| Is Your Work
Worth Doing? Craig A. Steffen
Introspection
Definition: [n] The contemplation of your own thoughts
and desires and conduct; self-contemplation, self-examination.
We’re
a few weeks into the New Year and most of us can count at least a few resolutions that
have already gone by the wayside. Don’t
despair! Sometimes the changes we seek to
make under the spotlight of a new year are unrealistic.
Sometimes our expectations about how we will perform leave no room for our
humanity. And sometimes our failures are
themselves a better instructor than achievement.
But
even when we stumble seeking to live up to our own self-imposed business goals, the
process that led us to those goals – introspection -- is enormously valuable. And not just at the turning of the page into a new
year, but regularly throughout the year; every year.
The
ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, is noted for declaring “The unexamined life is
not worth living.” Had he been exposed
to American capitalism, he may well have modified this thought to read, “If you
aren’t willing to reflect on and learn from your work, then your work isn’t
worth doing.”
Are
you enjoying your work? Do you wake up most
mornings with a sense of anticipation? Is
your enthusiasm to your life’s calling infectious – caught by those around you? Do you go to bed at night with a sense of
satisfaction or a bottle of Tums?
Look
inside yourself during this time of annual beginnings.
Find honest answers to those questions.
Assess your situation and that of your company and alter your course
wherever necessary. I encourage you not to
make choices solely on the basis of their affect upon your income, but also upon the
quality of your life at work and at home. Quality
of life is less about stuff and commerce and more about peace and relationship.
Many
of us are afraid to stop our work for a short time in order to practice introspection and
to plan and take action toward a more preferred future.
Find or pay someone who will help you in this critical process.
Victor
Hugo, who brought us the classic novel Les Misérables, says it so well:
“One
is not idle because one is absorbed. There is both visible and invisible labor. To
contemplate is to toil, to think is to do. The crossed arms work, the clasped hands act.
The eyes upturned to Heaven are an act of creation.”
Let
us create!
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