The Misunderstandings of Work

“Work” is a word we have heard our entire lives. It is a word that is associated with success. How often have we heard the terms, “work hard and you will succeed”, or “I achieved everything through hard work”? Work is connected to our jobs and the source of our income.

This article looks at what work means to me. In its pure form, the definition of work involves adjectives such as “mental or physical effort”, “labor”, “toil”, “exertion” and even “drudgery”. These descriptions paint a picture of an unpleasant experience, but work is more than this. We must first change the way we view this word. Work is the tool that enables us to achieve our goals.

As students, work in relation to our studies allowed us to achieve better grades. This opened opportunities for us such as better colleges and better careers. For athletes, continuously working on training permitted us to improve our strength and speed. This allowed us to win or place higher in competitions.

In our careers, work should be the vehicle that leads us to do what we love to. Sometimes, individuals are extremely skilled in their careers and enjoy it immensely. For others, work is not enjoyable and is viewed as a necessary evil. It is merely required to keep the lights on and to put food on the table. Society has always taught us to leave school, get a good job and retire.

My philosophy in reference to work has always been, “find something that you would do for free and get paid for it”. Aviation has always been a passion of mine. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I took a part-time customer service job with an airline. I had a full-time job also, but wanted my work to involve airplanes. Through my work ethic and passion, I quickly moved from part-time to when I was offered full time with the airline.

I continued moving up through the ranks until the airline ceased operations after the September 11th tragedy. In this case, work allowed me to learn skills and accommodated my dream of traveling around the world. This experience solidified my belief that our talents and passions will open doors of opportunity for us.

I am also a firm believer that we should do the best we can in whatever work we find ourselves in. Our attitudes, good or bad, will bring recognition from the persons in a position of influence.

We should view work as our role in making a difference. Everything we do influences not only those around us, but society at-large. Again, while working at the airline as a part-time customer service agent, my efficiency in processing customers affected the flight remaining on schedule. A delay from me would cost the airline lost revenue, missed connections, and a tainted reputation. Therefore, I did not see myself as a non-factor in the company, but as a major player, even at $7.25 per hour.

As a teenager, I witnessed my dad leave his job after many years as a customs broker for a major food chain to pursue his dream of starting his own construction company. He used the money accumulated from his work to fund his dream. His actions helped to form my view of work. While my dad was great at being a customs broker, he was a mason in his early years and loved it. As he told me, he wanted to return to his first love.

I have adopted the same philosophy. Although I loved and excelled in my careers, I wanted to be my boss. Recently, I began my journey as an entrepreneur after placing it on hold for several years. Ironically, my excuse was always, “I’m too busy with my job”. My work was a convenient excuse to cloak the fear of leaving the safety net of my job. Fortunately, I could begin my journey while remaining employed. It took discipline and, yes, hard work. I traded my days off and after hours to work on getting started.

As you can see, my work, although not ideal in the beginning, opened doors that led me to my dream job, entrepreneurship. There is a satisfaction in working for yourself. As I tell others, your employer’s goal is not to make you wealthy. You should use the resources they provide through salary and skills to work toward your dreams.