Why working hard is hard when you don’t have anything to work hard at.

Jack Thompson
Jul 27, 2017 · 5 min read

I’m a hard worker. I figure I have always been a hard worker. Working hard has always been a competition for me. How can I finish this task faster than that person? How can I do it better? Will this help me get that promotion I wanted? I believe all of us, or at least most of us strive to be better than the person next to us. Mediocrity is not an innate human feature. I believe all of us want to work hard at something. We want to be able to look at something and say “yeah, I did that”, but finding that something is difficult. Working hard is hard when you don’t have anything to work hard at.

‘’Mediocrity is not an innate human feature.’’

Humans like meaningful work. Ryan Robinson writes, “If your work is something you love, it will give clarity, drive, and happiness to all aspects of your life. If your work is meaningful, you’ll be more likely to stick with it in the long run, which means you’re more likely to be successful as a result.” The meaningfulness of work is very subjective. It depends on what the worker finds to be rewarding, interesting, and morally-inlined.

Work that is rewarding provides a sense of accomplishment. Think back to when you were younger and building a bird house in wood shop ( I never experienced wood shop, but my dad tells me it was a real class at some point in time). You had to measure, cut, assemble, and paint all the different pieces of wood to build that bird house. It was hard work, but the reward of building that bird house was seeing it sit in your backyard with birds coming in and out of it as they pleased. It was rewarding. Work that is rewarding provides you with results that you can see. When was the last time you were proud of the results you got from your work?

Work that is interesting allows you to continue to grow. I would hope most people work a job that interests them, but I would also venture to say a lot of people just work to cash a paycheck. There is no growth in just showing up. There is only growth in active participation. I used to strongly believe in the saying “just show up”, but I soon realized that was only half true. In order to grow, you cannot be a sponge. You must search for knowledge with fervor. Providing interest is the mutual job of both the employer and the employee. The employer should actively allow employees to dive into the unknown. They should allow employees to input ideas that interest them. On the other hand, if an employee shows up day in and day out without interest, he is dead weight. He provides no interest, and therefore provides no growth. In fact, he sucks the interest away from the people around him. People like this have no place in the workplace and they have no place in your life. They should be let go of immediately. Does your job interest you?

“There is no growth in just showing up. There is only growth in active participation.”

You are more likely to work hard if your work aligns with your moral compass. Whatever work you do, you probably want it to sit right in your stomach when you go to sleep at night. If your work aligns with what you believe in, the odds that you stick with it skyrocket. Humans tend to work hard at things that they feel will make a difference. Helping people is our human nature. Don’t believe me? Look at this chart of volunteers after Hurricane Katrina hit. Why did people work so hard after Katrina? Because it was the right thing to do. When your work aligns with what you think is right, results are formed. When I think of someone who has a meaningful job I think of my mom. My mom works as a nurse at the NICU. The NICU is essentially the intensive care unit for really sick babies. If that’s not a meaningful profession than I don’t know what is. My mom is a terribly hard worker, you have to be when someone’s newborn baby’s life is on the line. I think the very nature of hard work comes down to what makes us feel good.

Katrina volunteers by the numbers

It’s time to take back control. You work hard for your boss, but do you work hard for yourself? Instead of slaving away in your cubicle, let’s refocus that energy into the areas of your life that are slacking. Not all of us are meant to be entrepreneurs or CEOs, some people are just better off working for someone else. Both are equally acceptable life paths, but you can still find a way to work hard for yourself. First, you have to willingly accept that you want to work hard. It has to be for you. It can’t be because of any external factor. Once you acknowledge that you want this, that you don’t want to live in mediocrity, you have to find the path that burns a fire in your soul. Hopefully that path consists of something that is rewarding, interesting, and morally-aligned, but maybe you are just working towards that dream job. You can still find that drive. Keep in mind the end picture, and remember why you started. In whatever you do, strive to make the biggest impact possible.

Work for me has always been a competition. I have had a couple different jobs in my short working career, and none of them have really provided me with interests, reward, or this deep sense of satisfaction, but I have started to feel these things when I work on my own business. I am still trying to make the shift from working hard for “the man” to working hard for myself. I may stumble along the way, but with consistency I will break the chain and find that working hard is easy when you have something to work hard at.

Food for thought

— — — — — — — — — — — —

  • When was the last time you were proud of the results you got from your work?
  • Does you job interest you?
  • What type of work would be fulfilling to me?

Jack Thompson

Written by

Young Entrepreneur | 20 | Founder of Mach Seven Media | Always learning

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