Becoming the Best at What You Do
Most times, I feel like people want to be the best at whatever it is that they do without really realizing the demand that comes with being the best. And while most times it's not always a bad thing to be needed, there are a few times we end up having even the slightest regret that we are this good because of the work and demand that come with it.
I used to have a friend who's a UI/UX designer and would always post a status of his work with the caption “I mistakenly became important at work, and now I regret it,” hinting that he now gets more workload than the rest of the guys he works with because everyone knows that he knows the job better.
I saw the same thing when I went to cut my hair earlier this week. When I got to the barbershop, there were more than three barbers available at the shop, but almost every one of us was waiting for just one of them there to be free so that we could get our hair cut.
When it eventually got to be my turn (I was the last person), I could tell how exhausted she was because she had been busy the entire day, working nonstop. And watching her feel that way made me sorry for her, but not sorry enough to go meet someone to cut my hair because I wanted the best of the best to work on me.
But yeah, I know some of you would say that she will make a lot of money at the end of the day, and that is true. That is why I say that it's not necessarily a bad thing because there are perks to it. But there are also little disadvantages because you get to have little to no time to yourself, especially for someone like her who is in the people's business.
By people's business, I mean a business where people have to like you to patronize you. Because, inasmuch as she's a good barber, she's not the only good barber in the entire environment; she's just the best at that one shop. So in order to get us to keep coming back, she has to be friendly to us, and that includes working even when she's exhausted.
So just before you decide to be too important at work, ask yourself if it's something you can handle.
That's true. All of us have strength in a particular task and sometimes we don't even realize it. If we can realize it, we can focus on it and make it in a better way.