Are you really good at what you do? Why aren't you great?

This week a friend was reading my book and sent me a text.  The text said “I think I am a pretty good real estate agent”.  Which he is.  Given his previous comments he was at the point in the book asking him to determine what he does best.  I sent back a couple of “tests” that I use which didn't make the book.  Being good at something, even really good may not be your path to happiness and healthiness.  When you find your perfect occupation, it will be something you truly love to do, so it is no longer work.

Because I don't really “work” in the traditional sense any more I really don't like to use the word.  I gave up work after finishing my book and taking my own advice.  Yes in the short term income went down as my life adjusted, my stress went down even further so the income cut was well worth it.  I have heard the term “plorking” meaning to play and work at the same time.  Plorking just doesn't roll off the tongue the way my life description should.  Some time ago I went to a seminar featuring Kevin Carrol, the guy that invented those little silicone bracelets.  The very first one said simply “play”.  I don't wear it, it hangs over my watch box with my goal sheet so I am reminded every day.


Before I went to the seminar and before I wrote my first book (which I never published, I didn't like it), I was tired, stressed and frustrated with the world even though most people envied our business.  The business was growing steadily, made a decent income and let me play with some toys most people only dream of.  Just before I figured out I was on the wrong road, I moved closer to the business, giving up a fantastic country home that my wife and I spent 4 years making perfect for us in every way.  The move it turned out was driven by all the wrong reasons.

The day that it hit me I needed to do something else was the first workday in the new house.  Instead of getting up a 6 as I did in the country and driving in for an hour, I got up at 7.  I was still 15 minutes late.  There was my first clue.  In any leadership position whether you are the manager or the owner, being consistently late is the first sign of decline.  My wife even said, “When you flew in the reserves you got up before the alarm clock every time, now you and the snooze buttons are best friends.”

There it was, a simple fact pointing out that I didn't like my own business enough to get out of bed without a kick in the tail.  I had never lived like that before, why now.  The “why” was relatively easy, I was in the wrong business.  I had picked a business because I knew how to do it, not because I loved to do it, or it was a part of what made me.

Many airline pilots I know are frustrated now not because they aren't meant to be airline pilots, but because the promise made to them about their lifestyle has been broken.  It doesn't matter how much or how little you make, when you lose 40% of your salary and 50% of your retirement, it hurts.  This is probably the toughest group to work with since it is a predominantly union business, and moving to the newer non-union airlines makes the income situation worse.  They still love to fly and be airline pilots, no matter how bad the pay, the hotels or the layovers.  It is who most of them are.  If this weren't true, I would say over half of the airline pilots in the US would have left after the 2002 paycuts.  If you took a 40-60% cut in your compensation would you look for a new job?  There might be your first question.

For the rest of the normal world, we each have some litmus tests to see if we are really in the right world.  For me the most obvious is beating the alarm clock.  I haven't had one for over a year now.  For other people it may be something like watching a friend get laid off or the company cutting back that gets you to re-think where you are.  The one thing I do know is if it feels like “work” then it is “work” and you will do better in the long run to find something better.  If you are “pretty good” at it, like my friend is at Real Estate and it isn't “work” to you, then become great at it.

My friend is about to become an empty nester, I think that will be his test.  Big empty house and the last kid at a far away school with parents half way across the country.  Will he become a great real estate agent or bored and frustrated with all the distractions gone?  What will be your test? Why are you waiting?