Who Do You Work For?

What time do you get up for work? How long does it take for you to prepare for work? How long does it take for you to get to work? How many hours a day/days a week do you work?

Me personally, I have to wake up four hours before I actually start work because of how far I live. It usually takes me a hour to get ready for work, and anytime from a hour and a half to two hours to get to work. Then, I work twelve hour shifts, three to four days a week. And to get back home, it’s another hour and a half to two hours. So if you were able to keep track of all those numbers, I spend approximately eighteen hours a day, sixty-three hours each three and a half days going to work for someone else. Does that take a lot of effort? More than a lot. And I bring all of this up, not to brag, boast or complain because we all most likely are putting in that same amount of energy into what we do. My point, however, is this.

With the exception of those who are self-employed, by in large we all work for someone else. And we give a lot of the most valuable commodities of all to someone else, which is our time and effort. Some of us injure ourselves, travel great distances, and miss important family events all to work for someone else in an effort to secure an acceptable lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with that. My only question is, “How hard are you working for yourself?”

Are you giving the same effort to your dreams, your aspirations, your marriage and your life that you give to someone else’s? Are you getting up four house earlier to start working on your next script? Are you putting in twelve hours of work on your next song? Are you getting to that class an hour early and preparing for today’s learning? What are you doing for you? We’ve seen what you’ll do for someone else. You’re the hardest worker at the company, the employee of the month, a supervisor, a trainer to new employees. You’re serious when it comes to what you do for someone else. But what about the things you do for yourself?

Maybe the reason why that dream is still a dream after six years is because you don’t give as serious or an effort as you do when you go to work. You don’t depend on your dreams like you depend on your job. We see what you will do for something you depend on. But for something you casually do, you only do it when you feel like it, do it until it’s not easy to do, and then usually avoid it all together.

I’m not saying not to work hard when you work for someone else. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to work for someone else. But it is a bad thing not to turn around and give the same effort to your aspirations. Be as hard of a worker for you as you are for someone else, if not more so. Whether it’s getting in shape, finishing a project, starting a new one, pursuing a dream; depend on that dream just like you depend on your job to provide for your lifestyle.

If you didn’t complete a task at work, your boss would be all over you. But you don’t demand more of yourself if the homework doesn’t get done on time. Realize that it has nothing to do about the homework, the teacher, the supervisor, etc. It’s about you and the effort that you give to yourself. How much do you value and depend on yourself. If your house depended on homework getting turned in on time, the party would have to wait, right? Well, the dream house does, the dream car does, the dream job does, the dream life does. It’s only as real as you make it. When you are ready for it to be real, you’ll put in the effort as if it were.