits who you are.

The problem comes when people apply the wrong standard to a season.

In a survival season, someone feels guilty for not “following their passion”. Someone in a learning season becomes impatient because growth is not yet paying off. Someone in a thriving season keeps chasing money but ignores the work they truly care about.

Tension exists between money, passion, and growth. It also lies between present needs, future potential, and our inner calling.

I have always looked at my father as a source of inspiration. He started his career in finance immediately after university. This role provided his first stable income and the platform for his professional growth.

At the pinnacle of his career, he was the head of the customer network at one of the biggest international banks in the country. His LinkedIn bio stated:

“I have been in the banking industry for 29 years. I started as a clerk grade 1 and worked my way up to a managerial level. My ambition is to run my own entity and support my community.”

My father passed away before fulfilling that ambition.

A few months before he died, he finished registering his company. He meant to provide financial services and support his community. But he never had the chance to run it as he had planned.

I often wonder what my father thought when he decided to retire, start his own company, and pursue his passion for helping the community. I imagine him asking himself:

Can this sustain my life?

Does this make me feel alive?

What type of person does it help me to become?

I have always paused and asked myself those questions. And now for you, whatever your stage of life, pause for a moment. Ask yourself about your work:

Can this sustain my life?

Does this make me feel alive?

What type of person does it help me to become?

Good work addresses all three, even if one aspect must lead for now. The healthiest path is usually not pure money, pure passion, or pure growth. It is a thoughtful integration.

Until then,

Think deeply. Live deliberately.

Watushule