When I was little, my dad would come down the stairs every morning and say,
“ALRIGHT, GOTTA GO TO YUCKY WORK. SEE YA LATER.”
I just assumed this was what it felt like to earn a living.
So, for most of my adult life, I was also the guy in the suit and tie—just trying to get to Friday like everyone else.
On paper, I was climbing the ladder. In reality, I was operating on autopilot.
One afternoon, stuck in traffic on I-95, I caught myself thinking:
Wouldn't it be nice to be in some kind of accident? Nothing serious—just enough to get 10 days off.
AS AN ADULT WITH MY OWN SUCCESSFUL CAREER, AT NO POINT DID IT OCCUR TO ME THAT WORK COULD BE ANYTHING MORE THAN ”YUCKY.”
When I performed at piano bars, “work” became something I actually looked forward to.
I saw every evening as a chance to create an experience for other people that would bring them as much joy as it brought me.
After each performance, I was physically exhausted but emotionally and spiritually fulfilled.
THEN I LOST
MY VOICE…
Completely.
WEEKS PASSED, THEN MONTHS. ONE SURGERY LED TO ANOTHER, THEN ANOTHER.
When doctors told me to prepare for the real possibility that my voice may never return, my first thought wasn’t that I might lose my day job, but that I might never set foot in a piano bar again.
That’s when it hit me: I knew I couldn’t keep pretending at work.
I had to get my voice back, if for no other reason than to find out what it was actually meant to be used for.
Somewhere in all of that, I came to understand something I couldn't have learned any other way:
I HAD TO LOSE MY VOICE TO REALIZE MY MISSION TO HELP YOU FIND YOURS.
THE TRUTH:
Work doesn’t have to be “yucky.”
IT CAN BE OUR GREATEST OPPORTUNITY TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD AROUND US.
TO CREATE EXPERIENCES THAT BRING US—AND OTHER PEOPLE—JOY.
I knew this was possible because, every night in the piano bar, I witnessed people who NEVER watched the clock.
Too many of us are up against a belief we picked up before we even had our first job: that work is something we have to get through, not something we get to create.
The question isn't whether your work matters. it does.
THE QUESTION IS WHETHER YOU'RE SHOWING UP TO WORK LIKE YOU BELIEVE IT CAN DELIVER MORE THAN A PAYCHECK.
Our work offers us an opportunity to transform other people's lives.
Every interaction we have—with colleagues, with customers, with the stranger in the line behind us—creates some kind of experience for someone else.
THAT, IN TURN,
CREATES a ripple.
Which means the biggest moments of our lives can emerge out of even the smallest interaction:
THE BEST PART IS THAT CREATING THESE MOMENTS DOESN’T REQUIRE YOU TO DO ANYTHING MORE.
They just require you to show up differently.
