I saw this on Seth Godin’s blog recently. Immediately the last question struck me. What if we actually had time to do the work that we really found meaningful and important?
What if I could focus on the work I get to do rather than the work I have to do?
Get to vs. Have to
The “get to” mentality is something I learned from the culture in my Crossfit gym. We see the workout of the day (WOD) and we groan, “Ugh, we have to do burpees?” My coach then replies with a grin, “No! You GET to do burpees!” Cheesy as it seems, this actually worked for me. Instead of complaining about my least favorite movement, I was thankful that my body was capable and athletic enough to perform such a movement. The fact that I get to train daily with awesome coaches in a challenging yet fun atmosphere is humbling, and I welcomed the idea of embracing gratitude.
Eventually I translated this type of thinking to my work life as well. The dreaded “death by meetings” instead felt like taking advantage of opportunities to be collaborative, inclusive, and collegial. Shifting my mindset did soften the blow, but let’s keep it real. At the end of the day the tedious upkeep and the administrative side of science is not why I get up in the morning. But what if? What if I could spend a decent chunk of my day doing what I want to do? What if my day was filled with the stuff I actually GET to do, not just the repackaged have-tos?
What if?
Settling & Sacrifice
I started thinking about Seth Godin’s question to us about making sacrifices rather than settling. When I look at my day-to-day there’s probably something that feels extremely urgent that can actually wait. There are very likely a few fires that I was intending on extinguishing today, that will not set the world ablaze or destroy my whole career if they burned for another 24 hours. Even though I feel like I have no time, I could likely create the time to do something important, something meaningful.
What if?
Isn’t all work meaningful? We don’t spend our days filled with meaningless tasks (I hope). Each item on our to-do lists should have a good reason for being there. They have some meaning and still ultimately need to get done. Should we make the necessary sacrifices to change things? I say, Why not? Functionally, we’re already sacrificing now. We are sacrificing potential times to do fulfilling work whenever we settle for doing something that must be done. “Well, I didn’t get to work on the manuscript or the grant like I wanted, but I extinguished nine fires!” That’s something! We can call that a win! And it’s true, that is a win.
But what if we slightly changed the objective of the game? What if a true win was making the tiniest nanoscopic progress toward work that really mattered to you. (Not just work that you get to do, but the kind of work you’re begging and itching to do.)
What if you moved some things around and you started TODAY?!
Just 15 to 20 minutes is all you need for a true win. What if you let one small fire linger until tomorrow and fought for the opportunity to do something important today?
Schedule it now. Then keep scheduling it.
Keep showing up for yourself.
Keep showing up for your important work every day.
Imagine the type of change this could create in your work life. Think of the effect it would have on you to know you’re doing the work you love. Think about the ramifications if you’re able to garner that feeling of purpose and satisfaction day after day after day. Then think about the resulting cascade of confidence and all the other potential positive effects just compounding on each other.
What if…