What’s Your Work Ethic?

Over the weekend, I was walking along the beach early in the morning and noticed several people standing around with brooms. They were all wearing bright orange vests and seemed like they were fulfilling a community-service obligation.

As I passed the group, I heard the leader say, “Now, take your time. If they see you’re not doing anything, they’ll give you more work to do.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, I noticed all of the volunteers spread out across the sidewalk…standing there looking at the ocean with brooms in hand. There must have been 25-30 people in the group!

Now, in my opinion, about five people could have swept the entire sidewalk in a matter of hours while the others did something more beneficial elsewhere.

I like to avoid negativity, but I felt this was a total waste of people power and it really got me thinking. With everything going on in the world, isn’t there a way these workers could have completed their community-service hours by directly helping others in need, recycling or taking part in some other volunteer activity that provided value?

In addition, what kind of work ethic does this support?

If you were given this situation, would you just stand there and look at the ocean, or would you try to do a good job with the task you were given?

Obviously, many people would take the lazy route and enjoy the ocean view. But is this the mentality that got them to this point in the first place?

Having a strong work ethic is essential in today’s economic environment. Now is not the time to do “only what is expected.” Instead, it’s important to go above and beyond.

The hard-working people who put in the extra effort now will be the ones who will be able to compete, weather these tough times and experience great success in the future…so with this in mind, are you going to settle with the status quo or make your dreams a reality with hard work and perseverance?

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