Work beyond “OK”

I’ve been workshopping this line for the last five or six keynotes. It usually gets a laugh.

But the more I say it, the more I realize how true it is for me.

When we come home from work, how often do we describe our day as anything better than “ok”?

Based on my experience so far this year, most don't do it much. Why is that?

Somewhere along the way, we decided work is supposed to be a sacrifice.

As if having a good day at work means we now owe the house something.

- Extra dishes.

- A foot massage.

- Emotional reparations for enjoying ourselves between 9 and 5.

We're afraid that good at work makes it less work-like and that we don't deserve that

Our kids hear it.

Our partner hears it.

And most importantly—we hear it.

And just like that, half of our waking hours are spent doing something we don’t want to allow ourself to enjoy.

I'm doing my best to no longer be ok with that. I wrote a lot about this in my book, but I'm starting a book club in January to push this along a little bit more.

We need to figure out how to change this in ourselves. If not for us, then for the people who have to live with us in this state.

Even if it is true, and if you come home and say your day was better than “ok,” you have to do the dishes, I think it's a pretty good trade off.

You shouldn't have to feel anything but grateful for liking your life.

This is one of the ideas we’ll be unpacking together in the book club starting mid-January. A great holiday gift. A clean New Year reset. Especially for students, folks feeling stuck, or leaders who want to show up better for their teams. BUY NOW