Your Job is an Elevator

You live in a world with more opportunity available to you than ever before in the history of man. All around you is an entire civilization brimming with access to more technology than has ever been seen heretofore. Take a moment and focus on the power that is all around you. Take the cap off your potential, because you are limitless the second you say that it is so. I will give you an example with something that we all now take for granted because it has become so commonplace.

Mere words cannot even do justice to describing the powers available to your fingertips. For example, this very instant you’re probably carrying a smartphone or a tablet. With something the size of either a wallet or a small book, you wield more power than all the “high-tech” computers of the 1960’s 70’s and 80’s put together. With a smartphone device, you can call anyone on any corner of the globe and connect with them instantly. If talking isn’t enough, you can even video chat them. From sending money to family and friends to accessing the best birthday cake recipes on YouTube, the information you have access to is endless. Knowledge and power that man has spent centuries learning and perfecting can be yours with just a few keystrokes on a google search engine. Take a minute and reflect on all the advances of technology that have been made in just the last ten years. Something new is being either created or innovated every second of every day. I am sure you agree this is all truly remarkable to say the least.

And guess what, so are you. And so is your job. That’s right–that job that you cannot stand is remarkable and so are you! Break it down to its’ simplest level: Your Job is an Elevator. It can either bring you up or take you down. The choice is yours because you are the one with all the power. YOU make the choice. YOU are the conductor at the controls. If you want to go up, then up you will go. If you want to stay where you are, that is available to you. Should you turn down either of those two options, you will most assuredly go down–something that is best to be avoided.

Revel in the responsibility and respect the power that you are given in this matter because it is yours and yours alone. It is not your boss or your manger or your supervisor–it is YOU my friend. The direction in which you move is entirely “up” to you and the veracity of your ambition. A job can be a love it or hate it endeavor depending upon what side of that table you sit, or rather, your proximity to the controls of the elevator. If your job is an elevator where do you stand? Do you stand along the back wall leaning up against the handrail? Or do you move out front to where the controls are?You can always find me by the door because when it opens I am ready to RUN through it to the next level. A job treated as an elevator is exactly like the smartphone in your pocket–an opportunity.

Always seek out the upgrade. Always look for a way to move forward. We are humans and as such we are designed for continuous improvement. Do not be afraid to expand your coast and demand more great works out of yourself. You are far stronger than you give yourself credit for. With everything that you do including the job you perform, always look out for the “level-up.” That, is what a job is. It is a leg-up. It is a step-up. It is a doorway forward. It is an upgrade. I liken it to a golden stairway where each step you ascend represents an upgrade of yourself as a living breathing force. You accrue power and experience with every day you step into that building and clock yourself in to work. Whether you are hourly or salary, you are not only clocking in to your job–you are clocking in to you. You are investing in yourself. You are filling yourself out and adding more pieces to your puzzle as a true masterpiece should.

I need you to believe in yourself the same way you believe in your favorite sports team. With all your endeavors treat yourself with the respect of absolute certainty that no matter what you do you will not be stopped. You will be slowed down. You will be held back. And you will be challenged. But you refuse to be stopped. Your elevator shaft only goes in one direction and you know what direction that is. Like anything else, every pursuit worth conquering takes time. Do not be afraid of that. Your energy is there to be exerted.

I get it. Greatness in anything takes a long time. Too long in our own self-centered brains. So what do a lot of us do? We cut corners! We spend so much of our time trying to do as little as possible while gaining as much as possible. It is no different with a job. I myself have been guilty of that more often than not. Here is why I am telling you this: When you take that approach, you’re not only cheating the company–you’re cheating yourself too. When you rush through your work, not only are you prone to making mistakes–you are prone to not learning from them. The opportunity cost of that last point is immeasurable.

Most run from making mistakes but I run towards what I can learn from them. This can be the biggest and brightest way to level yourself up. There have been many times I have learned more from making one major mistake at a job than years spent of trying to be the perfect employee. Perfection is boring because if you are not struggling, you’re not really progressing. You’re not going down but you’re not moving up either. You are stuck. And while that is better than going down, it is certainly less than ideal. It is beneath you and your standard.

In future posts I will go into further detail as to the importance of working hard, smart, honestly, and diligently. To really get the most out of anything in life, you have to be truly invested in the process. You cannot rush through the process to really absorb, learn, and apply the lessons that you will need to take with you in this journey known as life. I think we can all agree on that. Whether you earn $8 an hour sweeping floors or are a Fortune 500 CEO earning millions in compensation per year there is still much more you can do to level yourself up. But you cannot achieve this without being invested. I need you to dig in! Take action! Get invested! I am not saying you have to stay in one job for 20 or 30 years. What I am saying is you have all you need to raise your elevator as high as you want it. Your job literally makes all that possible for you. Your wages are your own yes, but more importantly, the knowledge you take in is yours to build on every single day. Knowledge that can take you in your elevator higher than you have ever dreamed possible.

I need you to lean in. Plug in. Dial yourself in. Get off that handrail in the back of the elevator and take over the controls by the door. With your mind, you are at the controls of greatness. Why not the same for your life? This is the essence of AT YOUR BEST. Remember–your elevator only goes in one direction. I think you can tell what direction that is.

–Daniel Cousin