All the Stuff You Don’t Like to Do is Why People Pay You

I used to live on the fifth floor of an apartment building in Central London that had a dodgy passenger lift and combined with my fear of enclosed spaces, I walked the stairs rather thanrun the risk of being trapped. I hated walking up those stairs every day and I particularly hated carrying heavy things up the stairs.  So when I bought stuff like furniture or groceries, I would usually get them delivered. Every time, the delivery guys (they were always men) would do the same thing.  They’d huff and puff as they ascended, acting as if this was one of the greatest injustices in world history. How DARE I ask them to lug this heavy stuff up all these stairs!

Now, of course, they were just trying to guilt me into giving them a big tip for their troubles, but it always annoyed me.  I mean, that’s the job, right?  Their job was to carry heavy stuff up stairs.  If I didn’t have a lot of stairs, I could do it myself and then I wouldn’t have to pay them.  Indeed, their very job depended on me having a lot of stairs.

It’s like a dentist complaining that he really hates teeth.  If you don’t like teeth, don’t become a dentist.  Dealing with teeth is the job!

Estate agents do this all the time.  They complain about having to fill out paperwork.  They complain about dealing with clients who won’t pull the trigger.  They complain about having to prospect.  They complain about everything.

But all those things you hate doing? That’s the job! Those are the things people PAY YOU MONEY for.  Filling out disclosures?  That’s the job.  Calling FSBOs?  That’s the job. Schlepping buyers to look at house after house?  That’s the job.  If you didn’t have to do those things, you wouldn’t have a job, and you wouldn’t make any money.  If you really hate it so much go find another job that you’ll like better.  Maybe carrying heavy things up stairs will be right up your street.

The fact is, everyone complains about their job sometimes, regardless of how great the job is.  Somewhere there’s probably a movie star complaining about the boredom of sitting in his trailer waiting for the next shot.  Some jobs are better than others but every job has stuff that we don’t like doing.  That’s why it’s a job.

So suck it up. Don’t complain about your job.  It’s annoying, and no one cares.