Dee Davis (00:00)
You can't go to work for a paycheck. If that's what you feel like you're doing right now, erase, erase, erase and start over. The answer to why do I go to work can't be a paycheck. Because there's so much more to life than that. Yes, we all have to make money. Yes, we all have to live.
But why do we have to be miserable while we're doing it? That's optional.
Good morning and welcome to the Management Under Construction podcast. I'm your host, Dee Davis. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Today I want to talk to you about finding your why. Why do you go to work? Why are you in this industry? What is it that drew you into the construction or engineering industry? Finding your why is one of the most powerful things I have ever done in my life. I went to a seminar at University of San Diego, I believe it was, years ago. I was running a project.
Probably multiple projects knowing me. And I was struggling with why I was doing this. I was working 60, 70, 80 hours a week. I was exhausted. And I wasn't really sure if this was the path that I wanted to continue on. So I went to a seminar that they had. It was like a workshop, a one-day workshop that they had on campus. And it was about finding your why. And it wasn't
work specific. It was just looking inward and figuring out why you do what you do. what is it that motivates you to get out of bed? What is it that motivates you to go to work and do what it is that you do? What is it that makes you who you are and and gives you your passion and your flair for life. So it was an interesting day and I really left there realizing that I had a why.
And it wasn't what I thought it was. You can't go to work for a paycheck. If that's what you feel like you're doing right now, erase, erase, erase and start over. The answer to why do I go to work can't be a paycheck. Because there's so much more to life than that. Yes, we all have to make money. Yes, we all have to live.
But why do we have to be miserable while we're doing it? That's optional. We can choose to be miserable and hate our jobs and slog through it every day for the next 30 or 40 years. I see people griping about this stuff on social media all the time. why can't they pay us more? And why do we have to go to work until we die? You don't. You absolutely don't. But nobody owes you anything.
You owe it to yourself to figure out what motivates you, what drives you, what is going to spark that passion inside of you to make you want to do what you do. So I went to the seminar, and I gotta tell you, my why surprised me. It had nothing to do with me, actually. My why was my team. Why did I keep getting out of bed and going to work every day?
Because I loved the people that I worked with. I would jump into traffic for those people.
That's not the answer I thought I was gonna find. I thought I was gonna find an answer, something like, I really love to build things. It makes me feel good to be able to drive by a building and go, I participated in that. we all claim we did that. Of course, all of us together did that. But name a construction person that doesn't take their family on some boring drive going that one, that one, that one, I did that one, that one. We all do it. Absolutely. We are proud of what we do.
I started out in this industry as a carpenter. I love to create things with my hands and I have no artistic ability whatsoever. So I can't draw, I can't paint, I can't do any of that kind of creativity So I build stuff and I do it mostly in my head. I do it with my brains more than my body anymore.
But the act of creating something that is going to be there long after I'm gone, that's going to help people and serve people or create medicine that helps people and cures people, that's huge. And I think my why has shifted over time because yes, it's people that I work with and the team that I had at that moment. That was my why at that moment, but your why can change over time.
we discussed this with our guest Jeff Klubeck a while back. That why can change. Why did I become self-employed at one point once upon a time? Well, I didn't know exactly then, but come to find out, it was because I had a whole lot of other whys in my life that needed me to have that flexibility. And it gave me exactly that. I love working for myself. I love my clients. I love the people that I work with.
The people are still my why, but it's also a lot of life saving medicine that I get to go create now. I get to create the spaces that make that life saving medicine that actually help people with rare diseases. That's huge for me. I absolutely love that I can participate in that. I'm not making aspirin and things like that because that's not what drives me. What drives me
Is meeting somebody who has been cured by a line that I worked on. That's what drives me now, in addition to all the people. And the travel. I love traveling. So for me, getting to go new places and build things in other places and get to experience different areas of the country so far, hopefully the world soon is also part of what motivates me. So ask yourself: what motivates you? Why?
Do you get out of bed and go to work? And your answer cannot be a paycheck. You have to dig deeper. Why is that paycheck important to you? And that's how you arrive at it is you keep digging. Well, the paycheck's important to you maybe because you have a family to support. Okay, why is that important to you? And you keep digging and you keep asking why until, huh, one day you realize that's the answer.
Because maybe for you, it's you take a lot of pride in supporting and taking care of your family and you feel like that's your job. Great, that's a good why. Make sure you're doing something you love while you're doing it. Because yes, I have that responsibility too. I'm supporting not only my own family, but I have extended people. I have all of my employees and
My contractors that I'm supporting also, and I feel a genuine responsibility to these people to make sure that I continue to generate income that helps them live their lives and feed their families. That's of tremendous importance to me. What is your why? Why do you get out of bed? Why do you put that tool belt on? Why do you go to work and put up with all these people that are grumpy pains in the butts all the time? Why do you get up at four in the morning?
And drive an hour to work. Cause only crazy people do that these days, right? Everybody wants to work from home and everybody wants all that cozy, comfy stuff, and I get it. But I still look forward to going to work every morning. I still look forward to driving to the job. Fortunately, it's a short one right now. I still look forward to coming in the trailer in the morning and saying, good morning everybody, how you doing? And seeing everybody's smiles.
I like that aspect of it. What is your why?
You are responsible for your happiness. Only you are responsible for that. And you only get one shot at this. You get one life to live. So how much time are you gonna spend complaining and blaming and griping about the drive and griping about the people and griping about the work and griping about this person and that person and all this other stuff?
Are you gonna go to work and choose to be happy and live your why every single day? I hope that you do. I know I certainly do. And we got to take responsibility for our own actions and our own choices. So if you're not in the right place, if you're getting up and you're going to work every day and you're thinking, this sucks, I hate it, do something else.
Do something else. There are a million options out there. This is America. And the listeners from other countries mostly have choices too. You can go do anything you want. If you are not happy in what you're doing, for the love of God, figure out what your why is. Figure out what makes you happy. And go do that. Thanks for joining us.
We'll see you next time.
