Today is "Flashback Friday" and I'll be sharing an article with you from April 7, 2011. Enjoy!
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Some of you may think of Elvis when you hear the
phrase, "Taking Care of Business" while others (like myself) think of
the song by Bachman Turner Overdrive (yeah, BTO sings TCB...I just love
all of these abbreviations).
And, you
may be wondering what this has to do with our current discussion on
LOVING WHAT YOU DO. Hang with me here...it's an easy leap on this one.
First
of all, remember, we have been talking about a video featuring a man
that worked as a janitor when he won the state lottery. What did he do?
He kept right on working his janitor job because of his love for the
track program and his desire to donate money to help build a new track
for the school. He had a PURPOSE and a PASSION for what he was doing so
it didn't matter to him that he didn't HAVE to keep working as the
janitor. He WANTED to!
That is when you know you are at your "dream job". When you don't HAVE to do it but you do it anyway.
Now
tell me, would being a JANITOR ever have been on your list of answers
as being anyone's "dream job"? Likely not. But it brings on the main
point of this whole discussion.
Here
it is: it doesn't matter what ANYONE else thinks about what you are
doing or what they think you SHOULD be doing. It's up to YOU to live
your dream, whatever it may be.
Now
then, most of us think of something far more elegant when we think of
our dream job, don't we? But, again, let me refer to a question I asked
early on in this series that SHOULD give you a clear view of your "dream
job" - If money were not an issue, what would you be doing?
Well? Surely by now you have come up with an answer to this question if you have been following this series.
But
the curve ball comes when we look at where we WANT TO BE and then at
where WE ARE and we don't like what we see. The "wanna' be" is a long
ways away from our "what is".
What then?
Yesterday
I suggested that it might be possible to learn to love what you are
doing even if you are not doing what you love (your "dream job"). I hope
you have thought about that.
On
yesterday's podcast I encouraged you to really try to brainstorm and
think of HOW you can approach your current job with excitement rather
than dread. WHAT CAN YOU DO to approach your day and your job with a
challenge so that you get out of the rut of whining and complaining?
One thing that may be absolutely necessary is to change who you hang around with at the office!
BREAK
FREE from those that do nothing but whine and complain but also never
lift a finger to try to improve their position or make any attempt to
actually do their best for the company.
How
many times have you heard someone say something like this (and YOU may
have been one of the ones to say it!): "Well, I'm not doing one thing
more than I have to! If I don't HAVE to do it then I'm not going to do
it!"
May I be blunt? What a loser mentality!
What if you decide to TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS RIGHT NOW where you are TODAY?
What if you decided to put 100% of your effort into doing the very BEST job that you can RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW?
What if you did this today, tomorrow and EVERY day from now on?
What do you think would happen?
I can tell what would happen - THINGS WOULD CHANGE!
You
don't need me to tell you what might change for you, do you? Take a
moment and write down everything you can think of that would change for
you if you adopted this approach.
Why
not STOP dreading the day at work and why not TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS when
you go to work today and start learning to love what you do (which is
simply loving the fact that you are living up to your potential!) until
you get to the point that you can finally have the "job of your dreams"
and do what you love.
Thing is, you just might find out that this "dream job" was right under your nose all along.
Think about it.
And, until next time, be sure to...
"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"
Mike