GETTING AND GIVING

"I give them eight hours of my blood, sweat and tears, and they give me money and a dental plan. We're even."

That certainly is a good start in defining a low-grade, give-and-take, internal relationship with a job, but I don't believe anyone's work is that shallow. If you wish to be excited, passionate and truly committed to what you do for a living, you need to look outside of the job itself for your getting and giving.

Getting

Nothing is wrong with getting. How excited, passionate and committed you are doesn't matter, if you can't make a living at that which you're attempting to make a living at, you can't keep doing it. The bottom line prevails. First things first, work must support you in the manner in which you wish to be supported before you can move on to passion, excitement and commitment.

But all can't be about getting.

What you get from your job: money, benefits, social status, self-esteem, an extended family, and a home away from home often may seem to occupy an all-too-large chunk of your relationship with work. How about what you give through your work?

Giving

The job you do must be recognized by your department, your company, community, and some segment of society as beneficial, or you could not make a living at that pursuit.

How do others benefit from what you do for a living?

Consider the hardy, robust relationship you would develop with your work if you focused at least as long on the benefits you provide as you do on the benefits you derive.


Lesson: What you give with your work is every bit as important as what you get.