Michael Gerber Quote on How The Work We Do is a Reflection of Who We Are

“The work we do is a reflection of who we are. If we’re sloppy at it, it’s because we’re sloppy inside. If we’re late at it, it’s because we’re late inside. If we’re bored by it, it’s because we’re bored inside, with ourselves, not with the work. The most menial work can be a piece of art when done by an artist. So the job here is not outside of ourselves, but inside of ourselves. How we do our work becomes a mirror of how we are inside.”

Michael Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited (Page 200)

Beyond the Quote (198/365)

“Autograph your work with excellence,” has become a sort of mantra that I live by. Whatever I set out to do, I always try to give it my absolute best shot. And it doesn’t matter what it is. It could be something important like writing these articles or something that might be considered more menial like vacuuming the rug. The underlying idea is that all work that gets done always gets done with an autograph attached to the work. And that autograph, that work, as Gerber points out above, acts as a reflection of the person who did it. The question that you then have to ask yourself is, what does your work say about you?

If you’re the type of person who rushes and is always mentally elsewhere, then your autograph will start to become associated with sloppy work. If you’re the type of person who is always running late and is scatter-brained, then your autograph will start to equate to “late” and “scattered” type work. If you’re the type of person who is always complaining about the work and is seemingly uninterested in its completion, then your autograph will be attached to boring work. If you think about the people with whom you’ve worked with, you’ll see how accurate this description is. Every job completed paints a self portrait of the person who does it. The work each person produces on the outside is a reflection of who they are on the inside.

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And, again, your autograph is not discriminatory. You don’t get to choose which pieces of work get your autograph and which don’t—they all get your autograph. Everything from your most prized productions to your lamest attempts at doing small tasks—all, equally, get that same signature of yours. And in this idea comes an opportunity and, maybe for some, a wake-up call. The opportunity is this, if you want people to start taking you more seriously—then you need to start taking yourself more seriously. If you don’t want your work to be so boring, then stop being bored while you work. If you seriously want to rise above what’s considered “average,” then you need to start autographing all of your work with excellence. This means doing everything to the absolute best of your ability.

The wake up call is just the same. Your job isn’t boring—you’re boring. Your work isn’t unimportant—you’re making it unimportant. You’re not getting paid less than you want because you’re performing excellently—you’re getting paid less than you want because your performance is suboptimal. If you were going to ask someone to do a job for you, think about the people you might ask and what their autographed work might look like. Can you see how you automatically equate each person to a certain type of work ethic, demeanor, and energy? This is what everybody else in your life equates to you, too.

But, don’t just change your work ethic for them. Change your work ethic for you. Because ultimately, what other people think of you is out of your control and is their business, but what you think of yourself is all up to you and should be your main business. So reclaim the beauty behind your signature and associate that autograph of yours to excellence. Let your work become a reflection of who you are as a person and let excellence become the standard to which you always default to when you work. Watch the value of your signature rise and watch how more doors open for you in your life as a result. People want autographs from people who are excellent—not just average.

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This post became the introduction for: 12 Motivational Michael Gerber Quotes from The E-Myth Revisited

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