Hey Moguls, Steve Cook here…
In our pursuit of happiness and joy, we oftentimes do our best to try to stop doing things that don’t bring us happiness and joy. I frequently speak with my students who are discontent with what they do for a living – even though what they do blesses them greatly. There are certain parts of what they do that they enjoy and there are certain parts of what they do that they almost despise doing.
Everyone is trying to figure out how to do less of what they don’t like doing.
A short story with big impact.
A number of years back, one of my students was complaining about doing the things that he doesn’t like doing, the feeling of things never being enough and the thought of having to do the same thing over and over forever just did not set well with him. He always jumped from one thing to another. I was talking with this student over the phone one day and I heard my wife in the background… she knew this student and she kept saying: “Read Genesis and get over it.”
She was referring to the account of Adam and Eve. To paraphrase, Adam ate from the tree despite being commanded not to. After this incident, the curse of man was that we would toil to make a living and to provide for ourselves. What’s important for our purposes, though, is that the passage does say that it will be “all the days of your life.”
It’s not just for a season, it’s not something we can get away from… it is a part of regular life, a real part of life.
A deeper look.
We can love doing something...
I love helping people, but then find myself dreading doing a day worth of phone calls to help people. I recently had a student bring up this exact same issue and asking me for help. He had a day of calls coming up and he didn’t like it. His calls were good – at the end of the day, it was gratifying to have helped so many people, but he dreaded the day.
Why do we find ourselves in that spot?
After having considered this time and time again, I have come to the conclusion that we dread such things because we have to do it. We’ve committed to it, and in the moment there is something else that we would rather do. We have other plans, other things that we want to accomplish and we want to take steps in those other areas… but the things that we MUST do (because they are on our schedule and we made the commitment) are now getting in the way.
As human beings, we do not like being told what to do, and our schedule is now telling us what we must do. And in the moment, it may be contrary to what we want to do.
Does dreading doing calls mean that I don’t like doing them? I think so in the moment. But at the end of the day, I get this gratification and feel rewarded by all of the great things that come of it. However, it is toilsome.
The definition of toil is: hard and continuous work. It doesn’t stop, we must continue to do it and there is no way around it.
It’s unavoidable.
Some of us think that there is a way around it. We take the things that we are passionate about, and then we turn it into the way that we make our living. It’s amazing to see someone is so passionate about something suddenly lose the passion when it becomes something that they have to do, continuously.
I have dealt with people on many different levels, and I don’t care where you are on the ladder of success, (financially) – no one ever avoids toil. You can’t. Some do a better job of hiding it than others, but it is there.
So, is there a way around it? I say no. I believe that there is no way around it, but there is a way to make it better. The passage from Genesis doesn’t give a work around or a way to make it go away. And while we may experience some seasons of rest, joy and happiness with our work, ultimately, it will become toilsome.
The way to make it better is to accept that it is going to happen. Don’t try to avoid it. Manage your own expectations. Accept it and change your perspective...
Be thankful for the toilsome but rewarding work. Be thankful for the provision that comes from your work, and recognize that the toil is what enables you to experience times without toil.
I’m listening…
I’d love to hear what you think about this lesson. Share below.
Accept the fact that work, at times, will be toilsome.
Change your perspective to be grateful that you have work that’s rewarding.
Recognize that when your work is toilsome, it’s enabling you to experience times without toil.
Steve Cook
was a nationally recognized real estate investing educator, author and real estate investor, prior to teaching Lifeonaire life coaching system. Today he is regarded as "The Coaches' Coach." Many of the people who have been coached by Steve have become coaches themselves, eager to share what they have learned with others.