Why Are You Working So Hard For Something You Don’t Even Want?

There’s a scene in Robert Altman’s “A Prairie Home Companion” where a wonderfully zaftig gospel singer takes center stage with Meryl Streep and Lily Thomlin. They sing an old song In three-part harmony with the refrain:

Why Are You Working
So Hard
For Something
You Don’t Even Want?

I was struck by the line because it is so relevant to what we go through in our businesses, careers and lives. Ask someone the question “what does success look like to you?” and you will most likely receive a stunned look as they work to spit out the words for the first time.

The reason most people can’t answer easily is because it’s a trick question. It forces you to be specific. It means you might have to take a hard look at scary things like love, money, family, and how you choose to live your life. It is much easier to move with the herd and not think about these things. It requires less work to go through life as a sleep walker, like this graffiti I found one 3AM morning in Reykjavik.

The funny thing is, if you’ve got the guts to answer, you’ve got a better chance of getting it. It’s like an insurance policy against disappointment. Imagine working so hard for years and years only to have arrived a destination you never actively chose? Now imagine the opposite. More pleasing huh?

Hard work will not be in vain if it is advancing towards something that is important to you and those you care about. It is easier to knock your brains if it has meaning for you. Take a minute and jot down a few words about what you want from your work. Let it percolate on the back burner of your brain for a week or two. You might like what happens.