There’s an old country song titled Do What You Do Do Well, which can be interpreted two ways: one is to do only what we do well, the other is that whatever we do, we should do it well. The former interpretation can be dismissed because doing only what we do well would mean never trying anything new, thereby seriously limiting our potential. So the title lyrically says we should always do the best we can, with what we have, wherever we are, and whatever we may be doing. Not only does this approach work wonders, a task well done is always a satisfying experience.
The next time you’re faced with a boring chore, instead of just going through the motions, enthusiastically dig in and consider ways to improve your effectiveness and efficiency. The result may amaze you.
Consistently doing our best is a key component of success. So, how do we do that? First, we must continuously add to our store of knowledge and arsenal of skills. But most importantly of all, we must always do the best we can.
Hard work without ability is difficult, but ability without hard work is a shame. Athletes with tremendous ability who never win a trophy and whose teams never win a championship are a good example. They don’t consistently perform to their full potential, and therefore never make the most of their abilities. In some cases, their skills actually diminish. And there are lots of other examples, such as technicians who don’t keep up with changing technology with the result that someone else gets the promotion. Or accountants and lawyers who don’t sufficiently develop their communication skills so never make partner.
Many years ago there was a cartoon in the syndicated newspaper feature Ripley’s Believe it or Not depicting an ordinary iron bar worth, at the time, about five dollars. The cartoon went on to point out that the iron bar made into horseshoes would be worth about twice as much, or $10. Made into sewing needles it would be worth $3,285. If it became balance springs for watches it would be worth a quarter of a million dollars, 50,000 times its original value! Of course this depiction of the uses for an iron bar is no longer relevant, but the message still holds true. The value of our abilities, just like that iron bar, depends entirely on what we do with them.
Hard work is a key ingredient in making the most of abilities, but in the long run it’s going to be the quality of work, not the volume, that determines our level of success. And the quality of our work is affected as much by our attitudes as it is by the levels of our knowledge and skills; perhaps even more so.
Also many years ago I overheard a conversation that aptly illustrates the importance of attitude. It involved two truck drivers, both of whom spent their days picking up cans of milk in the countryside and bringing them into town for the milk to be processed. One driver seemed bored with his work, was usually crabby and unhappy and not well-liked by his colleagues. The other was always in a good mood and widely liked. One evening after parking their trucks, the cranky driver asked the other why he always seemed to be in such a good mood. The other driver replied, “You went to work this morning, but I went for a drive in the country.”
It’s important to keep in mind that in the overall scheme of things even seemingly menial jobs are important in some way, otherwise they wouldn’t exist. Consider your job to be important and others will do so as well. Attitude is always noted by the people who matter.
We tend to judge ourselves by what we think we can do, but others judge us by what we actually do. People may forget how many tasks we started, but they’ll remember how many we finished; so be sure to finish them well.