Tag Archives: Jobs

Never Do Things You Don’t Believe In!

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This issue should be in need of no debate or a post trying to explain this self-evident truth.

But give me a second to explain!

Too many people are trapped in jobs and chores which they don’t believe in.  Sadly in many cases, too many have never paused for a second and asked themselves if they believe in what they do.

Many reasons exist for why people don’t believe in what they do. But a common thread is that many people treat what they do as an end in itself and not a means to an end. In essence, many people have never asked and answered their why of why they do what they do.

This shows in the level dedication and enthusiasm brought to task and chores in which they are involved. Sure many might give what is expected of the chores or jobs in which they are involved but rarely do they go above and beyond and give more than is required of them.

But its when people totally believe in what they do that they would go beyond and above what is required. Its in this territory that people begin realizing their potential. Furthermore, its when people believe in what they do with conviction that most other considerations become secondary and they develop a driver which can weather weather many challenges.

Believing in what you do with conviction can take on different forms. For example, someone in the medical field can believe in what they do because they see it as a means towards reliving people with the most chronic and debilitating ailments. Or people in the engineering field can believe that engineering innovations are key in making society better. In both cases, both professions were simply a means towards an end.

In recent years, one of my mantras has become to never do what I don’t believe in.  I guess this kind of goes with my nature of never showing too much enthusiasm for chores which are not really of my choosing. Thus, if you see me doing something and giving my time and effort its because I believe in it with all my heart.  If I don’t see something possibly good to come out from a task or can’t see a way in which it would aid some of my life goals and beliefs, I would never waste my time.

For those who have never really thought this issue through, a question which might be asked could be: how do I figure out if I believe in what I am doing?

Start by asking yourself what you want from life and what some of you goals are. Figure out what your core beliefs  and belief system is. List the core issues and causes you believe in. Think about what you would like to see different in your community or even the world. Then paint a picture – or rather articulate – of what you see as the end results and destination of your goals. Then ask yourself how you can being moving towards that destination considering the tools and resources you have and begin moving towards that destination.

Obviously reaching it would not happen right away and things will probably change along the way as you gain better understanding or some of your starting assumptions change. But along this journey, for ever chore you do, ask a simple question: is what I am doing a dead end or a means towards my goals and aspirations? If the answer is negative, develop a way of changing course or even totally abandon what you are doing.

Below You And Beyond You

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One thing I tend to see and also hear about are people who think certain things such as jobs and some task are simply “below them” and not things they can do. I sincerely feel sad for people with such sentiments because of their short term thinking and how they lock themselves out of possible opportunities which can help them get on in life.

I’m not really someone to air the in and outs of my life for public consumption. Its simply not part of my nature. But I can say in my entrepreneurial journey so far – something which if I never took the plunge now I know would never happen – one of the best lessons I’ve learnt so far is taking on task which some people might deamn as “below them” or even degrading. I can say that such helped me massively at those points in time and I don’t know where I would be now without such and I came out a much better person.

Look at it this way. For task which some people say are below them, they might miss out on gaining experience and key skills which can help them move up the ladder of life. They might even miss out on chance encounters with people who might change their lives and accelerate their career advancement in ways which might not have been possible through conventional routes.

People saying somethings are “below them” does not only happen on jobs which might not match what people think they are truly worth.  People saying somethings are “below them” happen within jobs they believe they are worth when ask to do small office task or task which they believe they should not be doing. The secret to overcoming this is never to complain or talk about how your job title does not include some task you are asked to do.  People are watching and its small things like that which count in big ways eventually. So, just do it!

I have a law, which I am sure exist all over the place in different forms: if you deamn somethings below you, many better things are going to be above you and out of your reach. 

Drop the mentality of somethings being below you. Do what you have to do when you have to do it and go to lengths – once obviously within ethical bounds – which very few people will go in order to advance in life. Most importantly, always have a positive attitude and believe that things will be better tomorrow regardless of how things seem and also believe its in your capacity to help in bringing about a better tomorrow.