Will Your Work Ethic Help You or Haunt You?

Adopting a work ethic of “excellence” is a powerful and lasting tool.  Don’t confuse this with perfectionism. It is far different. Ironically, the “perfection” mindset can be “demoralizing and lead to burnout” according to Psychology Today. Since being “perfect” is not generally achievable, the “perfection” mindset actually leads to procrastination primarily due to the fear of failing. It also increases feelings of self-disappointment and saps us of drive and motivation.

As a stark contrast, approaching work with a mind toward excellence energizes your determination and significantly increases job enjoyment. No matter how mundane the task is or how much you may dislike your current job, knowing you did an excellent job has a lasting, positive effect. Plus, always embracing the “excellence” approach puts you on a lifelong trajectory of constant improvement and pride in your work product.

Comedian, Kevin Hart, in his New York Times bestseller, “I Can’t Make This Up”, gives a perfect example of the powerful impact an excellence mindset can have on your life.

During his high school swim team graduation ceremony, Hart watched his teammates who had worked harder than him receive many awards. They all had plans for their next step in life. Hart did not. That night, he was pretty down on himself.

After attending a community college for a few weeks, he was failing miserably and knew it was not for him. His mom required him to do something, so he walked into a sporting goods store and, drawing on his great personality, landed a job selling shoes. He liked the people he worked with and found he was a natural at talking to customers.

It eventually clicked in his brain that if he actually learned something about the shoes he was selling, he could “really shine in this space.” At that point, he decided to be excellent at what he did, even if it was just selling shoes.

Soon he was hooked on the challenge of seeing how many sales he could do – plus he was enjoying the extra income for the commissions he received from being excellent at shoe sales.  Per Hart: “As the weeks continued to pass, the enjoyment I experienced from letting my personality shine and convincing people to buy sneakers intensified.”

Hart often had his workmates in stitches with the funny stories he told. That experience convinced him that he wanted to be a stand-up comic. So, while keeping his day job, he also worked tirelessly on his craft with the same commitment to excellence that he had developed while selling shoes. And we all know how that commitment turned out for him!

So, stop dreading your to-do list. Stop dreading the workday. Stop dreading your job. Just stop dreading.  Instead, light yourself on fire and experience the “high” you feel at the end of the day when you know that you applied excellence to everything thing you did!