Those words stood out from the dozens of great points that Matthew Kelly shared at the Faith and Business Conference last week. I posted my primary takeaway on LinkedIn.

This post is a dump of my notes from his talk:

Want the right things. If we want the right things, life goes in a good direction. We can only know the right things if we are listening to God. He speaks every day through our:

• Needs
• Talents
• Desires

Our deepest desires are vocational. Since the Industrial Revolution there has been a drive to separate work and life. The phrase work/life balance is the latest manifestation of this, but that balance is a false promise. The most satisfying times in our lives are the 80-hour work weeks on something that captures our imagination or laying on the beach.

Work is essential to the human experience. The primary purpose of work is to become the best version of yourself.

Your work casts a bright light or a deep shadow over the rest of your life. To make it a light, begin with purpose. Understand that work is an end in itself. Work nurtures character. Money is secondary.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Paul instructs us to pray constantly. He didn’t understand how to do that until he realized that every honest human activity can be turned into a prayer.

That includes work. Our work can be transformed into prayer. If you find yourself losing passion, focus your next hour of work as a prayer offered for someone else.

Everybody evangelizes about something. Humans are the same as buckets under a tap of water. We fill up and then overflow. When we overflow a life of generosity, that is astoundingly more attractive to people than an invitation to church.

The biggest lie is the history of Christianity is that holiness isn’t possible. Once you accept that, mediocrity is the only option left.

A holy moment is when you turn yourself to God and ask him to use you. If you can collaborate with God on one holy moment, that proves that holiness is possible.

Holiness is the essence of Christianity. Holy moments are the way. Work is the place and holy moments can bring joy. Happiness is dependent on the circumstances and is a poor substitute for Joy. We yearn for joy.

People are stunned and amazed when generosity shows up in the workplace – when our joy overflows.

Nothing is more attractive than holiness. The whole world is waiting for the real thing to show up. Ghandi read the New Testament every day but didn’t become a Christian because he never saw a real one.

To create holy moments, just make yourself available to God and he will handle the rest. God doesn’t use the powerful, he uses the available.

We measure nothing in our lives but we measure everything in our businesses. Measure your availability to God. Surrender is hard. Get brutally honest about your availability to God and then start increasing that availability.

Whatever you set your heart on becomes part of your life.

We’re not here to solve problems. They’re here to solve us. There are lots of problems because we need lots of solving.