make this year the best year ever!!
TRANSCRIPT
Make this year the best year ever!!
Many people find the Christmas break to be a life-changer for many reasons. For many, it’s because they read a particularly inspiring book. For others, the very fact their mind isn’t thinking about work problems means they have time to think.
For whatever the reason, going back to work can be a time of new promise and opportunity. But for some, the rut of doing the same job day-in, day-out will just continue. However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
IT’S NOT ABOUT GETTING A NEW JOB
At this time of year it seems all the advice is about getting a new job, starting a new career or even quitting work altogether and taking a different path.
Some people will launch a new business, buy a franchise or in some way eschew the 9-5 in favour of something more liberating. However you can make life better for yourself in your current job just as easily, things don’t have to be the way they were forever.
I’ll tell you a story I learnt from a friend some time back.
He was working as a data input clerk for a temping agency. He sat in an office banging in the same data each day every week together with another guy. One day the IT manager walked in and asked if someone would be willing to nip over to the other side of the building and reset a router.
My friend (let’s call him Joe) said “yes”. The other guy (Dave) kept his head down. When Joe returned from doing the job, Dave said “you’re not being paid for that; they’re taking advantage of cheap labour.”
Joe shrugged it off. It was a bit more entertaining that data input anyway and it broke the day up. As it happens, there were a few more little jobs like these that came up.
This is my job, see? THIS!
The first few instances the IT manager would ask both of them and Joe would volunteer, Dave simply shrunk in his seat and moaned later about it. Eventually, they only asked Joe, it was easier.
Within a few months, a permanent position became available, and Joe now had a few more positive features. Not only was he a data input clerk, he could also handle server reboots, help people with their PC and sort out other technical issues. Dave’s contract ended; Joe got a job as a systems analyst.
THE MORAL OF THIS STORY?
Some would read this and say that Joe was lucky. In some companies, there would be a tendency to use a person's goodwill simply for cheap labour, and they’d probably be right. However, Joe had a career in mind, and he could see that by doing those small jobs he was building his experience.
Joe has a simple attitude to his life. The job he has now is simply a journey to the next job. It might not be at another company, but he will be looking to see how he can improve all the time. Maybe it’s in his interests to do this, maybe he’ll get more money, but that only work if he improves something for the business.
Many people see their job simply as a means to an end. They go to work, do work, go home. Others take a far more radical view. Rather than being no more than a robot, instead show how they can add value to the business. Through time, this will be seen, and the benefits gained.
Importantly, although Joe does well and has now held many great jobs, none of his career targets have been money. Money naturally motivates a lot of people, but for Joe the real enjoyment comes from doing something new.
If he can find a way to improve a product or service and it brings him higher salaries or a better job then so be it, but for him, it’s that improvement that’s the payment.
Maybe if we all had an attitude like Joe, not only could this be the best year ever but each year after that could bring improvement upon improvement.
