WORKING HARD FOR YOUR MONEY

Good Morning Bloggers.

I think for me, the most important thing is that a) You have to be prepared to work. Don’t expect a handout! No-body got anything meaningful in life by sitting on their butts waiting for work to fall like manna from the sky. Life does not work like that. Then comes b), which is to find your passion and if you ca,n the first prize of course is to work at something that you really enjoy. By doing this you will find purpose and meaning to your life and finally c), no matter what you do in life, whether you are a street sweeper or a doctor, a domestic worker or the President of a Company, whether you are working at a job that is your life’s passion or just to put food on the table – do your very best. Take pride in the quality of the work that you do and do it to the very best of your ability. You may not be able to control the type of job that you do, but you are incomplete control of the quality of the work that you do. Be proud of that and you can hold your head up high and be proud of yourself.



Working hard for your money

John Mullins

22 February 2007 at 11h00

Every now and then I stop and think about the really tough jobs people do. Often it is the toughest jobs that are least rewarded. Have you ever thought of how hard it must be to work as a firefighter or, even worse, a police officer in South Africa? These guys are constantly in the news and on talk shows explaining how they face the most extreme of physical and psychological conditions, and yet they receive some of the most pitiful of salaries out there.

Tough physical work is not, however, a guaranteed formula for poor pay. On the opposite side of the scale, you find people earning great salaries and also working in tough conditions.For example, there are some engineering jobs where money is lavishly dished out, and where conditions are extreme, such as on oil rigs in the North Sea, or construction projects in war-torn Middle Eastern countries.

There are thousands of examples where performance and reward is often skewed one way or the other. Some have it easy and some have it tough. And then there are also people who are not even sure if they are going to get paid at all. Just stop and think about the poor folks who are working for companies that have been placed under curatorship, or who face liquidation.

They come into work each day wondering if they'll receive a salary when payday comes around. But why would they even contemplate coming to work if there was any doubt over their salary? That's a fair question and, as far as I can gather, it's mostly because people become quite attached to the work they do. There's a kind of emotional bond built up between the work they do and themselves. It feeds their egos and personality and it's not easy to let go of. Okay, so you do get those that simply see work as a means to an end. They are the ones who are the first to leave when things go a little pear shaped.

True, no one should expect to work for nothing, and yet some do. There's either something incredibly heroic about these people, or something completely stupid. The ones I want to focus on are the heroes - although I'm bound to mention the stupid ones too, just for laughs. In the past week I have encountered some of them. In the midst of a very messy business closure, where money was clearly unavailable for salaries, there were some folks who spent hours every day counselling others in a formal, well-organised programme, knowing that they themselves were unlikely to be paid.



Did it detract from their professionalism? No way. Did they make a massive difference to the lives of others? Absolutely. Should they have been rewarded? Without doubt. But they themselves were dismissed a few days later without payment. There is something deep down in these people that allows them to see past the money. It draws them closer to the really important stuff in their jobs. They are truly in touch with the more meaningful aspects of their work and I can only hope that one day, soon, they find well-paid work because they deserve it.

What I wanted to get across is that there is something in all of us that can connect deeply with the work we do. The only way to find it is to explore both your job and yourself. The stupid ones don't exactly see past the money. They hang on, desperately hoping to be paid, because that is their only goal. Work for them is meaningless and, without pay, they are lost. This is the last thing you'd want to experience in work.

If this is your reality, all I can say is take a long look at your job and wake up. There is a better world out there for you.This week I heard, in the midst of all the trauma, a very appropriate saying - "plan, or be planned for". I know you all work hard for your money, but for goodness sake, let it be meaningful work.

· John Mullins can be reached on john@dnalearning.net