When I was a senior in high school, I had a job in the meat market of a local grocery store. This was one of the jobs Dad helped me find through one of his friends. It was a legitimate position working cleanup for the five or six butchers that worked there. I started on a Monday afternoon and my schedule was to work afternoons after school, until 8:00 PM on Thursday and Friday, and all day Saturday.
I had never done this type of work before and found that by Wednesday, the amount of work they had told me to do seemed insurmountable. With each additional item I was asked to do, my attitude and depression got worse. By the end of the day on Wednesday, I was ready to quit.
I got off at 5:00 PM and Dad’s business was open until 5:30, so I went straight from work to see Dad and to tell him that I just couldn’t do it. In tears I went to his office to give him the bad news. Dad asked me to close the door, let me tell him what was wrong, then told me the following story. “Carl, when I was a little older than you, I had a job working as a worker on a construction site. The work was very hard, moving brick and mud, cleaning up, and working as a general “gofer.” I tried very hard to do a good job, often overworking myself in an attempt to get it all done. Some days, I worked too hard and I was wearing myself out.
“One of the workers noticed how hard I was working and took me aside. He told me that I was working so hard that I would soon be worthless if I kept up that pace. He then suggested that I slow down just a little, pacing myself, and just do whatever I could do that day. If there was still work left to do at the end of the day, it would still be there tomorrow and we could get it done then.”
Dad then emphasized it by telling me, “If you don’t get it done today, it will be there tomorrow. And if it’s really important that it be done today, if you have worked hard and well, the others will pitch in and help you get it done.” I had never looked at it that way before. After Dad’s explanation, I felt better. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted this job, but he had convinced me to try again. The next morning, I had a new outlook on life. By that afternoon, I was feeling great. I listened to my favorite rock and roll tape on to way to work and was still rockin’ when I started in on the insurmountable tasks that awaited me. The people in the meat market were amazed at my transformation. Just yesterday, they had a helper with a depressed, bad attitude, who was slamming pans and growling at everyone. Now, before them stood a new man. Excited about life and all it held, I went about my work with vigor and vitality that they had not seen.
Dad was correct. I was able to do most of the work by putting forth a good effort. The remaining work was either done the following day, or someone would pitch in and help me get it done. I later found out that my predecessor was not as ambitious as I and often left important jobs undone for days at a time. Even from the first, I was doing a better job, but I felt inadequate. Don’t assume you’re doing a bad job, just do the best you can. If you can’t get it done today… it will be here tomorrow.
