Why? I have recently returned to my home in Canada after eight months of working at a Costa Rican microfinance organization. Most of my friends have university degrees and are now working as engineers for oil companies, as finance consultants for investment firms, as managers, or studying to become a lawyer/dentist.  Many have admitted to me that they don’t see any real purpose in what they are doing, that they live for the weekend and their jobs are merely a means to an end. When I tell them that life is too short and they should look for a job that they enjoy doing, they tell me that ¨I’m too idealistic¨ or ¨There aren’t enough jobs like that out there¨ or ¨If everybody did what they wanted to do, nobody would pick up the trash.¨

All I know is that I started out as a volunteer and now I’m being paid to do work that I originally did for free. Isn’t that the goal, to do work that you would do even if you weren’t getting paid? Let’s put it this way, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I wouldn’t quit working at Fundación Mujer.

When volunteering, you meet other volunteers from all over the world. These people are fiercely motivated, not by money, but by a cause. Usually that cause is fighting against some type of injustice which they deem unacceptable. For me, this injustice is poverty,  and more specifically, the feminization of poverty.

When surrounded by people who are truly motivated by the work they are doing, you become motivated. This type of inspiration is not the type you find in organizational behavior textbooks, because it has nothing to do with carrot and stick methods or public recognition for completion of certain tasks. You find that you start to push yourself to contribute to projects and answer the question, ¨How can I best contribute to the success of this organization? ¨ You ask this question humbly and not because your boss wants you too or because you might get a bonus or extra time off if you answer it correctly, but because you want the project to succeed, and nothing more.

When you feel yourself being driven by a cause that you care about, work doesn’t seem like work. Obviously there are days when you don’t feel like waking up, when strenuous situations are presented, but what keeps you going is the people you work with, the people you work for (for me, it’s the microfinance clients) and the underlying personal meaning of the work that you do. I’m not saying that you can’t find this motivation in the corporate world, but ask yourself  this, ¨Would I still be working here if I won the lottery tomorrow?¨

If not, drop what you are doing, pick a cause you are interested in and start volunteering. You won’t regret it — nobody ever does.

Sebastian Kindsvater will be returning shortly to Costa Rica, where he is the Kiva Coordinator/Loan Officer for Fundación Mujer.

If this post has inspired you to volunteer, check out these other La Vida Idealist posts for more ideas on how to take that first step: “How to Choose a Volunteer Placement Abroad,” “Six Simple Steps for Volunteering Abroad,” “Making It Happen for Yourself,” “So You Spin the Globe…,” “It Pays To Do Some Research,” “Panning for Gold: Plucking Out the Nonprofit Gems,” “Volunteering 101: Interview Yourself,” and “Five Things to Think About When Choosing Your Volunteer Location.“