Saturday, February 5, 2011

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Lately I have been doing a great deal of thinking for a proper definition of hard work. I know this appears to be a simple answer, but I can't help but wonder if this definition has changed over the course of a few generations. Let me explain.

When I started my job this summer, the university had this seminar (for lack of a better term) examining this generation of students that we would be working with for the upcoming year and how their attitudes toward life will affect their college decision making process. It took a look at the current generation and the two generations preceeding it. The students of this generation were described as taking longer to become self-reliant, having a sense of entitlement to anything they think they deserve and desiring quick success with little effort. This description has been on mind since that day in August, and possibly so because I am grouped into that generation.

The more I think about it, the more I see it. If we want to lose weight, we simply take a pill. We learn how to do the minimal just to get by, whether it is school, work, relationships, etc. Often times commitment to people or organizations are nonexsitent due to the fear that someone might actually expect something from them, ie. responsibility. So, is this true? Do teenagers and young adults not know the definition of hard work and/or are they practicing it? Even worse, do they care? I know, of course, that this is all based on the overall and not everyone lumped into this category has this mindset, but still I think it is something worth further observation.

As I ponder these things I refer back to my original question of hard work. Is hard work doing what you are told and then going home at the end of the day? Or, is it doing what you're told to the best of your ability? Or, is it doing what you're told to the best of your ability AND going above and beyond when necessary? Would a "hard worker" complain when having to do a task that is not his or her job? Or, would he or she lend a hand if that meant the job would be completed? As I type these questions I admittedly am unsure of my answers. Of course I know which answers I would like to pick, but do they definitively describe my work ethic? Are they the adjectives that reflect my work habits and attitudes? I do not know. In addition to all this pondering, is it true that this generation, I, expect the best even if when the time has not been served?

So many things to think about. My hope and desire for this generation, for myself, is that we would examine this topic of hard work in each of our lives. That we take responsibility, neglect laziness in exchange for determination and discipline and surrender our need  to "keep up with the Joneses".

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