Post #36. “As Picasso Painted”

“A monkey could do this work! I deserve better than this! My brain will die if I keep doing this stupid work…” 

As I was cleaning the toilets, the thoughts where repeatedly running through my brain.

I was 16 and just got my first real summer job, at a harbour, which also included, yes… cleaning toilets… and I thought is sucked…

But the real problem was not the tedious work with cleaning the toilets… it was not the toilets that sucked… it was my attitude that sucked…

The real problem was my attitude towards the work… not the work itself.

So, after a while of complaining and ruminating about all the things which I disliked about the job, I decided to do something…

I had chosen to work here, and I will need to clean plenty of toilets this summer, so I mind as well enjoy it… But how?

How can one enjoy cleaning toilets?

DO IT LIKE A MASTER WOULD DO IT
So, very early I made the decision to change this attitude… I saw that it was not going to make the work more enjoyable…

So I decided to clean toilets as If I was the true master of it, the most legendary toilet cleaner in the world.

I decided to do it with excellence, pride & wholeheartedly.

And guess what…? I actually started to really enjoy cleaning toilets.

* I did it with a confident smile on my face

* I greeted the guests with all my heart

* I was proud of the work that I was doing

See… the amazing thing about this experience I had, was that I realised a great lesson…

WE HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDES, AND BY CHANGING OUR ATTITUDES, WE CHANGE OUR EXPERIENCES. 

I noticed how this applied to everything in life. I started to looking at my attitude instead of simply complaining and making excuses.

But how did I get this insight in the first place?

When I was 16 years old, I read my first book… And it planted some seeds.

This is so key, because If I would not have had this idea of “attitude” and “mindset”, then I would never been able to pick it up and do something about it…

This is why learning is key…

It gives you tools for times like this…

Great ideas gives you  different options to chose from…

For example, if I never heard about “choosing our attitudes”, the option to do just that would not be available to me.

START NOW
My encouragement to you is to begin now to think about your attitude. In what parts of your life could you infuse some world class attitude?

I think it’s really important to start now, so you become a master at choosing the attitude that serves your growth vs. your stagnation…

Because I believe as we grow older, we are going to meet new challenges, and the best way to start cultivating this muscle, this skill of choosing attitude, is now…

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
– Lou Holtz

“It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.”
– Howard Ruff

“The way we do the small things determines the way we do everything.”
– Robin S. Sharma 

So…

* The way we respond to the little things today, determines the way we respond to the big things tomorrow. 

* The way we do the little things today, determines the way we do the big things tomorrow. 

* How well we carry our light load today, determines how well we carry a heavier load tomorrow.

So, please do yourself a service and START PRACTICING NOW…

HOW?
Start with really small things:
* World class posture.
* World class brushing your teeth
* World class breathing
* World class toilet cleaner
* World class “anything”

Really, you choose… Enjoy doing things to the best of your ability & knowledge, or succumb to “the mundaneness” of the work… The choice is yours alone. 🙂

Start carrying things well today, and you will be ready when heavier things come at you...

Weather you make this decision today or not, will be a matter of bending or breaking, when the load gets heavier, when life get’s tougher.

***

Let me ask you a question:
What in you life do you find really mundane? Boring? Tedious?
Could you adopt a “world class attitude” around it?

Just try one time.

See what happens… How you feel about it…

And know that you have this choice with you wherever you go… and in whatever you are doing…

Take care!

With love!
– Daniel