I had an epiphany a few years back. I was thinking about the difference between two people I knew who were both applying for the same job. Either one could have been hired. Both were excited by the prospect. Both were similar in skills. There was no clear decision point to decide the issue but in the end, the interviewers chose one.
I spent several hours musing on why the team hired the person they did.
In the end, it came down to this:
One of them wanted to have the job. One of them wanted to do the job.
And that? Made all the difference.
Here’s the deal. Regardless of how we feel on any given day, we need to sit down and the do the work. It’s a hella easier when we want to do it.
I’m bringing this up, because here on Labor Day weekend, it’s good to remind ourselves that we want to do the job.
It’s good to remember that we want to do a terrific job. Not because it will please the people around us, but because it pleases us. I have never had a client yet, no matter how miserable, who didn’t want to be great at their job.
Think about that.
I work with people who have burnt the heck out, and they STILL want to see themselves as highly competent. They want to be the go-to person at the office, they want to write clean, elegant code, they want to engineer flawless systems, create marketing campaigns that shine, bring secondary infection rates to zero, and a dozen other inspiring things.
Why? Because we want to feel confident, competent and relevant.
How do we get that? By sitting down and doing the work. There’s no escaping it.
Whatever our position is, there’s work to be done. That’s just a fact. How we think about that work drives the way we feel as we approach each task. That’s a huge game changer there.
You can tell yourself that you’re an amazing fireball at work but if you don’t believe it, that kind of thinking isn’t going to help. So it’s not enough to chant some happy horse stuff about how great you are. You gotta be real up in there.
You gotta ask yourself some hard questions, like “Would I pay me this much to do what I do?” If the answer is no, you better be doing some follow up work. For instance, ask yourself what you would have to deliver to actually earn that bank.
One thing I always want to know is – How can I do my job better?
I’m stunned at the number of people I know who don’t ask that question during their reviews. It’s sad, but some people think admitting they have room to grow is a sign of weakness.
Here’s what’s weak – not working when you’re supposed to be on the clock. Here’s what’s lame – working yourself to death on the wrong task. Here’s what’s a shame – putting your head on the pillow at night knowing you didn’t bring it that day.
We all have days when we do one or all three of these. I don’t care who you are. If you’re growing, you’re mucking something up. That’s where your opportunities are and you can’t find them if you won’t look for them.
There’s a bright side to all this though.
Showing up, crushing your day, and giving your work a smackdown feels mind-blowingly good. Why? Because then when you tell yourself you’re an awesome desk warrior with a mean code stack, you believe it. Great thoughts about your bad self feel amazeballs.
The crazy good part is that when you believe that stuff, and you think like that, you show up, step up, work hard and leave the work day high-fiving yourself.
Which is why, nobody ever tells me that they just want to be average.
You can sit down, get to work, deliver results, and step right into that cycle. If you don’t think you’re kickin’ it at work, then start with one of these:
– I’m going to be better today than I was yesterday. – I’m going to do the one thing that will create the most value today – or my favorite: Enough already. Today I’m going to sit down and crush it.
From there, you move right into feeling focused, valuable, determined and from there, you take action. What you do at work has meaning. It creates results. All it takes is one day, crushing it to get you back in the saddle. So as we celebrate all things work, think about the days you most enjoyed on the job. I bet you a free hour on your calendar that you were focused and working well.
OK…but working hard means I work too late. What about a home life?
Hell yeah. You should have that too. Straight up. You gotta break the back of the belief that doing a great job is painful.
How do you disconnect them? You look to your own brain. Ask it to solve for the best of everything.
The absolutely magic question for this labor day is – How can I be smackin’ the cover off the ball at work and have the life of my dreams?
When you set your big, beautiful, creative, imaginative, puzzle-solving brain looking for the answer to that, you win. But rest assured, the solution will include work: smart, focused excellent work.
And that? Is just the best way to labor.