The way we work and why it matters

Let me ask you a question...which is more important: the job you do or the way you do it?

In my final year of university, I was 95% sure that  wasn't going to be a physio once I graduated (ha!) and I decided that I was going to make every effort to just enjoy that year. The previous few years, I had worked ridiculously hard. I had studied for exams weeks in advance, I had handed in assignments early, I had sacrificed social events to get work done and I was over it. So, I decided that I wasn't going to strive for great marks any more, because, as long as I passed, did it really even matter? 

The problem, I discovered, was that, the way I worked seemed to be engrained into me. I couldn't not do it. Maybe I eased off a little, had a bit more of a social life, but I still worked, I still studied. I didn't want to put my name to anything that I thought I could have done more on.

Through school, uni, work, rugby, I have seen a vast variety of work ethics. On one side are the people who get up at 5:30 to train or study and never complain about it. On the other, people who put in the bare minimum and spend most of their time being negative about their job, their co-workers, their boss. 

I am the most guilty of this at times, and I've been challenged about that lately. 

I can point out the things that are wrong and make excuses for my attitude: I'm stuck being a physio when I really want to be a writer, other people have it easier, I have to listen to people complain all day, I have to stand in the rain for a rugby match...but good work ethic has little to do with your position and everything to do with your perspective.

What is it it that makes a good work ethic; how can you tell the difference between someone who has a strong work ethic and someone who doesn't have one at all? I think there are many factors:
                                                  integrity                              
                                                                honesty
                                              commitment

                                                       responsibility

                                                initiative

                                                            reliability

                                            discipline

                                                             respect

                                                cooperation

Over the years that I've worked with rugby teams, the variations in work ethics have been blatantly obvious. I see the boys who show up to training early, who respect the coaches (no matter who is listening), who take the responsibility for their injuries (and show up on time to their physio appointments!), who actively seek feedback and learn from criticism, who are in it for the team. And then I see the ones who hang around the changing sheds until the last moment before they have to go out to train, who come to me two minutes before kick off and tell me they've had a sore shoulder all week, who train at half the effort after being told they're on the bench this week, who blame the coaches when they've played a bad game, who never put in the extras and who only put in what is required when someone is watching. 

And I've seen that 90% of the time, work ethic is a key determinant for success.

I'm not saying that you have to work yourself into the ground. That's not ok. When you look up people who show examples of great work ethic, you find a whole lot of stories of people who work 100 hour weeks, who never take time off (even on the weekends), who haven't had holidays for 7 years. But I actually don't think that is admirable, because I think that, part of a good work ethic involves taking responsibility for looking after yourself. Working crazy amounts of hours is simply not healthy. 
A few years ago, I was training to run a half marathon. You would think, being a physio, I would be sensible about it, but no. I ran every day, pushing myself. A couple of months into training, I started to get pain in my shin. Usually though, if I could get through the first five minutes of my run, it would go away...until I stopped and could barely walk. But I convinced myself that, since I could run through it, it didn't matter how sore I was after. Until I realised that I couldn't walk down one step on a good day. I eventually got it checked out, discovered a stress fracture and had to give up the running for 8 weeks. Pushing too hard rarely leads to success. 

To finish off, I want to share one of my favourite quotes, said by Martin Luther King Jr.:

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well. 

Whatever your job, whatever you do in life, do it well.

The world is your lobster (the final part)

Where to go? What to do? Who to be?

I would love to be able to give you the answers to all the questions about the right thing for you. Unfortunately, I can't because really, what works for one person will not work for another. But I'd love a shot at suggesting some tools to use to help with your decisions. 

First, find the balance between relying on people and their opinions and ignoring them. Think about who you trust, who is invested in you, who cares and has a genuine interest in how your life turns out. Maybe it's also appropriate to ask yourself how much you believe in their wisdom. Have they made good decisions in their lives?

Second, don't discount options because they seem difficult or a bit left field. Don't rush into them either. 

Thirdly, work out what is important to you and remember that that is not necessarily what is important to those around you. And that's ok. Is it a place to settle? Is it opportunities to travel? Is it being with a lot of people? Is it constant stimulation? Is it working for justice? What is important in your life? 

Do that.

Fourthly, work out what you're good at. This is difficult because often we can't see the things we're incredibly talented at because they just seem like second nature to us. On the other hand, often we think we're good at something till we discover that our singing voice is very different in the shower than it is in front of an audience. Ask other people, people you know will be honest with you. Be prepared to hear truths.

Lastly, work out what you love doing. What can you do and not notice the time go by? I realised I wanted to write one Sunday. I had started writing some thoughts down after lunch and look up, what seemed like 10 minutes later, and realised that it was 9 pm and was pitch black. If you don't know what that thing is, try something new. Or lots of somethings new! I'm not going to say that you will love every job all the time, but it's worth a shot.

 The best career advice given to the young is: Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it. 

Katherine Whitehorn

The world is your lobster (Part 5)

Balance

This is going to be one of those posts that, as I write, I feel like a little bit of a hypocrite. One of those posts in which I believe what I'm telling you and know the theory, but when it comes to the practise, I'm not quite there yet. I'm better than I used to be, but I have a long way to go...

So, how do you find that balance? How do you stop yourself from being worked into the ground? Is there a correct amount of work?

When I first came to New Zealand, I started working straight away, and I didn't stop. I was working 8-5, 5 days a week. 2 nights during the week, I would continue work at rugby training and then, every Saturday, would spend most of the  day working at a rugby match. For a few weeks of the year, I would work with 2 rugby teams, meaning 4 nights of training per week plus Saturday games. And I was exhausted. I had no physical energy left, let alone mental or emotional energy, so, when it came to spending time with people, going to church, writing, doing anything other than work, I had nothing left to give.

Three years into that pattern, I realised that something had to be done. I couldn't carry on as I was. So, I decided to cut out a day of work. Since that time, I have worked 4 days instead of 5, and I may not be there yet, but it's a start. Having that day gives me time to think, time to breathe, time to exercise, time to go to the post office, time to spend with the people I want to spend time with, time to write.

That was part of the solution for me, but your solution (if you need one), may look very different. I think the first step is looking at why we get so busy. One person's reasons will not be the same as the next, but ask yourself these questions: is work an escape - a way to run away and hide from life? Do you secretly praise yourself for your busyness? If you had no job to go to tomorrow (and money wasn't an issue), what would scare you most? Does your work define who you are in an unhealthy way? What is important to you in life? Does your work allow you to honour those things?

The answers to these questions might give you a hint as to whether something needs to change and what that something is. But, don't leave it till it's too late: till you're on medication to control your stress, till you have no close friends, till you have no hobbies, till your work has defined you so much that you don't know who you are. Don't keep on going until you're forced to stop.

Find your balance. 

It may be one of the most important things you do.