All of us would become much more broadly, deeply and enthusiastically
engaged in life if only we had more NOBLE enterprises to pursue. Mundane things like “chores” and “homework”
and everyday maintenance flotsam and jetsam don’t really “light our fire” …
they’re not really benchmark engagements for which we’ll get any credit or
reward or from which we’ll gain any sort of satisfaction, and are hardly worthy
of any effort beyond trying to AVOID them as we wait for BIGGER things to
materialize!
And, so, we end up languishing, unenthusiastically
uninspired, “waiting for our ship to come in” with flags unfurled and brass
bands blaring to launch our truest Destiny.
Waiting …
“If was really important,
wouldn’t someone ELSE already be doing it?”
However, it turns out there is a paradoxical conundrum to
consider here. It so permeates the
universe that it appears in the Biblical narrative as follows:
“He
that is faithful in that which is least
is faithful also in
much.”
Luke 16:10
“ … good and faithful servant!
You have been
faithful with a few things;
I will put you in
charge of many things.”
Matthew 25:21
Now THAT is how to FLOAT YOUR BOAT!
Or how about this:
“If you want to
change the world,
start
off by making your bed.”
Admiral William H. McRaven
Wow!
It’s not at all intuitive.
Perhaps that why so many don’t catch on until an overwhelming number of
Defining Moments catch up with us.
Bottom Line: Little
things matter! Consider this infamous
“Myth of the Marketplace”:
“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” Commentary
from Mike Fisch
[“Weekend
Edition” with Liane Hansen, November 21, 1999, National Public Radio]
“Sometimes when I’m copying a double-sided government document, there’s
a paper jam. The two pieces of paper
rest deep in the innards of the copier, hiding from me like scared animals. I say a swear word that sounds like
‘ship’. That’s when somebody says,
‘Don’t sweat the small stuff, Big Guy.
It’s all small stuff.’
But
what the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” brigade seems to have forgotten is that my
job is sweating small stuff. I get paid
to sweat. My [time-lines], memos,
[edits], faxes [VMX call returns], and double-sided copies are bran fiber for a
constipated bureaucracy. As soon as I
stop sweating out the fiber, I cease to exist ...”
George Foreman didn’t start out as a heavy weight boxing
title contender or a Grill Master marketing genius:
“Before
I was a boxer, I was a dishwasher. I was
great! I was the best dishwasher
ever. I’d get through doing my job; my
dishes were so nice and clean … so I’d mop the floors. I out-mopped the floor mopper. Then I would help the cooks peel the
potatoes. I was the best there was.”
That’s “Nobelizing”!
So what’s the point here?
The point is this: The more we take on the mantle of noble endeavor, the
more “natural” it becomes, the more “automatic” it becomes, the more
INTENTIONAL we become, and the more satisfaction we derive from ALL of our
efforts. If you’re having a bad day but
you have at least made your bed, you at least have ONE thing to celebrate! [And, aside from anything else, don’t be
surprised if somebody else notices!]
So how do we go about “Nobelizing” the mundane?
·
Make things challenging
·
Find ways to make them interesting
·
Make things more efficient
·
Reorganize your work space
·
Make things better than you found them
·
Be creative / Invent a new tool
·
Enhance your negotiability
·
Redefine what is “rewarding”
·
Make stuff “sparkle”!
Above all, stop whining and complaining!
And MAKE IT FUN!
Don’t wait for “Noble Endeavors” to show up on your
doorstep. Nobility has a way of finding where
it belongs. Quartermaster
