Wisdom & Insights

A recent labor study revealed that the average worker in America puts in almost nine hours each day on the job but is only productive for two hours and 53 minutes. These are people who, by and large, would never consider stealing as much as a postage stamp from their employer, but each day steal a significant amount in non-productive wages they are paid. This has become almost an epidemic in our society; therefore, people rarely realize it is happening.  

 

When I speak or write on this topic, people often respond, “Jim, I just have a dead-end, entry-level job, so there’s no real future here anyway.”  If you are one of those people, or if you find yourself in the middle of the corporate ladder but would like to move up, you simply need to follow the time-tested wisdom and give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. If your employer approached you at the end of the workday and said, “I realize you were clocked in here for nine hours today, but we’re only going to pay you for the two hours and 53 minutes when you were productive,” you would probably start a riot.  

 

Success, productivity, and winning are all habits. You have to start practicing them when you’re at the bottom of the ladder so you can fully experience them at the top of the ladder.  

 

Recently, I enjoyed a great documentary about the Beatles. When they first began playing together, their goal was to appear on a London TV show called Top of the Pop, which featured the most popular recording artists of the day. The best groups that appeared on that show got to perform on another program called Command Performance which was recorded live in front of the queen. The Beatles were booked to play a grueling tour of club performances in Hamburg, Germany. The venues they played were rundown and the least prestigious clubs in the city. They were forced to play eight-hour sets that lasted all night which later was the inspiration for Ringo’s statement that became the title of one of their songs and movies, A Hard Day’s Night.  

 

Before each of these performances, the four Beatles would often remind one another, “This one is for the queen,” and then they performed with all the energy and enthusiasm they had. While the queen never sat in one of the seedy clubs where the Beatles played, their performances propelled them ahead in their careers to the point where, less than two years later, they played a command performance in London before the queen.  

 

If you want to receive outstanding pay, do outstanding work, and success will catch up with you. Otherwise, you’re like the sad man standing in front of the fireplace saying, “If you’ll give me some heat, I’ll throw in some wood.”  

 

As you go through your day today, work hard, play hard, and expect success.

 

Today’s the day!

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~ Jim Stovall