So this has been drilled into my head for the last month now, and the advice is so good I decided to put it up on here as both a reminder to myself and to see if anyone else can benefit from it.

We come to work for three reasons.

1. To Make Money.

This is the obvious answer. But we also are constantly trying to increase the amount of money that we want to earn when we go to work. More money means more options and opportunities for us in life. One of the reasons I enjoy being where I am now is that in the long run, I’m making more now than I was about 2 months ago. The one difficult part is that most places don’t have many opportunities to make more on a regular basis, aside from the once or twice a year performance reviews. That’s where the other two factors come in.

2. To Build One’s Reputation.

Very often we forget that every day is a new opportunity to show the world (or at least our co-workers) why we do what we do. Each day is a chance to prove our talents. Each day is a chance to do something new and expand ourselves. I have a few goals at my current job. One is to get as many people as possible to say “he works really hard, I’m glad he’s part of the team.” Another is to try to clean/fix one thing that almost no one else will remember to work on each time I go into work. These kinds of things have gotten me very well noticed and I’ve built my reputation very quickly.

3. To Expand One’s Network.

We live in a world where there’s so much online communication that this may seem like the simplest. But in fact, not many people take advantage of meeting the people they work with on a regular basis and keep those connections alive offline. I have been guilty of this myself, and perhaps it’s cost me an opportunity or two. The point is to always be expanding your circle. It’s about who you meet these days.