Convicted About Hard Work

Multi-tasking is a lie & Don't be a stripper.

Coach Mike swims with me on Tuesday mornings. I should probably say that I swim with Coach Mike on Tuesday mornings, but I invited him first. So he swims with me.

One recent Tuesday morning, I arrived late and Mike had been swimming for 23 minutes without me. I apologized for being late, and hopped into the shallow end to begin my warm up. Mike kept swimming.

I spent a nice solid 100 yards slamming my hand into the water, attempting to create the perfect explanation of my busy life, my new responsibility as a mentor, the struggles I am having (creating) with my boyfriend, resulting in a final perfect excuse for not attending Monday’s practice, and rationalizing my late arrival to Tuesday’s practice. There is a lot of thinking time when you swim.

We simultaneously reached the deep end, and paused. I started on my eloquent Excuse Providing Speech. Mike quickly interrupted.

“Cheeley, just get here. You can’t work if you don’t show up.”

Oh. True. So true.

He didn’t care if I was late, or tired, or in a bad mood, or fat, or bleeding, or crying. Coach Mike just wants me to show up.

I spent the next 200 yards and 4 mile run, convicting myself about Hard Work. Here are the headliners:

Just show up

... to the gym, to that meeting, to that class, to that hike, to that reunion, to that appointment. Don’t call and reschedule. Don’t no call, no show. Don’t skip. It is better to be there unprepared, late, or ugly, than to not be there at all.

Replace your shame

Shame - Free

It is OK to have a job where you have terrible hours and low pay and society doesn’t consider it worthy. Not stripping. Don’t be a stripper. But jobs like McDonalds, front desk, landscaping, camp, mechanical, repair, sewage, night security, or pizza delivery… those jobs NEED people. Do those jobs with pride, and be your best. That job won’t last forever. That job is not beneath us. I learn valuable skills like scheduling, registers, trouble-shooting, and training development. They require hard work. Shame-free hard work.

Making Money

For some unknown reason, I thought I was supposed to find a life where I work very little, and make a lot.

Nope.

Maybe after I turn 55. Maybe. But at 25 with a college degree, I work anywhere between 7 and 13 hours per day, 4 - 7 days per week. That’s reality.  

Multi-tasking is a lie

Some people can do one thing really fast, and that looks like multi-tasking. Multi-tasking does not exist. Start one task, complete that task, advance to the next task. Somebody saw me moving around quickly and commented, “Oh, well, you seem like you are really good at multi-tasking.” I stopped and said, “No. I don’t believe in multi-tasking. I do one thing at a time, and I do it effectively.”  

Do what you love

Personally, I am arguing with myself over this one. Should we all do what we love? Should some of us suck it up and do what we hate? Do we just make money on something that needs to be done to pay for what we love? I don’t have this answer. Doing what I love makes me happy. The things that make me happy simultaneously exhaust me. Then people make me relax, which I hate.

One last cool quote: "Hard work spotlights the character of people: Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." - Sam Ewing, a baseball player