One of the great advantages to working at my worldwide office, AKA Starbucks, is the number of random conversations you overhear on a daily basis. This morning, an interesting group of local contractors gathered in front of me to discuss their next job, and what I presumed would be a boring conversation about paint or what supplies they might need to order.
While there was some shop talk, I was surprised by the amount of advice on life they were freely sharing with each other. It seemed my stereotyping was wrong. (I thought I was the only philosophical painter in New England.)
Along with the typical marital advice they freely joked with each other about (word on the street is,“Yes, dear” will still get you very far in any relationship), I overheard a new nugget. And that’s, “Don’t Carry a Lazy Man’s Load.”
I wasn’t quite sure what the older white-haired gentleman was referring to, but it piqued enough interest for me to hit mute on iTUNES so I could listen in. (Quick tip: always leave the headphones in your ears—will keep people from thinking you’re being rude and eavesdropping.)
As the gentleman went on to explain, don’t carry a lazy man’s load was something he learned from years of employment as an ironworker after watching individuals trying to carry too much raw material on their backs in the hopes of cutting down on the number of trips they need to make. The guys who thought they were being more productive by taking a shortcut were actually just being lazy.
Often, we are tempted to carry more weight than we can handle in the hopes that we can make the trip only once. And what happens?
Invariably, we drop our load.
Instead of making our journey easier, we now have to pick everything back up and start over, adding even more time to our journey.
Have you bitten off more than you can chew at times in the hopes it will make achieving your overall goal easier? Has it ever gotten you where you wanted to go any faster? My guess would be no.
Sometimes in life there are things that are not going to go as quickly as you plan. Sometimes there are steps you can’t avoid when you are trying to achieve your goals, and like it or not, you’re going to accept each load, as intended.
Why would one want to take advice from a group of working-class contractors gathered at a local coffee shop on a Tuesday morning discussing how best to order paint with a smile on their face? Well, because of the smiles, of course. These gentlemen are happy doing what they love… and anyone who is happy doing what they love is someone I will gladly listen to any day.
Don’t be lazy. Take your time, and do it right. You’ll get there.
-jm
Great tip about the earbuds! And sage advice from your fellow Starbucks patrons.