Hello, my name is Ken Matesz. I’m the author of the Creating A Craftsman blog as well as the book by the same name. . .
. . . And I want you to be a craftsman. Not just the average guy who shows up to do his job every day, but a real craftsman. And not just a craftsman at your work, but a craftsman of your whole life.
If you go to work every day, you have probably noticed the same thing I have noticed countless times:
The world is populated with lazy people.
That’s right. And most of us, me included, fit that description. Think about it. . . .
If you can find an easier way to do something, wouldn’t you be inclined to use that easier method?
If you could work less but get the same pay, wouldn’t you do that, too?
If you can get someone else to bring you a cold beer from the fridge so you don’t have to get out of your chair, wouldn’t that seem nicer?
Now, you could say that these traits aren’t laziness, they’re signs of intelligence. And, really, you are partially correct to say that. It’s because of our ability to reason and think that we can devise ways to do a job or complete a task with less effort. And it’s certainly reasonable to want to get more results with less effort. Still, it’s because we are inclined to laziness that we dream up those time and effort-saving schemes.
The problem is that many of us get complacent. You know, you’ve got a job; you get paid every week; you’ve got apparent job security; you know how to do your job well; and so on. So it’s easy to slide into daily habits that make you just like every other worker:
A 15 minute break is stretched to 18, 20, or 25 minutes;
A trip to the restroom becomes a detour to just avoid work;
A shortage of materials on the assembly line becomes an excuse to stand around and do nothing;
The boss is off for the day so you spend time playing online games.
There are hundreds of variations of these tactics. We think, “Hey, I can get away with this, and I’ll still pick up the same paycheck, so why not?”
Why not?
That’s the question: Why not?
The surprising answer to “why not?” is not much different from the reason we slip into these behaviors in the first place. That is:
We want more with less effort. The trick is in knowing when to collect on the “less effort.”
You have a choice: you can catch minnows all day, or you can go after the big fish.
Which do you really want, minnows or the giant trout?
A bluegill or a Blue Marlin?
You see, an extra 5 minutes on your break is a little minnow gained. So is the 10 minutes you got to stand around while waiting for supplies to be delivered. The time you gained for yourself surfing the web or playing games on your boss’s dime is a bluegill.
We want the Blue Marlin, the 1,000 pound behemoth fish; not the 1 pound fish.
Do you really want to spend the rest of your life conniving ways to have an extra 10 minutes to yourself while collecting the same paycheck?
Or would you rather be the boss issuing the paychecks?
Do you want to spend the rest of your life trying to stretch coffee breaks by just a few minutes?
Or will you be the guy who has a secretary bringing him coffee on a moment’s notice?
The choice is yours.
That’s why I created this blog and my book, Creating A Craftsman.
I’m not telling you that you have to start your own business.
But I do want to show you how to catch the Blue Marlin – and it’s not by cutting little corners at your boss’s business.
Even if you have no desire to have your own business, this blog and my book are valuable to helping you get more (stuff, money, attention, dates) with the right kind of effort.
Creating a Craftsman is about showing you how to become and be seen as a more valuable person. With the information here you can get yourself better positions, better pay, more opportunities, and more satisfaction.
Let’s get started, shall we?
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