Any job worth doing…
My father always had some wise words for me and his father for him. Through the years these little nuggets, that I had once assumed were nothing more than one man regurgitating the words of an earlier generation, have actually shaped how I approach different parts of my life. From an early age, I’ve never been one to simply do a half-assed job just to get something done. I learned early on that doing so can often lead to spending a lot more time on something than you intended to, whether it be to simply complete the task or to fix something later on.
“Any job worth doing is worth doing right, the first time.” As a child, I can remember numerous times when I would be asked to do a particular task over again simply because I chose to do a lousy job the first time. Often I would do so out of protest or simply to rush and get it done so I could return to something more enjoyable. Like many boys, I often saw the jobs that I had been assigned as “unfair” and interruptions to my life as a kid. I was obviously still in the formative stages of learning the true value of “work” and a job well done. Over time, I learned to take pride in my work. Certain tasks around the home became “mine”, not simply because they were assigned, but because I considered them to be “my job” and therefore my job to do the right way.
I grew up on about 2 acres of grass. Our house was an “in-town farmhouse” that was well over 200 years old and situated on a beautiful lot at the top of a hill. The house had once sprung from wealth and had obviously had beautiful gardens, walkways, and landscaping in its heyday. When my parents bought the house, it was showing it’s age. It was a “project” for them and would become the source of many of my life lessons and skills as I grew up.
One of my duties was to mow the lawn. Thankfully with 2 acres of grass, we had a riding lawn mower, but there were still sections of our lawn that required a push mower or a grass trimmer. In the beginning, being a boy, just driving the mower around was motivation enough. As time went by, the joy of driving a lawnmower started to become a chore, but the feeling I got from completing the job and having a nicely cut lawn was starting to creep in. I began to take the job more seriously. I began to maintain the mower, develop new methods for mowing the difficult spots, and for making things look even better. What would normally take a couple of hours of fast driving to mow the grass turned into a day of mowing, landscaping, and sweat. The feeling I got at the end of a long day when I was able to walk the property and see the fruits of my labor, began to shape how I would approach other things in life.
There’s a big difference between just getting it done and doing it right. I learned many times that stacking firewood can be done quickly, however you may also end up doing it all over again if you don’t do it right. Life has taught me that fixing a rushed job can often result in a lot more time being spent on a task than the little extra time that it might have taken to do it right the first time. It’s an important lesson to learn and one where, as a Dad, you might have to stand back and bite your lip while you watch your children struggle with a task gone awry.
One more hidden nugget in this life lesson is knowing whether or not a job needs to be done now or can it wait until you have the time to do it right. I’m not saying you should procrastinate, but it is wise to prioritize. Sometimes it’s better to ask yourself, “Do I have the time to do this correctly or should I wait until later?” If you choose to delay something until later, it’s important to make a plan for when you’ll do it. Procrastination is a topic for another day.
An important part of being a man is to lead by example. Your children are watching. Take the time to build it right. Shovel the walkway and clean it up. Make it look good. Clean the car completely. Stack the firewood neatly. In the end, and most importantly, when the work is done, use that same life lesson in your relationship with your children, your wife, and your tribe. Give them your best self. Do it right. The first time. Always.
