When Work and Play Collide

I often get asked about my (personal) work philosophy – how I approach the professional component of my life. Today, I thought I would share a little of that with you. The following is not so much a lesson as it is a few thoughts, ideas and insights. And, a little of my history.

The Great Scam

When I first started working in the fitness industry (a hundred years ago), I was surprised. Amazed even. Amazed because I never felt like I was working. I kept waiting for the fun-factor and the enjoyment to wear off but it never did. Part of me felt like it was the greatest scam of all time. I was eighteen. I was working in a cool place, surrounded by cool people, doing fun things in a fantastic environment. I was learning about my passion (health, fitness, nutrition). I was developing a broad range of new skills. I could train (myself) any time. I could hang out on the gym floor and talk crap with people. And let’s not forget the significant bonus of working around gorgeous women every day. My buddies who were (at the time) apprentice plumbers, electricians and carpenters (working around stinky men all day), didn’t share my joy. Then, at the end of each ‘working’ week, they gave me money! Ridiculous. Could it be possible that I had ‘peaked’ in my first year of employment? I felt like I had.

An Unhealthy Lesson

Growing up, I would always take notice of the disdain with which most of the oldies in my world viewed work. It was something to be tolerated. Endured. You would simply get it done so you could then enjoy yourself (post-work). I learned early on that work was work, fun was fun and they didn’t happen at the same time or in the same place.

What an unhealthy lesson for a kid to learn.

To acknowledge that there will be times (in our working life) when we need to do some yucky, uncomfortable and not-particularly-fun things to survive financially is one thing (we’ve all been there) but to resign ourselves to the paradigm that work will always be an unpleasant part of our existence (a necessary evil), is another.

Moving to the West

When I turned nineteen, I moved to Western Australia for a year to work, meet people, see new stuff, do new stuff and learn new stuff. And I did all of it. My first day in the west, I got a job in a gym – working nights. At this point in time, I was smack bang in the middle of my how-big-can-I-get-for-no-sensible-reason (bodybuilding) phase.

I never said I was clever.

Getting My Hands Dirty

During the day, I worked on a massive construction site (with 3,000 stinky blokes), first as a trade’s assistant (a shit-kicker helping tradesmen), and then, as a rigger (climbing around on steel beams and scaffolding). Even though it was not a glamorous job (at all), I had fun every day. I loved it. I worked in a ‘gang’ of three with a pipefitter (Rob) and a welder (Benny). Rob was an old married man (about thirty five) who always felt compelled to share with me his numerous theories on relationships and his self-professed wisdom regarding the complexities of the female of the species. I, on the other hand, would amuse him with my obsessive eating and training habits. He often told me that I was “too disciplined for a kid”. He couldn’t understand why I didn’t drink alcohol. To this day, I’m sure one of Rob’s biggest disappointments in life was his failure to get me to drink a beer.

My Yoda

While I enjoyed hanging out with Rob, it was Benny with whom I had a real connection. For a year, he was my Yoda. He was a crusty, fifty-five year-old, chain-smoking Scottish welder who dropped the ‘F’ bomb as often as he took breath. He was (and still is) the most educated uneducated person I’ve ever met. While he left school at thirteen, his instinctive knowledge and natural understanding of virtually everything was off the chart. For a year, I worked alongside him and every day he taught me something new. Some of my ‘education’ with him was incidental and unconscious but much of it was strategic and intentional (on his part). The way he taught me lessons was (often) with complex puzzles. Workouts for my brain. Early in the work day, he would present me with a problem or a challenge (which could involve anything from mathematics and physics to philosophy and ethics). I would then spend most of my day trying to solve my puzzle (in my head while I did my ‘job’). If, by some miracle, I had figured it out by lunch time, I’d be rewarded with another one to solve post-lunch. They were never-ending.

Lessons at Altitude

Many times while we were a hundred feet above the ground working on a scaffold or an RSJ (a huge steel beam), Benny would write (in chalk) a puzzle for me on the steel on which we ‘lived’. His brain-teasers and philosophical conundrums would keep me amused, interested, entertained and thinking forever. While the majority of the guys on the site were tolerating their jobs, Benny, Rob and I were having a ball. By choice.

While we won’t always find ourselves in our dream job (working on a construction site certainly wasn’t my dream job) and we won’t always be in our ideal situation or career, it’s always been my belief that work (like most things in our life) is as hard or easy, enjoyable or painful as we make it. Some people will make any work situation a misery no matter what. It’s what they do. Know anyone like that?    

Work-Life Balance

In year one (two, three, four) of my company’s life, I worked a gazillion hours each week but loved every minute of it. To be honest, it didn’t feel like work. Most of the experts will tell you that working so many hours is bad for one’s health but what if ‘one’ loves what she does? What if we derive great joy, pleasure and fulfillment from what we do? What if it’s not so much a ‘job’ as it is a passion that provides financial rewards?

Then, the rules change.

I’ve always been of the opinion that twenty hours (per week) of a job that I hate will be more harmful to my health (physically, emotionally, psychologically and creatively) over the long term than seventy hours of something which gives me great satisfaction, stimulation, joy and (potential for) growth.

Imagine a life where what you do (your job) and what you love, are one and the same. What about a reality where work and play don’t exist in isolation? Imagine getting out of bed on a work day and actually being excited! 

I’ve had sexy jobs (television, radio, professional speaking) and I’ve had (what most people would call) crap jobs (bouncer, labourer) but, in the middle of it all, I’ve always been committed to finding the good. To learning the lesson and finding (or making) the fun. Yesterday morning I spoke in Brisbane, last night I spoke at a dinner in Melbourne and tonight (Wednesday) I fly to Sydney to speak tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Adelaide to facilitate an all-day workshop on Friday.

In the middle of the mayhem, the travel and appointments, I make a conscious effort to appreciate, value and enjoy what I do. And to connect with you, of course.

Making a Change

For some of us, changing our work situation is easier said than done. I agree. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t plan, we can’t make decisions and we can’t set the wheels in motion to create our different (new-and-improved) reality. When I was teaching at university, one of my students was a thirty-something single mother who worked two jobs while studying full time. One day, I asked her what drove her to commit to such a demanding schedule and she told me that fifteen years of waitressing and factory work was enough motivation for anyone. While other people would have spent years complaining about their situation and being the victim, she found a way to shift her reality. Of course, there was a cost and she chose to pay it.

I saw her recently and she is now a phys-ed and science teacher in a private college here in Melbourne. Of course, I’m gonna tell you that she loves it. And she does. It’s her dream job: great pay, great kids, great conditions and, apparently, it doesn’t feel like work!

Do you get paid to do what you love?

As always, love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

* Don’t forget: only 4 weeks until our MBE Program!