“Doing work that matters”. Don’t we all want to do work that matters? I believe any work and any thing can be work that matters to anyone. Because we all have different definitions of work and we all have opinions on whether or not the work that we do matters or not.
I am in a group on Facebook titled WeHungry. This group has about 140 members or so in it. The group was created for its members to post pictures, links, and statuses of the workout/exercise that they accomplished that day. We have some people in the group that never post and we have some that post everyday. The community that has been developed with these people who I dont even know (with the exception of one or two of them) is amazing. We hold each other accountable to our fitness goals and our exercise routines. When a person hasn’t posted for a few days some of the other members will actually call them out and ask them why haven’t they posted. It is an amazing group. And we are all doing work that matters. It is not only my own personal goal to work out for my own reasons, but I think putting in the work in my workout and then posting that workout is “work that matters” its matters to me which is important, but it matters to that group and the individuals in that group. There are days when I dont want to workout, we all have those. But when I see pics and posts of the people in that group doing the work in their workout it pushes me to not be a slacker. We are all doing work that matters.
I have friends, colleagues, and some family members that are full-time working single parents. Although I am not a single parent, I have been around working single parents enough that I can say without a doubt that I think it is one of the hardest things a person can do on their own. The work that a single parent puts in at their real work (call it their job/career) is only the tip of the iceberg. The work that begins in the morning to get a child up and out the door to school, or to a babysitter is hard, but it matters. The work that they do after their job to get the kid to practice or to a meeting matters. The work that the parents do to put dinner in their child’s belly, matters. We all know that the work has to be done, but it is all “doing work that matters”. It matters to the child, it matters to the parents, and it matters to society.
This past year I have become a blogger. I don’t know how many people see my blogs, read my blogs, or even care to read my blogs. However, I believe that the work that I put into the blogs matter. It may matter to one person or 100 people, it doesn’t matter to me, I am going to keep doing it. Why? First it matters to me. It makes me better as a person, executive, trainer, and leader. Secondly, it matters to someone. I believe that the work that I put into the blogs, the twitter posts, Facebook posts, the book summaries, and everything else, matters to someone and at sometime it will matter to someone who needed it at that time. I have come across and read something from someone else at a time when I really needed it and it mattered so much to me at that time. I believe it is my job to do the same. That is “doing work that matters.”
I live in a fishbowl, and you do as well. We all live in our own little fish bowls. You could be the most well read and most networked individual on earth and maybe your fishbowl is a little bit bigger, but it is still a fishbowl. In our fish bowls we know what we do and what we like and what we have. However, we can’t let the fishbowl prevent us from “doing work that matters.” We can’t get so caught up in the day-to-day grind that we don’t think about “doing work that matters”, or in some cases realize that the work we are doing, matters.
This week I was working with a colleague of mine. She was on her way to do the Angel Tree adoption. The Angel Tree Adoption in case you live under a rock. Is a tree that may have families, children, and teenagers background and what they need and maybe what they would like for Christmas. The exact criteria to be on the tree and available for adoption I don’t know, but I do know it is for lower-income families and foster children. She and a group of friends were adopting a family and providing that family with a Christmas. This is “doing work that matters.”
Today, on your way to the office, you may stop at your local coffee-house or gas station and pick up a cup of coffee or you may have another routine. Regardless you will come across some people on your way in and out of that establishment. Take a minute and say good morning to the person who checks you out, take a minute and hold the door for someone behind you, or just say good morning or Merry Christmas to a stranger. This is “doing work that matters”.
As you can see to me “doing work that matters” encompasses a lot of different things and can be accomplished in a lot of different ways.
So my question for you are you “doing work that matters” maybe you already are and you don’t think that you are. Reflect and think about the work you are doing. I am sure it matters. It matters to you and most likely it matters to someone in your family or in your circle of friends and colleagues.
My commitment in 2015 is to do as much work as possible that matters.
To your success and your future.
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