Hard Work Makes You Lucky

Hard Work Makes You Lucky??? It seems over the past few years that the idea of working hard at something is a very unpopular idea. This trend has been growing at a very rapid pace; mostly the younger generation, but it has spread into all ages and groups. The whole concept of working hard and putting in the extra effort seems to be the last thing on employee’s minds when they are interviewing. It is so blatantly obvious too. In the interview, I continually get so many questions that are obviously leading to: “Is this job going to be convenient for me?” The thought process is not what they can do for the employer, but rather, what can the employer do for me. Anymore, it is a very rare and exciting find when you meet someone who is looking for a job and they are eager to work. So, I have jotted down some ideas for all employees to ponder when seeking employment. Am I unlucky or lazy? Rob Dyrdek recently created a shirt that has become very popular. It is a blank t-shirt that simply says “Make Your Own Luck”. Since I am in the business of interviewing candidates for employment for a living, I have a great deal of experience with many types of people. It is unfortunate, but I don’t meet many people that understand and live or promote that type of statement. So, if you are reading this and you are in a brief moment of pondering, I encourage you to ask yourself if you have the mindset to work hard in an effort to make something happen rather than waiting for something good to magically come to you. I meet people every day that are just waiting…….and waiting……..for something good to come to them and the more they wait, the more frustrated they become. I would even venture to say that this mindset is a root cause for the obvious class warfare that our country is in right now. You have a group of people who just work hard and outwork almost everyone that they are around. And as a result, good things are happening for them. Not always, but most of the time, that is the result for hard work. And then you have another group of people who are just frustrated with their lack of success. And it is easy for them to look at someone who is successful and be upset at them because another person is successful and they are not. I have definitely learned it the hard way, but I can confidently say that the harder I have worked, the more good things that have come to me, my family as well as others that are around me. So what steps do you need to take to be known as someone who is a “hard worker”? This is a very simple question, but I think that it is worth addressing. I think it is just simply going the extra mile and making the product of your work be of good quality. One of my Mentors when I was young used to annoy me with this all-to-true statement: “if you don’t do it right the first time, when are you going to have time to do it again”? He would say this over and over when I would mess something up (which I did quite frequently). I think somewhere down the line, that statement sunk in, because I use it now with myself, my employees, my family and children. So, step one, I think should be to always do a quality job and to think ahead and try to foresee any potential problems ahead and fix them before they arise so that the work that you do is a quality job. This will be something rare that any manager will pay attention to and greatly appreciate. If you decide to start attempting to work harder and produce better, quality work, it will take an unprecedented dedication to diligence that I promise you a small percentage of people will be willing to put out. You will easily stand out and will become noticed. I will warn you though that in certain environments, some of your co-workers may resent the fact that you are potentially making them look bad. Even though you may see some resentment for your extraordinary efforts, I assure you that in the long run, you will all of a sudden become more “lucky”. Article written by Tulsa staffing President Cory Minter