Enjoy the Work

It may be unrealistic to love every aspect of your job, but you should be proud of the work you do

Interested in Business?

Get Business articles, news and videos right in your inbox! Sign up now.

Business + Get Alerts

I've never appreciated the sentiment behind “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

For one thing, there’s nothing wrong with work. I think most people feel better about their day when they’ve accomplished something, even if they didn’t necessarily have a blast doing it. If everyone did only what they loved, there would probably be a lot of unemployed people sitting on the beach and an oversaturated market for really bad “art.”

I think you absolutely need to enjoy at least some part of what you do for a living, but I think the better advice is this: Figure out what you do well, and find a way to use those skills in a career. Less poetic, but I think it’s more realistic. Work hard at what you’re good at and find some part of it that you enjoy. More “like what you do” than “do what you love.”

Helping others is also a big part of why most people enjoy their work. By embracing your unique skill set, you’ll ideally be able to use your talents to both help people and enjoy what you do.

I’ve read so many articles over the last few years featuring business owners in plumbing, drain cleaning, septic and other wastewater industries. There have been men who have loved digging in the dirt since they were kids and now install onsite systems, and women who love chemistry and became wastewater treatment plant operators.

Not all of them express passion for all the day-to-day aspects of their job. But I have yet to read about a single person in this industry who doesn’t take pride in what they do and the good they are doing for others — whether it be providing clean, safe drinking water to thousands of people; solving plumbing problems for homeowners who were at their wits’ end before you arrived; or the fact that the business you built from scratch now provides a comfortable living for the families of your employees.

Part of that pride and enjoyment I see in people in this industry comes from overcoming setbacks. John Remstedt, whose company Grease Masters is featured in this issue, was forced out of his first business partnership. He went back to what he knew — operating a pumper truck — and found new business opportunities. His hard work helped grow Grease Masters into a multimillion-dollar full-service business that employs a team of 28.

One thing everyone enjoys about their job is going home at the end of the day. Making sure his employees get to do that every day is a chief concern for Robert Kalbach III, owner of Utility Services Group. Kalbach makes safety a huge priority, and his crew embraces the strict, self-policing policies that keep everyone in one piece. It takes sacrifice to prioritize safety and remain profitable, but it’s definitely a worthy endeavor. Investing in training and rewarding employees for their safety record is part of how Kalbach keeps everyone motivated and happy.

Whether you love your job all the time, sometimes or never, you should be proud of the work you do.

I hope you enjoy this month’s issue.



Discussion

Comments on this site are submitted by users and are not endorsed by nor do they reflect the views or opinions of COLE Publishing, Inc. Comments are moderated before being posted.