The invisible work that we do within ourselves is more valuable than the physical work that we produce in our careers.

The invisible work increases self-awareness and clarifies our purpose. It’s the work that improves our lives more than any income or status that a career can produce.

This concept of visible/invisible work comes from Leo Tolstoy. He makes the point that visible work only becomes useful once we’ve done the invisible work to improve ourselves:

“It seems to us that the most important work in the world is the work which is visible, which we can see: building a house, plowing the land, feeding cattle, gathering fruits; and that the work which is invisible, the work done by our soul, is not important. 
But our invisible work at the improvement of our soul is the most important work in the world, and all other visible kinds of work are useful only when we do this major work.”

Invisible work is the work we do with coaches and therapists. 
It’s the challenge of a meditation practice. 
It’s the work of journaling and reflecting. 
It’s defining success in our terms.
It’s discovering our core values.

Invisible work is hard work. That’s why we avoid doing it for so long. But doing the invisible work is what makes our lives better. It strengthens relationships, improves our communication and clarifies what we actually want from life. 

Invisible work allows us to receive the things that money can’t buy. In the end, that's what we really want.