Work Harder

Work harder.

That struck me hearing it on the podcast I was listening to.

The host has said he identified himself as a hard worker, that this was part of his identity.

It was then that I realized along the way, sometime, somewhere, between the easy to do and the hurts like hell for the next three days, I had stopped working hard

Worse than that, I heard in my mind's eye, the number of times I had said I was lazy and would prefer to spend my time doing fun things and paying others to do the work.

When did I become this way?

Walmart. The opening of Walmart’s. That’s when I decided that and it changed the trajectory of my life. It was the late 1990's and I was standing in line for the first time at this discount supercenter out in suburbia. I was in the line up For 45 minutes and did not feel I was any closer to the check out than when I started.

It was then I had the thought, "How much am I paid an hour?" I was in a government job so I asked myself, how much would I be paid in the private sector? Then I asked myself, how much do I actually think I should be paid hourly? And right then, this was my first thought that this is not worth my time.

That may seem small and insignificant but it became bigger and included so much more. It went from not wanting to stand in line to then paying someone to shovel the snow, then cut the grass. Then to do odd jobs around the house like hanging a picture, blind or shelf. Always under the guise that my time is more valuable and just paying someone else to do this was okay.

Ultimately, I had excused and rationalized becoming lazy. And that mentality infiltrates other areas of our life so much so, we end up underperforming and underachieving.

I know you can’t be truly successful, competent or even an expert in an area without lots of sustained practice and work.

So yes, we have to do the little menial jobs and practice often to become competent. We have to apply ourselves 100% and work hard to get to that goal and destination.

A runner doesn’t break a record by hiring someone to practice the laps for them. We have to do the work.

So get deep and get honest. Are you rolling up your sleeves and getting down into the dirt? Or are you doing things half-assed, the lazy and easy way? Have you hired someone for the work you could and should be doing?

Are you in any way getting in the way of your own success?

'Cause how do you something is how you do everything.

So go roll up those sleeves and get to work today.