Sometimes when I get to interact with workers who are usually paid minimum wage (waiters, housekeepers, etc.), I can’t help wondering about how humans behave differently under quite similar circumstances. In this case, we typically fall into two categories:
- People who, despite the nature, pay, and working conditions of their jobs, accept their current situation (let it be temporarily), commit themselves, and give their best while trying as much as possible to keep a positive attitude and a smile on their face.
- People who simply bitch about it all, complain about it all, and try to put in the bare minimum amount of effort required to avoid being fired…
What I find interesting here is people from the first category frequently achieve a certain level of social mobility over time and end up having their conditions significantly improved, while those in the second category are oftentimes stuck where they are, make little progress over time, and their negative attitude only makes their situation worse.
Let me tell you something to always keep in mind: life is often much more equitable than we think. When you do a quality job, there are many ways to get rewarded, perhaps in ways you didn’t even envision or think about.
Let’s examine the job of a waiter: let’s imagine the pay is awful, the workload is draining, the manager is too bossy, but still, despite the hardships, you always look neat, maintain a smile on your face, carry out your duties properly, make sure to always take note of the orders thoroughly, and genuinely suggest the best menu meals to the customers.
The most evident outcome here is you’ll be receiving higher tips (as humans naturally love to reward the deserving), and thanks to the compound effect, you’ll end up making significantly much more money over time than your angry coworkers while working in the same place.
The less evident outcome is what you don’t see and can’t control. Let’s say I’m opening a brand-new restaurant, invested money, recruited a top chef, properly advertised it, and now I’m looking for a team of waiters that would live up to the expectations I have for my chic restaurant.
If I happen to wind up having lunch at a restaurant and notice a standout waiter who is doing a neat job and demonstrating happiness and commitment despite it all, you think I won’t be tempted to offer him/her a position in my project?
That positive attitude is so attractive and admirable that I might not even be a restaurant owner; I might be in a completely different industry and still extend an offer to you to switch careers and work for me, as your attitude made me believe in you.
This is just one example; there are countless ways to be rewarded in ways you didn’t even think about.
There are people who have seduced their life partners just because they were doing honest, good work where most people usually don’t.
Listen to me: no matter what plans you have for the future, no matter what your dreams and aspirations are, no matter what you’re privately cooking, you should always be honoring your duties and delivering a quality job that lives up to the expectations of the successful person you aspire to be.
Do a great job wherever you go and whatever you do; it should be a non-negotiable trait of yours; it should be in your blood!
