The Job Doesn't Make Us, We Make the Job

I see this all too often, people are hired for skills and abilities, they are fired for their bad attitude. In this day and age, we can't even settle for indifference in a job - we must come to work fired up and ready to take on the job we signed up for. Starting a job, people come to interviews and the first few days of work with, as my mother would say, company manners, full of ideals, ideas and interest. Then over the course of time, for some shorter than others, interest and motivations are lost.

I recently heard a story about a young man who wanted to produce movies. From a small child, he told everyone that he would be a producer. He went to college and studied film making, graduated and got a job with one of the major networks. Today, he is one of the mail room staff, he starts at 4:30 AM and delivers mail. At first, his parents were very upset, after all he was a college graduate and now he was delivering packages for a living. However, the parents visited him on a work day. The young enthusiast bounded through his work with a light step and an eager hand. People knew him by name, they even sought him out. They commented to his parents how valuable he was and that he made their job and their life so much easier. After that day, the parent introduced their son to everyone a person who was helping to make movies.

I took away from this simple story some profound tips.

1. Know you passion.
2. Set goals
   
3. Appreciate that there is work involved and enjoy it.
4. Act as if you are a contribution and that any task is valuable.
5. Be pleasant, polite and yes eager.
6. Get feedback.
7. Let others know that your work is important.

Time and time again, we get tired of the job because we forget our purpose. Keep focused on your purpose and whether you are carrying packages from the basement or the board room, your job will have meaning and success.