Parenting is an interesting opportunity to think about important personality traits and life skills. Sometimes it feels like it’s hard to communicate anything so if I’m going to pick a few things to focus on, what should they be?
Lately, I’ve been thinking that one near the top of the list is the ability to be good at things you dislike. Too many people see a task they don’t like doing and they do the bare minimum required to get it off their list. But successful people are able to be excellent at things even if they dislike doing them. It doesn’t mean that they ever end up liking the task, but you’d never know it by the quality of their work. This advice shows up in the Bible too: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Often those things we don’t like doing are the hard things. We’d rather spend our time doing the fun things. Elijah gets tired of hearing me say “Work first, then play” but there are better versions of that quote:
- “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” – Dale Carnegie
It’s a straightforward lesson, but it’s one I need to remind myself of too.
Being Good At Things You Dislike
Parenting is an interesting opportunity to think about important personality traits and life skills. Sometimes it feels like it’s hard to communicate anything so if I’m going to pick a few things to focus on, what should they be?
Lately, I’ve been thinking that one near the top of the list is the ability to be good at things you dislike. Too many people see a task they don’t like doing and they do the bare minimum required to get it off their list. But successful people are able to be excellent at things even if they dislike doing them. It doesn’t mean that they ever end up liking the task, but you’d never know it by the quality of their work. This advice shows up in the Bible too: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Often those things we don’t like doing are the hard things. We’d rather spend our time doing the fun things. Elijah gets tired of hearing me say “Work first, then play” but there are better versions of that quote:
It’s a straightforward lesson, but it’s one I need to remind myself of too.