In his book How to Develop Self Confidence & Influence People by Public Speaking, Dale Carnegie wrote about a young man who was bored with his dull job of standing at a lathe, turning out bolts in a factory. His first name was Sam. Sam wanted to quit, but he was afraid he couldn’t find another job. Since he had to do this dull work, Sam decided he would make it interesting. So he ran a race with the mechanic operating a machine beside him. One of them was to trim off the rough surfaces on the bolts, and the other was to trim the bolts down to the proper diameter. They would switch machines occasionally and see who could turn out the most bolts.
The foreman, impressed with Sam’s speed and accuracy, soon gave him a better job. That was the start of a whole series of promotions. Thirty years later, Samuel Vauclain was president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works. But he might have remained a mechanic all his life if he had not resolved to make a dull job interesting.
By thinking the right thoughts, you can make any job less distasteful. Remind yourself that it may double the amount of happiness you get out of life, for you spend about one-half of your waking hours at your work, and if you don’t find happiness in your work, you may never find it anywhere. Keep reminding yourself that getting interested in your job will take your mind off your worries, and, in the long run, will probably bring promotion and increased pay. And even if it doesn’t do that, it will reduce fatigue to a minimum and help you enjoy your hours of leisure.
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Michigan, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Michigan. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @micarnegie.
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