Unleash Your Potential #1 - Work Ethic

Douglas: Welcome to the Unleash Your Potential Blog, what question can I answer for you today?

GoalGlider: What techniques can help me develop a better work ethic?

Douglas: That is a great question! The fact that you are asking this question is a sign that you are looking to make some improvement in your life. Work ethic is a really important part of life satisfaction. Most of us are hard-wired to want to feel good about the tasks we do. Contrary to the implied title, work ethic impacts so much more that just our jobs. Work ethic ties into everything we do. It impacts how we engage with hobbies, school, work, relationships, everything. And at its core, work ethic can be boiled down to motivation.

Think about people you know who have a strong work ethic. Then think about the context in which they display a strong work ethic. Without knowing the specifics, my guess is that whoever you are thinking about has some sort of motivation to complete that task. It could be an external (extrinsic) motivation (e.g. paycheck, earn good grades, gain approval from someone, etc.) or internal (intrinsic) motivation (e.g. desire to improve, belief in a cause or project, etc.).

Here is an example from my life, I work at a local restaurant part-time for extra cash. When I am at work I see some servers who just stand in the back on their phones when not engaged with patrons. Others (including me) are moving through the kitchen space cleaning, stocking, running other table orders, etc. What is the difference? I am motivated by an intrinsic need to be good at what I do, regardless of the task. If I commit to a project, I give it 100% of my effort when I am there. A strong work ethic is just enhanced motivation to do whatever is necessary to complete a task.

It is important to remember that strong work ethic is not a characteristic you either have or don’t. Work ethic is contextual (e.g. I did not have a strong work ethic for my music history class…which I failed 5 times, but I did for my Ph.D. work).

To return to the question, “how do you improve work ethic,” I believe that the solution lies in some honest self-reflection. Try the following steps:

1. Take a moment to look at the times in your life you have had a strong work ethic? What motivated you to complete those tasks?

2. Then take a look at times when you don’t have a strong work ethic. Why aren’t you motivated to complete the task? What might motivate you to complete the task? If you have no external motivators to complete the task, then you need to develop an internal motivation to complete the task. For me, sometimes it helps me to develop an internal competition (e.g. When I was journaling, I tried to write at least 10% more words than I did the previous entry). What are some internal motivations you might try to improve your commitment to the task at hand? Are there things you learned from step 1 that you can apply to step 2?

Developing a strong work ethic has the potential to help you grow in every area of your life. The best suggestion I can offer is to examine why you aren’t motivated and develop some ways to change that.

I hope this gives you some things think about. If you want to dig into this concept further I encourage you to reach out and set up a conversation. In the meantime, check back tomorrow for the next question in the Unleash Your Potential Series!

Be Well!

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