Managing Priorities for Success

Among the central skills for success in life and work is the ability to distinguish between the importance of various tasks or objectives. For busy people, there appears to be too much to do at every moment. Trying to work harder, run faster and become more efficient helps a lot, but ultimately we hit a wall. There just isn’t enough time available to get everything done.

One of my hardest challenges came when I was quite suddenly placed in charge of 15,000 employees at a large corporation. Previously, I had been Chief Financial Officer with huge responsibilities, but this sudden promotion to Chief Operating Officer left me virtually breathless for a few days. Fortunately, I was able to rely on the habits, skills, and priorities I had developed over many years. I wrote down my key priorities and set out to achieve them quickly. My number one priority was to quickly assemble an effective executive team from among the people already in the organization, which was a manageable goal. Doing that right enabled me to meet the other looming challenges.

Fortunately, my business career started out with much simpler challenges. For many years, I was engaged in building up several corporate banking offices, which started humbly. I can well remember having only one assistant to help me in the early days. Later, I had offices with 7 people, then with12 people, then 20 or 40 people. What enabled me to thrive and prosper was to cut through all of the sophisticated sounding management talk and to reduce our objectives to the basics, like:

• build and nurture a strong team, and
• serve our best customers and prospects well.

Simplify your goals

This may sound too simple for a Harvard graduate who started his career on Wall Street. But in my academic studies, I learned about the principle of simplicity called Occam’s razor, named after a 14^th Century monk, which says essentially that the simplest scientific explanation possible is more likely to be correct than the more complicated possibilities. This principle has now been applied to virtually every field of human endeavor.

In modern business parlance, we could translate Occam’s razor to say: “just cut through all the crap and get it down to the basics.” Leonardo da Vinci said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". That applies equally to life, art or business.

Regrettably, I do not subscribe to the theory that greater efficiency will enable you to accomplish everything that needs doing. In my experience, we are constantly choosing between doing one thing and another, all day. Should we spend quality time with our friend on the phone, or move on with an urgent task?

There is no simple easy solution to this dilemma, like “always do your work first”, or, “always spend time with people, no matter what”; these both sound equally good. However, in real life, we must choose between many seemingly important calls on our time. This gets especially complex in balancing family responsibilities against work demands.

Sort your priorities

Another guiding principle I have found and practiced for many years comes from an Italian philosopher who said that if you have a list of 10 items, or 10 possessions, or 10 of almost anything, one or two items will outweigh the remaining 8 or 9 on the list in total importance. I have confirmed that principle repeatedly throughout my career. Learning to sort out what is important from all the other demands in our lives is a consummate skill.

My daily practice for many years has been to write a quick list in a minute or two of what most needs to be done. Then I decide which of these tasks is most important and make sure that this one gets done for sure, no matter what it takes.

Sometimes we need a friend or advisor to help us sort out what is absolutely crucial from what is merely important. At work, it is good to ask your boss and colleagues what is most crucial, so that everyone works together toward a common goal, rather than pursuing conflicting priorities.

Look long term

Whether at work or in our family, we may often get tempted to do what seems important today and thus ignore tomorrow. Many years ago I heard someone say we should spend 50% of our time on longer term goals. I have tried to do that for a lifetime, which has helped me enormously.

That doesn’t mean no time out for relaxing, for family, sports, or entertainment. Those are also important for our long term well being. I have tried to limit my work week to 45 – 55 hours at most, which becomes possible by sorting priorities.

Conclusion

Sorting out and simplifying our tasks and priorities is crucial for success. Take a few minutes to do this daily. Occasionally it is worth taking an hour or two to contemplate your life and work to reassess your situation. At New Year, or some other time, it may be worth spending a full day to figure out your future direction.

I have found that the people who “work hard” rarely do as well as the people who “work smart”, although both are good. Turn your brain into a superior navigation instrument. That is its purpose!

Investment 102: Stocks

It is customary when giving investment advice to provide a disclaimer about your qualifications, self-interest, or bias. Unfortunately, these disclaimers are attached at the bottom of complex documents and written in fine-print legalese, so that mere mortals don’t actually read them. My disclaimer however is rather simple:

Although I am a financial pro, I am not a stock expert. If you think by reading the next few pages that you will become expert in stock investing, please ask me to refund all of your money right now!

I have never charged anyone for investment advice, so please don’t send me any of your gains on investments, nor a bill for any of your losses. Having given that warning, I will now plunge in:

Investing in stocks can be quite good if you are cautious, disciplined, skeptical, and:

If you are not expecting to make a quick, dramatic gain. This is a long-term business where only enduring investors do well.

If you understand that every stock and every industry has significant cyclical swings, up and down. That is the basis of stock market psychology: the bears are always seeing the dark side, while the bulls are eternal optimists; each of these groups is right about half of the time. Don’t become a bear or a bull. Stay dispassionate.

If you distrust the experts. Also, distrust yourself and your own opinions! Even the experts can’t fully understand (or predict) the market cycles, so don’t get hooked on anyone else’s advice (including me), since all of us are too often wrong.

Listen to everyone, but please don’t rely on stock recommendations whether from your broker, from your friends, from an investment newsletter, or from anyone who charges you for advice, or gets a commission.

If you are not putting in money which you will need to take out during the next year or two. Usually, just when you need your money back is when the market will be down. Being forced to sell is never pleasant.

If you invest your money gradually over time and take it out equally slowly. You should avoid trying to figure out stock market timing – when the market will be high or low. The best approach is to put money into the market steadily every month or every year, without trying to guess the future. That way, you will avoid the worst disasters and benefit from upward trends.

If you pick the right industries. A world expert in forest industry stocks once told me that picking the right time to buy forestry stocks was far more important than knowing which forestry stocks to buy. The same holds true for oil & gas stocks, automotive stocks, and for most other industries. However, since most of us are not expert enough to know exactly when to buy which industries, a diversification of stocks and a diversification of industries is a better approach.

If you pick the right countries in which to invest. Never get too patriotic about your own country when investing, because all major countries eventually have their ups and downs. In 2006, stocks from Canada, China, India and other rapidly developing countries have been booming. But this trend will not go on forever. Every national stock market has ups and downs. Diversify.

If you invest in stock market indexes of major countries or in industry sectors, which is now possible to do. Investing in indexes can dramatically reduce the commissions you pay, and likely improve your performance as well.

If you can figure out how to minimize both the stated and hidden commissions by brokers, advisors and fund managers, which can drastically reduce your returns. These costs come at 3 levels:

Buying, selling and administration fees from the broker who handles your stock transactions (Frequent trading is incredibly expensive, unless you trade online through a discount broker)

Annual asset management fees which are charged on mutual funds or investment funds of any type. These can be as high as 2 - 3% p.a., which I would never pay.

Hidden fees paid to your broker for selling you new issues of stocks and other investment products. These fees can be quite large. I usually avoid new issues.

Altogether these charges can range from 1% to 5% p.a. on the money you invest, which reduces your gains considerably. (I don’t like to pay over 1% per year and so I have much of my money in market index funds that cost me only a quarter of 1% per year for administration, and, with a fund manager whose combined charges are just over 1% p.a.);

If you avoid trying to pick out individual stocks unless you are the one person in 10,000 actually trained to do that – even professional stock-pickers rarely beat the market indexes for long, except for Warren Buffet.

(Picking out individual stocks can be a fascinating exercise if you have time, patience, and deep pockets. I would suggest the following approach. Try to find a local company which you know well; that has trustworthy management; that treats employees and customers well; that has consistent growth in sales and earnings; that has superior products at good prices; that has a unique niche in its market; then gradually buy some of their stock. I recommend against putting more than 5% or 10% of your money into any one investment. Regrettably, there are not many companies that meet these criteria, but they are often great investments.)

If you have very realistic expectations. Over 10 – 20 years, you could average up to 10% p.a. by owning a diverse portfolio of stocks (or indexes), but expect enormous swings in good years and bad years. Short term gains or losses mean little.

The allure of stocks is truly beguiling. If you or I could only pick out the right stock in a young company, we could potentially make a 10 or 100 times gain; $1,000 could become $10,000 or even $100,000.

For instance, you or I might potentially have picked Microsoft or any of the hundreds of companies which made that much for their early investors. Trouble is, for every big success, there seem to be thousands of stocks that either fail completely, or never do very well. Furthermore, if you buy into a huge success story near the top of the market (again using the Microsoft example) you might lose 20 – 60% on your money, even though the early investors in that stock have made a real killing.

There are a select few stock professionals who don’t just look at you as just an easy mark. I recently heard a quip from Henry Kissinger saying: “Unfortunately, 90% of the politicians spoil the reputations of the other 10%”. That statement would apply equally to investment advisors!

Stocks have better returns than bonds and other fixed rate investments in the long run, provided that you invest with discipline and diversify your holdings, both by geography and by industry. But remember the higher returns from stocks are compensation for taking more risks:

• risks in companies and their management;
• risks in industries;
• in countries and currencies;
• risks in the economy, both local and global.

At times, catastrophic developments virtually wipe out the value of not only one particular stock, but for entire industries, and even for some countries. I believe there is a small chance that we could see another global wipeout of equities, such as happened in 1928 – 1932. So don’t think stock returns are guaranteed!

Despite my necessary warnings about the risks, I really like investing in stocks (and in real estate) for long-term gains.

 

Investment 101 - Property

One of my favorite courses at Harvard was the introductory class in Economics, which could have been labeled Economics 101. It was fascinating and I got an “A” with ease. Later, I passed the intensive financial training program at Chase Manhattan Bank on Wall Street in New York with high marks as well. But neither of these excellent courses taught me what I most needed to know about handling my personal finances. That I learned very slowly in the “school of hard knocks”.

I have already written about handling money well with frugality, saving and generosity. Now I want to tackle the question I am most frequently asked: how to invest money wisely? (This will involve more than one post.)

For young people starting out, the most important financial principles are:

saving a minimum of 10% of your income (starting today!)

avoiding debt, particularly high interest credit cards.

Once you have some savings accumulated, the main question usually becomes whether to buy your own house or apartment. Although for most people that has been their best investment ever, my advice is not to rush in too quickly. The recent global boom in property has nearly run its course, and prices are already falling in many places, although still rising in other parts of the globe.

This recent property boom was all about interest rates. When interest rates fall and stay low for a few years, property soars. But the old adage still applies: whatever goes up must come down sometime.

The reverse also happens typically in economics – so there is a risk that interest rates could go back up at some point (due to inflation reappearing) and cause a quick property tumble.

In my view, buying your first house or apartment should never be done for getting rich quick, because the opposite could happen just as fast, particularly if you borrow a huge amount. In that case, you would be vulnerable to both interest rates rising considerably and suddenly losing your job (which happens to most people sooner or later).

However, the tax laws in many countries make owning a home very advantageous, due to capital gains exemption or interest deductibility. If you have 20 – 25% saved for a down payment, steady income and no other debts, buying property is good for the long term, no matter what the real estate market does this year or next. But don’t buy with the intention of selling in a year or two, because you may get caught!

I once worked with a group of graduate students who presented me an interesting concept on buying up houses in lower-priced areas throughout British Columbia. As the value of their real estate portfolio would rise, they intended to buy still more houses by borrowing more and more. I rejected their investment thesis, because it assumed that property prices could only rise, and never fall.

This got me into an argument with their professor of business. Sadly, circumstances proved me right. This professor himself bought 4 or 5 houses with high debt and then lost them all in the property crash of 1982 in Vancouver. His dream of financial success was ruined.

(There is a solid strategy for a sophisticated investor to buy more and more property based on steady cash flow that covers all of the debt. This requires long leases and fixed rate debt. However, a property market reversal could still bankrupt this method, unless there is geographic diversification and lots of financial flexibility to withstand sharp market corrections.)

But I like home ownership for two other reasons, beyond the pride of owning you own place. First, it is a forced savings plan, which for many people is almost the only way they will actually save. Second, it avoids the immense pitfalls of buying stocks and other hazardous investments, which I will deal with in a future installment: Investment 102.

Leadership: Oppressive or Inspired?

Some of the most monumental influences in our lives are the leaders we encounter, whether at school (the teacher or principal); at work (the boss); in religion, government, family, sports, and in any other social organization.

Our leaders create a strong atmosphere around them, for good or for ill. Their attitudes and outlook frequently dominate the context in which a group operates. Leaders often exert such a strong influence over our feelings and perceptions that we can virtually drown in their emanations.

I have enjoyed inspiring leaders and also suffered under oppressive bosses. Recently I woke up from dream vividly remembering how it felt to work for a brutal boss, “William”. I still recall the depression, the revulsion, and the anger in the pit of my stomach, although I haven’t seen William for more than a decade. Perhaps you have felt the same about some leader you have known.

I remember by contrast the pleasure of working with “Harry”, a senior executive who was continuously inspiring. Everywhere Harry traveled, he left behind waves of pleasantness, confidence, and optimism.

Both of these leaders were required to make tough decisions, however their fundamental attitudes towards life, people and leadership were as different as heaven and hell.

Oppressive leaders work to satisfy their own ego. Everyone who gets in their way is an obstacle to be removed. They are controlling, hierarchical, and money dominated. They are usually mean, stingy and impossible to please. They find fault no matter how excellent the work. They have poor ethics and a cynical mindset. They often have a very short term outlook.

Inspired leaders put people and the work to be done ahead of money. They are kind, generous and tolerant. While they hold people accountable for performance and can see through excuses and deception, they are not paranoid. They are visionary and creative in their leadership. They encourage constantly and stimulate passionate achievement. They are highly ethical and have a much longer term perspective.

Obviously, most leaders will fall somewhere between these two extremes of oppressive and inspiring. However, we hear lots of stories about both kinds.

Surprisingly, both types of leaders flourish and they sometimes appear to receive nearly equal acclaim. But in terms of the people they influence, they are worlds apart. The longer term impact of the inspiring leader is immensely beneficial, whereas oppressive leaders cause continuous harm.

We cannot always avoid working under oppressive leaders, but where we have a choice it is good to steer clear of them. When there is no option, it is better to take a positive attitude toward them rather than being drawn into hostility and conflict. Conversely, a chance to work for an inspiring leader should be grasped quickly.

Not everyone aspires to become a leader, but for those who do, beware! You could find yourself gradually becoming like the leaders you have disliked, because there may seem to be no other way to succeed without sacrificing your legitimate self-interest.

Indeed, an inspirational leader needs to sacrifice their own needs to help others. They will need to put their people first, ahead of immediate profits, efficiency, and popularity. Developing and nurturing your team is very hard work, but it pays off in the longer term.

To do that, we need to value each individual person, not just seeing them as an impersonal resource for organizational gain. We need to give up absolute control and share power and authority with our team. We need to share rewards and applause, not just to maximize our own.

Finally, inspired leadership requires enhanced vision and constant creativity. Leaders must welcome new ideas and stimulate new approaches. Our people count on us to find a way ahead despite the innumerable obstacles we inevitably face. It can be tempting in times of stress to demand more or to blame others, but doing that harms the team spirit.

Practice fairness and ethics. Leaders are expected to make choices on behalf of their entire organization, but not just to advance their narrow selfish interests. Our people sense when we follow consistent moral principles. They will trust us more and work harder to achieve our common goals.

Leaders who do these things will always inspire. People respond with heartfelt gratitude to great leaders. Success (defined as getting more money, power and fame) is not inevitable, no matter how cunning or ruthless we might become. Both oppressive and inspiring leaders seemingly succeed at times, and fail at other times. No one succeeds 100% of the time.

However, if success is defined by the lives we impact, the happiness we bestow, or in people nurtured, only one kind of leader can truly succeed.

Why not inspire?

 
 
  

Handling Money Well – Frugality

Frugal – dictionary definition

- economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful: a frugal manager.

- entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager; scanty: a frugal meal.

My own practical definition of frugality is “consistently spending less than you earn”.

I have not found a good way to become rich quick, or how to spend money freely. But I can tell you some slow, reliable ways to ensure your future financial success.

Frugality is crucial to success with money. The richest people I know (which include multi-millionaires and even one billionaire) are careful and frugal with their money, or else they would soon lose it all.

Many people with much lower incomes are also frugal. They save, avoid debt, and live very happy lives, free from financial stress.

Frugality should apply to all expenditures, both large and small. I grew up relatively poor and have gradually become successful financially, but my spending habits have not changed much.

I try to avoid spending money wherever I can. I always search for lower cost alternatives, even for lunch or coffee. I try to buy good-quality and long-lasting products, if they are not too expensive.

Take cars for an example. When my wife met me in 1974, she was surprised that a young banker would travel by bus or bicycle, and not even own a car, though I could easily have afforded one. Later on, I bought older cars which I could buy for cash in the bank, and thus avoid any debt.

Now, I usually buy demonstrator cars or else last year’s model, which saves me anywhere from 10 – 40% off of new car prices. Then I keep the car for 10 years which also saves money. I could afford to drive a very expensive car, but I live modestly, as do most millionaires. People may laugh at my cars or clothes, but they would envy my resulting wealth.

Kathy (my wife) buys most of her food and clothes at discounts. She loves to shop at thrift stores. Maybe someone might say it is a shame to buy second-hand things when you can afford new luxury products, but fortunes can change quickly, particularly if you become loose with your money.

Virtually anyone who works energetically (every day and every year) and who is constantly frugal will soon reach some basic level of financial success. But if they ever change these important habits, success may just get up and walk away!

There are other important aspects of handling money well, but they all start out with frugality.

Handling Money Well – Saving and Generosity

Beyond frugality, saving money steadily and giving money away generously are the prime financial virtues. Working energetically to earn money and then using your money well are indispensable for both success and happiness.

I read an interesting quote from Nancy Astor, who said: “The only thing I like about rich people is their money”. (Nancy was a very rich woman from the 19th Century.) However, rich doesn’t have to mean stingy; it can also mean philanthropy, like in the tale of St. Nicholas.

Some people say they would like to earn enough money so they will have enough left over to save, and also enough money to share. In my experience, virtually anyone who earns money can already save some money and also share.

It is strange that people living in North America have nearly the highest incomes but also the lowest savings rates. By comparison, people living in Asia save 10%, 20%, or even 30% of their salary, even though their base income is much lower.

Anyone can also become generous, however low their incomes. My wife Kathy noted as a young girl that when she sold Girl Scout Cookies in wealthy areas, people often refused to buy them, whereas people who lived in poorer houses were more generous. Sadly, I have also noticed that pattern. But there are notable exceptions of rich folks donating most of their wealth to others. That is far better than redistributing wealth by taxes.

There are countless good reasons to save up money, such as to buy a house or car, to finance education, to guard against unemployment, or to plan for retirement. Regrettably, too many people learn about these reasons for saving too late to help themselves, when they are already old and poor.

We all believe in generosity for the rich, but not necessarily generosity for ourselves, just yet. We don’t want to sacrifice our hard-earned money for others. However, our family and community well-being require regular sacrifices by all those who are able. Government is unable to meet more than a small number of the needs of a community; the rest must be met by concerned citizens.

Ultimately, how we use our money and our possessions define the type of person we become. Being rich and stingy is not a happy way to live.

My advice to my children and to other young people is to start saving and donating their money in roughly equal amounts. Some people might be able to save 5% of their income and also to donate 5%. Others may be able to save 10% or 15% and still donate a similar amount to charitable causes, both in their own community and around the world. Starting these important habits early in life is advisable because spendthrift habits are hard to overcome.

Saving must be long-term and permanent to bring lasting success. We need to build up lots of assets before retirement, to avoid poverty in old age.

Saving and sharing should become our lifetime habits, along with frugality. If everyone worked hard, lived frugally, saved, and were generous, think of how many of our financial and social challenges could be soon overcome?

 
  

Some ABC’s for Success

Accountability is performing to an external standard, reporting to other people who are objective insofar as they are outside of our own subjective sphere. Most of us do not like being accountable, but we rarely become the best that we can be without it.

Attitude is the single most important ingredient to success at work. It is also the only thing you or I can definitely change, since it depends only on what is inside of us. A positive attitude in almost all circumstances will bring lasting success. A poor attitude will guarantee failure.

Bad attitudes (how to get past them). Sometimes we find ourselves in a very negative mind space where we are dissatisfied and irritable beyond any rational explanation. My sister told me a humorous way she found to get past a bad mood. A friend told her: “just get over it”. My sister asked how. The friend took a piece of paper and wrote "bad attitude" on it and placed it on the floor. My sister stepped over it, and surprisingly it worked. She got over it!

You must decide, somehow, to change your negative mind space if you want things to turn out right. It is far easier to change your own mind then to change other people, or to change difficult circumstances. Your attitude makes all the difference.

Balancing order and chaos is a lifetime struggle. Chaos brings creativity, growth and change. Order brings stability, logic and predictability. If either of these gains total supremacy so that the other is lost, you will loose a critical dimension of your abilities. Learn the joy of balance, and live joyfully in creative tension. You need some order as well as some chaos to reach your maximum potential.

Career is the succession of jobs you will have during your lifetime, whether you have planned and anticipated this progression of jobs, or you are just swept along by circumstances. Working and planning for better jobs can bring you to a much brighter future. Anyone who doesn’t take the time and effort to plan for future job training and success will need to get used to disappointment at work. It is your career – so make the most of it!


Choices are inescapable – you absolutely must decide. Not making a decision also becomes a decision quickly: you have simply decided upon inaction.

Inaction is most often the wrong decision. It pays to think carefully about important decisions and not to rush forward blindly, but doing nothing is like hiding your head in the sand – it leaves your entire body exposed to danger.

Deciding on some form of action requires boldness and courage. It is scary to face up to the tough issues in your life. But it is even more dangerous to ignore them through endless procrastination.


Constant improvement, not perfectionism. It is important to set a high standard for yourself and to constantly improve, but don’t become a perfectionist. Perfectionism tends to focus obsessively on only one or two dimensions of success, e.g. neatness, academic achievement, or body image. In truth, there are many aspects of our personality, health, attitude, knowledge and skills which need improvement. If we try to become perfect in a single dimension, we will fail due to our inadequacy in all the other dimensions.

Money Talks!

In my career as a banker and chief financial officer, I have worked daily with millions of dollars, and occasionally even with billions. I have known some of the wealthiest people on this planet.

If there is one thing absolutely everyone talks about – it is money. And you can also say that Money Talks.

The marvelous Italian sports car and the immense private yacht are meant to impress us, and it works. Presidents and queens bow to money like to nothing else.

But I also know some of the poorest of the poor, such as the drug addict who sleeps in a garage, and the poor street children who can’t stop eating when they come to our house, because they don’t know when they will get another good meal. Money doesn’t work well for them.

I will write more later about how to earn money, to invest it, spend it, and how to use it wisely. You could say that I am kind of a money expert. But first I want to tell you about the essence of money; why it dominates our lives.

Money has replaced gold as the main measure of value. How much does he make? How much is she worth? Can they buy whatever they want?

Governments rise and fall by how well they distribute the wealth in social programs and how adeptly they rake it in through taxes. If the economy is booming, a government is powerful. But when recession strikes, we voters throw the government out!

Money is strangely not a real thing – that is why one single piece of paper can be worth either a single dollar, or a million dollars, depending solely on the words the paper contains.

Money is created by governments to facilitate buying and selling, working and saving and other financial transactions. It is a marker in the economic game entitling us to goods and services.

Money is really a social device to organize our whole society. It can be used unbelievably well, like by Mother Teresa, or selfishly and arrogantly.

How we get our money and how we use it tells the real story of who we are. It can never make us happy for long, but money often makes us very sad.

Money can be the goal of our lives that mostly disappoints us. It should however be only a useful tool, rather than our master.

Money is truly the measure of a man: not how much he has, but how he gets it and how he uses it.

Money talks – often far too loudly.

It’s not “just a job” – it’s your life

Many times I hear people say “It’s just a job”. What they mean is this job is only a temporary thing, a way of getting enough money until something more important happens in their life. They may be planning a trip, or to get married, to buy a car or house, or to do something else that seems far more important than their work. But they are wrong, quite wrong. It is never “just a job”; work is the most important part of their life.

Work has many, many dimensions. It is the place we invest our energy in order to get money – for all of our needs. It provides a place where we can use our creative abilities and to build friendships, if we try. For the lucky and highly-skilled, it may provide opportunities for promotion or even a chance to become rich.

It is also the place of our greatest frustrations: the hard boss, the scheming co-worker, or of the human tragedies we witness so frequently, like some nice co-worker dying of cancer.

But I think the most important dimension of our job is that it is the place where we spend the greatest part of days, our years and of our lives. It is the place we can become profoundly happy or bitterly sad.

Although we can blame almost anyone for what is bad about our job, at the end of the day our job is what we make it to be. We can make a job into nearly heaven, or else turn it into hellish drudgery. Our own attitude towards our work makes that critical difference between a “good” job and a “bad” job.

For most of us there is almost no escape from work, except at the end of a long day or weekend. But the next day, it again becomes the most important dimension of our life.

Let me give you just a few quick snapshots of people living and working well on their jobs.

Paul runs a tiny shoe store where he has worked for more than 50 years selling and fixing shoes. People come back year after year to his store because it is a special store and Paul is such a wonderful person. Paul takes an interest not only in making my shoes work wonderfully well, but he takes an interest in me as a person every time I arrive in his store.

Rob runs a tiny little bakery helped by enthusiastic teenagers. Rob is known all over the city for the quality of his pastries, but that is just the beginning. He offers a wonderful place for young people to work in their first jobs and he gives away countless pastries and loaves of bread to rich and poor, just for the joy of making people happy.

Jean works as a job recruiter, but she does far more than supplying bodies to employers. She treats every person with such friendly enthusiasm that they are inspired, even if they don’t get the job they hoped for.

Byran is the type of lawyer who never inspires a lawyer’s joke. He is kind, sensitive, and thoughtful. He uses his incredible knowledge of the law to make things work better for people, or at least to rescue them from disaster when the situation looks impossible. He is a lifetime friend to some people fortunate enough to know such a wonderful professional.

Robin is a carpenter and builder, who worked on renovating our old house on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Working for below market wages, he transformed our dilapidated cottage into a lovely home. And he made the whole process fun!

I am sure every one of us knows many people who do their jobs exceptionally well. They could be a police officer, a teacher, a banker, a store clerk, or a tradesman. What they all have in common is giving their very best effort to doing their job well and in treating everyone exceptionally well.

Whether they get promoted or wealthy becomes secondary. What counts is that they are so joyfully alive in their work that their lives are satisfying. They also enrich everyone else they meet. For them, it’s not “just a job”, it’s their life!

If you happen to advance in your career or to get rich, that is a bonus; but not if you sacrifice your happiness and contentment with your work.

Your work is your ultimate creation. It is far more than just a job – it is you life!