How to Embrace the Work You Don’t Like

by David Roth | Mar 28, 2018

You have elements of your work that you don’t like doing, don’t you? I think it’s safe to say that all of us do. I definitely do. For me, when I have to dig deep into budgets and P&L’s, the air gets real thin.

One day I had a conversation with a friend, who is a leader in his field, that broke my heart. This friend is a doctor, and revered as one of the best in his area. He absolutely loves his patients. He invests time in building relationships. He is excellent at his craft, and he views his work as a wonderful mission field. But he confided in me that he has become incredibly frustrated with his work. As a result of the significant changes in healthcare, he now spends a considerable part of each day sitting in front of a computer. To sum it up, he said, “I hate it.”

While I doubt that any of us want to hear that a gifted, relational doctor is pulled away from helping his patients, this is the new reality of his job. Even though he didn’t want to hear it, I couldn’t help saying, “welcome to the real world!” The fact is, each of us has elements of our jobs that we are not good at and don’t like doing.

But, there is hope for us in the midst of performing those painful tasks. If you read just these two verses, which are only five verses apart from one another, we have just the encouragement we need in these frustrating moments:

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

So tomorrow, or the next day, or the next … when you stare down that daunting task, reflect on these two powerful bits of wisdom. Though it may not help me manage my budget and P&L better, I do have the opportunity to do it with the right perspective!

When we shift our perspective and look to God, the giver of patience and strength, we will find hope and encouragement that can help us face the difficult moments in our work.

I hope that you find that encouragement today.

Photo of David Roth

David Roth

David Roth has been the president and CEO of Workmatters since October, 2003. Workmatters is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in Northwest Arkansas in 2003 with a mission is to help people pursue God’s purpose for their work. Since then, Workmatters has been used to impact thousands of leaders in Northwest Arkansas and across the U.S. Prior to leading Workmatters, Mr. Roth was vice president, sales and marketing for J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. Before joining J.B. Hunt in 1999, David was the senior vice president of marketing for Manugistics, a supply chain management software provider in Maryland and vice president of marketing for American Software in Atlanta, Ga. He also has nine years of supply chain management experience with McKesson Corporation in San Francisco, Calif. and Harrison, Ark. David has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Arkansas. He resides in Fayetteville, Ark. with his wife, Theresa and has two sons, Dylan and Tyler.

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