Good morning! I hope your day is starting off just right.
This has been a week of pretty intense work. It happens that way sometimes. Assignments are coming in as fast as you can handle them, and they’re all the kind that requires a lot of thought and effort. It’s not always fun when you’re in the middle of it, but it does make you realize why the company pays you to do this job.
I’ve often said that, especially at this age, we don’t work for a paycheck as much as we work for the satisfaction of knowing we made a difference. Sure, pay is important. But so is the personal gratification that comes from making the most of your skills to do the job well.
We do the same thing off the job, whether we realize it or not. Raising kids is one of those areas of life where you have to constantly tap your knowledge and experience and pull out the very best from your bag of tricks to do the best job possible. That’s not to say you’re doing anything deceptive. Just that you learn (sometimes the hard way) the best approach for each situation.
When I cut the grass, I tap on more than fifty years of experience. When I work on the car, I know exactly which tools I’ll need and when to use them. When I paint a room, I know why it’s important to cut in around the ceiling and baseboards before I grab the roller. And I know the value of a drop cloth placed carefully over upholstered furniture. As I said, some lessons we learn the hard way.
My granddaddy always used to say if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing right. Everything we do is worthy of our best effort. Whether it’s something major, like building a storage shed from scratch, or something as routine as going to the grocery store, if we have to do the job anyway, why not give it our best effort? And in doing that, we build the experience to do it even better the next time.
Until they change up all the aisles in the grocery store and move everything where you can’t find it. Stores love to do that. It’s their way of keeping you in the store a little longer so you’ll see items you’d normally walk right past as you search for the items you want. They’ve learned that, by moving things around a little, you’ll pick up a few extra items along the way.
Now the stores are offering a service where you don’t even have to go inside to shop. It doesn’t matter where everything is hidden, because all you have to do is go online and tell them what you want, then sit in the parking lot while they load the groceries into your car. In fact, some are now offering in-home delivery where they bring the groceries in the house and put them away.
It’s all about standing above the competition, doing the job a little better than anybody else. And they’ve learned that times are changing, and some people really don’t like to shop. Brick & mortar retailers have put a lot of effort into building a strong online presence because more and more, people prefer the convenience of shopping from home.
But what would happen if the grocery store put its worst picks of produce and fattiest cuts of meat into your order, leaving the “pretty” stuff for customers who took time to go inside and pick out their own groceries? Not only would you stop using their online service, you’d probably find someplace else to shop and they’d lose your business for good. They know that.
So, again, if the job is worth doing, it’s worth doing the job right. It’s worth going the extra mile. And we all do it. What services do you offer, either on the job or off, to make people appreciate your effort and give them confidence in your ability to do the job just a little better than anybody else?
Some people bring donuts to work. That’s always a pleasant surprise. Some wipe down the counter as they’re waiting on coffee to brew. Maybe you take a little extra time to highlight areas of a report that you know the boss will want to see. Maybe you add a special ingredient into your family’s dinner. And maybe, instead of just reading a book to a toddler, you read it with enthusiasm.
All through the day, we do things for the benefit of others. We don’t do it just to stay busy. We do it for the satisfaction of a job well done and maybe to gain a little appreciation along the way. If you’re going to do the job anyway, give it your best. It’s a habit that’ll spill over to other areas of life where that extra effort could make all the difference in the world.
That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!
© 2019 Dave Glardon – All rights reserved
Dave Glardon 