I recently started a new job, and for the first time in a while, I’ve found myself working for someone else. I’ve spent much of my career as an entrepreneur and enjoy working for myself. But now that I’m at a larger company, I’m learning how to be part of a team and work with others to accomplish our collective goals. It’s been a challenge, but a rewarding one.
As I’m navigating this new work situation, I am constantly asking myself one simple question: Am I doing my part?
When I was working on my own, I never had to worry about that. I was the boss, and it was easy for me to determine if I had accomplished everything I needed to. But now, working with other people, it’s something I have to always be aware of to make sure that I’m being a team player.
There are times when I could get away with slacking off, saying no, or putting some of the work off on someone else. But instead, I choose to do my part to make sure that everyone succeeds. That’s what being a team player is all about, and that’s something we all need to be doing.
Working with others is hard. Sometimes, we’re tempted to give up or to work halfheartedly, only doing the bare minimum so that we can go home. But when we do that, we’re selling ourselves short and putting others in a difficult situation. And so, we have to ensure that we’re contributing our fair share.
It’s not necessarily about meeting others’ expectations, though that can be a motivating factor. At the end of the day, though, we have to be the ones pushing ourselves. We have to commit to being ethical and following through on our commitments. We have to care enough about those we’ve partnered with to be willing to sacrifice for the greater good. That’s doing our part.
This doesn’t just apply at work, either. Are you doing your part at home? There are a lot of things that go into creating a clean, healthy, happy environment in the home, and we can’t expect everyone else to do it for us. We have to do our part.
The same goes for relationships. One-sided relationships—whether they be with friends, family, spouses, or others—are unhealthy and unfair to the one who’s doing all the work. You have to be willing to meet in the middle and do your part to keep the relationship thriving.
And we have to do our part in our relationship with God, too. He’s already put in 99.9% of the effort by coming to earth, dying on the cross, and making Himself available to us through Jesus Christ. All we have to do is reach out and say, “Yes,” and walk with Him every day. That’s our part, and we’re called to do it.
This idea that we need to do our part applies to every aspect of our lives and fitness. Nothing is going to get done if we slack off, laze around, and don’t do anything. If you want to live a healthy, happy life, you’ve got to do what it takes to make that happen. And you can! You just have to do your part.
We can’t control a lot of things about our lives. We can’t control other people. We can’t control the circumstances we’re sometimes put in. But we can control our efforts and our willingness to do our part. And when we do, we find that things can be better, but only if we make them that way.
The reason I’m enjoying my new job and developing good relationships with my teammates and coworkers is that I’ve decided I’m going to be the person who does their part. In fact, I try to even sometimes go above and beyond what’s expected of me to help the team. And it’s working! I’m finding success in my new endeavor, all because I’m willing to do my part.
How about you? Are you willing to do your part? What areas of your life have you been neglecting to do your part in, and how are you going to start changing that today? I promise that if you do, it’ll make a huge difference.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a great week.
To your fitness!