"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business."
-- Henry Ford
"A job is something you do for money. A career is something you do because you have an inner calling to do it. You want to do it. You love doing it. You're excited when you do it. And you'd do it even if you were paid nothing beyond food and the basics. You'd do it because it's your life."
-- Denis Waitley
"You reach a point where you don't work for money."
--Walt Disney
I think most people get this concept of not working for money, but a very small number ever experience it for themselves.
I was consulting with an auto dealer and had a meeting with their entire management staff (a large gathering. . .). I asked them what the company goals were. They had two: One was to be profitable, and the other was to be in a special dealer group acknowledged by the factory. I said that those goals were way too small and that those goals did not motivate anyone in the store except a very few senior executives. I said that the goal must be much more grand than this and that it has to appeal to the people who do the work.
They weren't very pleased with me at that meeting, but the truth is that their goals had no draw. I am certain that it didn't even motivate the managers, let alone the rest of the employees. A goal to be profitable is almost meaningless to an employee, though it may mean a great deal to an owner. That's why it isn't big enough. It includes very few. As Henry Ford said so eloquently, "a business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business." Henry Ford had extremely grand goals and visions of his enterprises.
How big is your dream for your business? How big is your dream for yourself? Napoleon Hill said it well: "A goal is a dream with a deadline." Does your goal have drawing power? Does it get you out of bed in the morning, raring to go? It will if you love doing it.
I've had very few jobs in my life. Mainly it has been a career. Most of it I have loved doing even when it challenged me to do something I've never done, and I've grown immensely as a result. And now in the last three years, I have such a passion for what I do that I can hardly stand it and it challenges me almost every day. Some of what I do makes no money at all at the moment, but it doesn't matter a bit. It is all part of the joy of doing it and knowing where I am going with it. I tell you that is a powerful and exciting place to be.
Even if you are in a position that is not exactly where you want to be or working for someone who isn't the greatest, you can find that passion within you and you can work yourself right through it toward what you really want. In Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, he says to decide what you want and work right where you are giving everything you have to it with all your power of focus, and things will begin to change for you. Oh, the hope in that! (By the way, if you haven't read this book, I highly recommend to get it immediately! It is a book worth serious study.)
I Work Because I Love To Do It!
Spread Some Joy Today--Close your eyes. Imagine what it would be like if everyone at your place of employment absolutely loved doing what they do. How would they look? How would they talk? How would they interact with each other and customers? Got it? Okay, now pretend you are one of them. Just for today. . .
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