The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

June 26Master Your Craft

The aim of the laborer should be, not to get their living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a person who does your work for money, but one who does it for a love of it.

Henry David Thoreau—“Life Without Principle” (1854)

Have you ever watched someone doing a job many would label as menial and yet their posture and attitude belies this label? They look happy even, and when asked will tell you how satisfying doing this simple job is.

Can you say that about your work? Maybe yes, often no. So, where does that aura of contentment come from?

Do what you love and you'll never work another day in … don't worry, we're not going there.

Perform well a certain work and you'll probably like doing it—that's the start. But, continue to get better and you'll come to respect it as a craft, and in that sense, it may ultimately bring you joy.

Mastery is the goal—look for it in others, teach it, practice it.

Challenge Question

1. What's the weakest part of your craft? What is it costing you?