'I Hate This Job!'

Mike Corthell, Editor & Publsher

I hate doing this... It stresses me out... It's sooo boring... 

Every time  I hear one or all of these from someone about their work, I want to say and sometimes do, "Who cares?"

But then I remember that I say and think these things at times too - really!  And because I want to give people the break I want to be given ... I back off most of the time and turn it on myself...

I remind myself that I want to live a complaint-less and be ego-less. I want my life and work to be about making good things happen for other people and in turn, make good things happen for myself.

You see that guy in the bucket to the left?

He was de-icing a plane at the Portland International Jetport. I'm pretty confident it's not very exciting or enjoyable work. But it needs to be done. As do most of those pieces of your work (and my work) that we find boring, don't enjoy or stress us out.

So how do we get over ourselves more and remember our obligation to that bigger-than-ourselves picture (We're here to make good things happen for other people.)? Maybe we think a little less of ourselves and a little more of others. Maybe we remember more often that most of us are pretty lucky.

Maybe we acknowledge that we're not entitled to everything being perfectly wonderful at all times. Maybe we remember that just because we don't enjoy every minute of our work doesn't mean we can't be more enjoyable (and valuable) to the people around us.

Maybe we realize more often that the opportunity to work (to be of service to others) is a good thing.

I hope you're having a good week. 

One more thought...

I was thinking about those jobs that we sometimes envy; professional athletes, musicians, writers & artists, creative roles, leadership, etc. They all have their unenviable  stressful, and boring components, don't they?

• Professional athletes ... the drills, the practice, the pounding.
• Rock stars ... the practice, the travel, the changing tastes of audiences, the redundancy (imagine how excited Bruce Springsteen is about singing Born in the U.S.A.).
• Writers, artists, creatives ... the continued need for something new, the dependence on market acceptance, the criticism, the work behind the scenes that never gets seen in order to create the things that are seen.
• Leaders ... being seen, judged, and held to a higher standard, having the right vision, being responsible for the things that go wrong, making the right decisions and remaining confident when they're wrong.

And remember, those who make it to the top of their profession ... most dealt well with many many years of difficulty and challenge before they got there.