2020-03-19 Hard Work Doesn’t Mat

Digging Ditches is Hard Work, But Ditch Diggers Aren’t Wealthy

Some of the hardest work I can imagine is the lowest-paid labour on the planet. Any kind of construction, customer service, and any job at minimum wage is almost guaranteed to be miserable, have terrible hours, and be managed by a boss that doesn’t seem to understand you’re a human.

A Certain Kind Of Hard Work

When a coal miner continues to show up at work every day (lest he gets fired and ends up destitute), he is going to work hard that day, but it is a resigned sort of hard work. The coal miner says to himself, “this is my fate,” and accepts it the way criminals accept the executioner’s axe.

The Takeaway

Because of the powerful effect of our attitude, our ability to be successful in the future is highly dependent on it. We are not able to improve our life or the lives of others until we think they can be improved. If we approach our lives with an attitude of optimism and enthusiasm for the work, our lives will get better every day. If we approach our lives with an attitude of failure and resignation, we will be continually disappointed.