Why work still SUCKS in 2026

In this thought-provoking episode, we explore a question that challenges conventional wisdom about work: What is the core problem facing today's working population? Instead of pointing to economics or broken systems, this episode reveals a deeper truth about how we've lost our connection to abundance, peace, and the natural flow of life—and how this disconnect shapes everything about how we work.

Reflection Questions

• What underlying conviction drives your days and your decisions?
• Do you wake up already dividing the world into good and bad?
• Are you unknowingly inviting conflict into your work and relationships?
• What resistance has this created in your life?
• How much of what you do has become an act of defensiveness?
• Are you merely managing your work—or truly leading it?
• Are you ready to make a contract with yourself and return to a more natural, more holistic perspective?

Resources Mentioned

The LOLA Principle - European bestseller with over one million copies sold worldwide. This book bridges the science of economics and physics with practical decision-making, showing you how to reduce resistance and conflict while reaching meaningful goals with far less effort.

Connect & Learn More

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who might benefit from a new perspective on work and purpose.

Text us! We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Follow on Linkedin: Olivier Egli

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
I'm your host, Olivier, and this is the Do
Happy Work Podcast, where welook at work in a different,
more natural, and more peacefulway.
And we're back.
Every so often I get asked aquestion that sounds simple but
is really not.
What do you think is the coreproblem of today's working
population?
In other words, why does workstill suck in 2026?

(00:24):
And most people always expect ananswer that's rooted in
economics and politics orsomehow a broken system.
And I understand why.
Because such an explanationwould be comforting.
It would tell us that we'revictims of something larger than
ourselves.
And if we're victims, there'snothing we can really do.
So there's nothing we have tochange.
We can just, you know, just kickback and relax and wait for it

(00:47):
to be over.
But my answer is different.
And it often makes peopleuncomfortable and sometimes even
angry.
I believe, or rather, I know thecore issue is this.
We've lost the ability to acceptabundance and peace as natural
states of life.
And to express them through ourwork.
Let me repeat this.
We have lost the ability toaccept abundance and peace as

(01:11):
natural states of life and toexpress them through our work.
And that usually lands withsilence, sometimes even
resistance, because it placesresponsibility back where it
belongs, in our hands.
And it has to do with our ownattitude.
Now let me be clear.
I am not saying systems don'tmatter.

(01:31):
Of course they do.
We need them.
But our work always reflects howwe see life.
And if something feels deeplywrong in how we work, chances
are something is off in what webelieve truly matters, in the
way we see life.
Because the way we see lifebecomes how we lead life.
And work being part of life,well, that too becomes touched

(01:56):
by that attitude.
Nothing distorts our work morethan scarcity thinking.
We've been trained to see lifein sharp opposites, you know,
success or failure, light ordarkness, winning or losing.
We have this divisive mindsetwhere we only want to see one
side of the coin, but somewherealong the way we forget
something essential.

(02:17):
These opposites are not enemies.
They're partners, they'reessential.
Nature never judges night asfailure of day.
Winter is not a mistake.
Growth happens because bothsides cooperate.
Both sides exist in balance.
Both sides together make upbalance.
If you only focus on one side,you don't have balance.

(02:41):
You have imbalance.
But we've lost thatunderstanding.
Instead of growing throughexperience, we grow through
judgment.
Instead of existing and workingin unity, we exist and work in
division.
As children, we didn't live thisway.
We explored life with curiosityand openness.
We learned what worked and whatdidn't.

(03:03):
And then we applied it in oursteps without labeling one as
good and the other as evil,which is learned and moved on.
That's what makes experience.
And then slowly we were educatedout of that perspective, into
this lacking scarcityperspective.
We were taught to avoiddarkness, to fear failure, to
fight for a place in the light,to protect ourselves, to grow

(03:27):
often without any real reason,just for the sake of it, to be
safe, to somehow be comfortable,to somehow survive.
And almost without noticing,work stopped being an expression
of life and became a strategyfor survival.
Today, many, many, manybusinesses revolve around

(03:47):
security and control andresources and avoidance.
They're no places of happiness,they're places of rejection of
half of the coin.
They're places of scarcity.
We don't work to embrace theentirety of life.
We work to avoid loss.
That's not purposeful work.
That's defensive work.

(04:08):
And when defense becomes thenorm, struggle feels normal.
We normalize the conflict in ourwork.
Conflict feels inevitable andexhaustion becomes expected, but
it starts to break us.
That's why work still sucks.
But nature teaches us that itdoesn't have to be this way.
As a matter of fact, naturedoesn't operate this way.

(04:29):
Even what we sometimes callviolence in nature is not driven
by fear, it's driven by balance.
Nothing intends harm.
Everything simply flows and doeswhat it needs to do in order to
thrive.
Life is not incomplete, life isnot broken, and it's not
constantly at risk of collapse.
So why behave, act, and workthat way?

(04:52):
Life is whole.
Life is perfect and beautiful.
But our mindset has to followthat principle of peace.
Purposeful work begins when westop trying to live only on one
side of the coin, when we inviteboth sides, when we use both
sides, when we allow ebb andflow up and down, night and day.

(05:13):
And for entrepreneurs, leaders,and professionals, this becomes
very practical.
It means learning from night asmuch as from day.
It means allowing risk insteadof obsessively trying to
mitigate or eliminate it.
It means meeting challengeswithout judgment, with openness
instead of resistance.
It's just not possible to avoidpain.

(05:35):
You cannot avoid darkness.
It's part of everything of theplan.
You have to inhale in order toexhale.
You have to pay your dues inorder to move forward.
Trying to do anything else willonly shrink your life and your
work and you will play it small.
And trust me, your heart hatesplaying small.

(05:59):
An apple tree doesn't decide togrow only when conditions are
perfect.
It stays open to it, exposed,vulnerable.
It uses rest in winter andgrowth in spring.
It thrives in its own cyclicalmovements.
But cyclical movement requirescontrast.
It requires to see both sides.

(06:20):
It uses sunshine and cold aliketo become what it is.
That's what nature does.
Purposeful work asks the same ofus to stop working against life
and start working with it.
That's literally what flow isabout.
That's where peace returns.
And from peace, real successalways grows.
I want to leave you with a fewfinal questions.

(06:43):
What underlying convictiondrives your days and your
decisions?
Do you wake up already dividingthe world into good and bad
before you even had breakfast?
Are you unknowingly invitingconflict into your work and
relationships?
Is the place where you're at inyour work right now the result

(07:03):
of divisive scarcity or unifyingabundance?
What resistance has this createdin your life?
How much of what you do hasbecome an act of defensiveness?
Are you merely managing yourwork or truly leading it?
And are you ready to make acontract with yourself and
return to a more natural, moreholistic perspective?

(07:26):
Because if you are, feel free toreach out to me.
I'm always happy to share a fewpractical tips.
And here's one I can alreadyoffer you.
I recently published theEuropean bestseller The Lola
Principle, a book written morethan 30 years ago and that has
sold over 1 million copies.
It brings the science ofeconomics and physics into the

(07:47):
realm of decision making andshows, in a simple and
accessible way, how to reduceresistance and conflict and how
to reach meaningful goals withfar less effort.
You'll find a link in the shownotes or go to thelola
principle.com.
And if you're looking for agrounded, simple and practical

(08:07):
way to move toward more flow inyour work and life, this is a
very good place to start.
Have a wonderful week filledwith happy work.