Work Is Meant to be Hard: Dedicated to Young People Entering the Work Force

This post is dedicated to the young people entering the work force and to those who have very thankless and difficult jobs.  People do see you, and they notice what you are doing.

My mission taught me to work hard without getting paid.

When I was young, I was blessed with opportunities to work.  When I was eleven years old, I began working for my grandparents.  They owned apartments, and every summer my Dad, some of my siblings, and I would go work on apartment maintenance and repair. 

I know I wasn't always the most helpful worker,  but they were very patient with me, beyond what I probably deserved.  They taught me to be time efficient, work hard, and constantly look for things that needed to be done.  (They may have also taught me to be a perfectionist.)  Over the years, as I grew and learned I became a very good worker.  By the time I was eighteen, I was able to work longer and harder than most guys my age. 

Unfortunately, I also inherited the ability to be critical of those who did not have a good work ethic. 

At my most recent retail job, I was horrified to discover the work ethic of most young people.  Some of my coworkers didn't really care about their job.  They assumed that because they showed up, they deserved money.  They would dawdle around, wasting away the hours and complain about boredom.  Well, of course they were bored!  They were standing around doing nothing! 

Some of them even began to surf on the internet during points in the day when there weren't any customers.  That really drove me nuts.  I wasn't their supervisor, so I tried to lead by example rather than chastise them.  During slow times, I tried to clean and dust shelves, organize products, and sweep the floor.  I wanted our store to succeed and I enjoyed convincing people to buy things that they weren't originally going to buy.  I loved my work, and I enjoyed doing well at my job.

Recently, a young man who quit his job told me that he quit because it wasn't enjoyable or fulfilling.  He wanted a job where he could bring his Iphone to work and listen to music while he worked.  He didn't want to manipulate people into buying things that they didn't have money for.  It went against him moral code.  He didn't have another job when he quit, and he is currently living with some relatives for free, so he didn't have any real reason to keep the job.  Money wasn't really a concern for him.

Oh, he wanted to be able to buy things, but he felt like he could do without them until he found a better job.

When I talked to him about it, he couldn't understand why someone would work at a job that wasn't fulfilling or enjoyable.

That's because he is a young adolescent who doesn't have a family to support.   Grig, in the last two weeks has worked over 110 hours.  He is currently working at a job that isn't even close to his bachelor's degree.  He is making far less money than he should be making, and his job is repetitive and involves A LOT of hard work.  Grig is a very hard working man.  He is providing for our family and is trying to save up to get a Master's degree at the same time. 

Single college students in general are at a very selfish points in their lives.  They are trying to take care of themselves, and they are learning how to be adults.  Usually, someone else is helping them, or they are taking out loans to help pay for schooling.  The ones who are working, will waste a lot of their money on entertainment and things that they don't really need.  I know.  I did.

I've been there.  I went through my selfish college student time.  I was working two part-time jobs and going to school full-time.  I knew how to work.  I tried to do my best at my jobs, and though I occasionally made mistakes, my bosses liked me and were impressed with my work ethic.  I did waste a lot of the money I made, and I regret that now.  So, let me share the wisdom that I have gained in the hopes that other college students won't make the same mistakes that Grig and I made.

1 - Take pride in your work

 

If you try your best at your job, no matter what it is, you will find yourself enjoying it.  When you do your best, it is easy to know that even though it might have been difficult, you can feel good about how it turned out.  Working at a gas station maybe wasn't a job that I could brag about to my friends, but I felt good about how well I could organize the cooler, how many people left the store with a smile, and how I could help angry customers to feel better and return again.  It doesn't matter where you work, happiness is a choice.  Choose to be happy in your work, and have the desire for the business to succeed.  I guarantee your supervisors will notice.  You might even get a raise.  It happened to me.

One of the most important things that I learned was that when I wasted time while I was on the clock, I was essentially stealing money from those that I was working for.  Look at it that way, and it will be very hard for you to consciously waste time. 

 

2 - Save up for the future

It is easy to be short-sighted in college.  What you are doing seems really important.  Taking out loans is really easy, and spending that money on trivial things is even easier.  Playing computer games all day, reading, or watching television can quickly take up all the time that you aren't in class and suddenly you don't have time to do homework or find a job.  You may feel busy, but really you will feel much better about yourself if you go out and find a job.  Organize your time so that you can socialize with others, do your best in your classes, get good grades, and spend very little loan money.  The less you spend, the more you can pay back immediately, and the less you will have to pay off in the future.  Grig and I are working on paying off school debt.  We've paid off quite a bit so far, but we aren't even close to being done.  If I had saved up more money when I was single, we'd probably be far richer now.  We might even be debt-free!  (We're getting there, but it is a pain.)

3 - Learn to work hard and then teach your children to work hard

Too many kids are not taught to work.  They grow up thinking that life owes them and that they shouldn't have to do anything in order to get paid.  Give your kids jobs.  Teach them to be dedicated and able to keep going even when things get difficult.  Work is supposed to be hard!  It can be fun if you decide to make it fun, but working is not supposed to be playing.  You can enjoy your work, but that satisfaction comes from a job well-done.  It doesn't come from games or music.  There is a real joy that comes from putting everything into a job, struggling, wearing yourself out, and ultimately succeeding.  The success of having done your best is a far greater feeling than winning any video game.



I am so grateful for parents that taught me to work hard and that I have a husband who knows how to work hard.  It enables me to spend time with our son and to be a Homemaker.  I try to work hard at home so that he can relax and spend time with us when he gets home.  I work hard now, and I don't get paid.  My son never thanks me for what I do.  My husband does, but often there is no recognition for what I accomplish.  My sole reward is my own sense of doing a job well-done.  Often, that is the only reward we get.  It is worth it though.  I know I've been working hard and sometimes the house stays clean long enough for me to enjoy it.  There are a lot of thankless jobs in this world, but they are always worth doing. 

Hard work is its own reward.  The money is definitely a benefit, but sometimes we don't even get that.  I enjoy what I do, and I know that Grig usually enjoys his work.

Save up for the future, even if it means you have to forgo something that you want right now.  Decide today that no matter what job you get, that you are going to do your best.  If you do that, I can promise that you will always find some satisfaction in your work.

Here's to hoping that you don't have to make the same mistakes that I made.  Good luck on entering the work force!