EMAIL #155 - 6TH FEBRUARY 2022 - "LOVE YOUR WORK"
Hi Team,
A recent article written by James Clear ("Atomic Habits" author & blogger) contained an alarming statistic that 70% of people don't like the work they do. (This is an American statistic, but I suspect the % is very similar in Australia).
For someone that loves the work they do (i.e., me), this statistic is shocking and unfathomable. How can this be true?? If so, many people don't like the work they do, why don't they change their job? Unfortunately, in real life it's not that simple or black and white. Life gets in the way. Life gets complicated, and you lose sight of your goals and what really matters to you.
"If you don't know what you are looking for you will never find it." Unknown
Exactly two years ago I wrote a Weekly Email titled "The Importance of Doing Productive Work", where I proposed that consistently doing productive and meaningful work gets you out of bed each morning feeling motivated and engaged and gives your life a sense of purpose. But nothing lasts forever, passion fades, purpose dwindles and complacency seeps in overtime. So, the real challenge becomes, how do you keep your work meaningful and productive for the long term, and how do you turn your passion into a lifelong carrier??
James Clear puts forward the theory that doing meaningful work over several decades only comes from having a good understanding of who you are and what you want. This means you must be self-aware, i.e., know what you are naturally good at and enjoy doing as well as an honest and realistic sense of what you are not good at doing? You must also have a clear understanding of your core values and what really matters to you. His final recommendation is to know what success looks like for yourself and to have clearly defined goals and a plans for how to get there.
"Work for a cause not for applause. Live life to express not to impress." Unknown
For me the key to long-term meaning in the work we do comes from constantly improving what we do. One of our core values at DDB is the concept of kaizen, which means making constant small improvements to what we do. An example in building is, "there is no such thing as a perfectly hung door". There are always little improvements we can make and different tools and techniques we can try when we are hanging doors, and that's what keeps it interesting and meaningful.
"Show up enough times to get the average ideas out of the way and every now and then genius will reveal itself." James Clear
Practice and improvement over a long time is the only real path to satisfaction and meaning in your work. James Clear's advice is what he calls "the re-work” which makes the real difference and adds the extra polish to the work you do. Reviewing and revising what you do is the extra step that allows the task to be improved again and again, which means you never stop striving for perfection and that your work is never truly done...
"Do or do not.
There is no try."
Yoda
Thanks for reading,
Stay safe and re-work everything.
David
