Thoughts from last 2 weeks.
Great artists generally love to work and love to create work. But it’s not uncommon for many people to speak about hating their work; it’s easy for people to think work is tiring and boring and unsatisfying. People work more efficiently and succeed when engaged in work that they love or work that they perform for someone whom they love. Whenever the element of Love enters into any work the quality immediately improves and the quantity often increases without a corresponding boredom or fatigue caused by that work. Remember the commendable saying that if you do more than what you are paid for you will grow. The reverse is also true for those that render less service than what they are paid for.
Often when things do not go our away at work we start to blame others, the real causes of our failures. Instead of accepting full responsibility for our mistakes and failures many have often thought in their mind, heck I don’t need this job, I don’t like the way people are treating me so I’m going to quit. In fact I have a friend that wrote a book that was entitled F*** You Money. When I asked him what the title meant he said it’s about making enough money so you can tell your boss to F*** you. I personally would never say that to someone that was kind enough to offer me a living and put food on my table, but the title obviously appeals to many people since he tested different names for the book before he launched it. When people start to hate their jobs they feel small and then they often start to hate the people that put food on their table and employ them. This is a vicious circle that leads to a downward quality of work. If we bring an element of gratitude for having a job, an opportunity to serve and grow and then we naturally are grateful to our employers, and the people that pay us which often ultimately is the customers of the business. When we lose gratitude for the simple blessings in life this often leads to a drop in the work satisfaction and in living dissatisfaction. I remember how hard it was simply to get a job in the first place and all the struggle, I promised myself that I would never be ungrateful even for the most menial jobs. To this day I still have lovely feelings and relationships with my very first employers. I view my first two employers Bernard Dietrich, Colin Goldie and all my wonderful clients as kind people that have helped me grow and at the same time feed my children. I actually visualize them as putting food in the mouths of the 2 guys I love the most, my 2 sons. How could you not love someone that feeds your family? If you love your customers and employer and anyone that has been genuinely kind like this, it will show in your work and your love of work. I also viewed my college instructors and employees as lovely individuals that are on my team. I’ve always had great respect for all my teachers, team members, advisors and dear friends that have helped me learn life-long lessons, they have also helped feed my boys.
