What's Your Kung Fu?
The room was silent except for the clicking of keyboards and the low hum of a desk fan. Seven co-workers tapping away at spreadsheets on the 15th floor of a NYC office building.
Then Tom broke the silence.
“Have you ever worked with Michelle*?” he asked.
“Yeah, she’s great.” I replied.
“How about Mike? Have you worked with him?”
“No,” I said. “But he seems like a decent guy.”
And so goes our typical office afternoon.One person interrupts the monotony with a random question, and we all chime in.
Any hint of conversation is a welcome excuse to take a break from torturing spreadsheets.
“Wait, did you say Mike?” another co-worker asked. “You mean Mike Owen?”
“Yeah,” answered Tom. “Mike Owen.”
“You guys know he has kung fu videos on YouTube, right?” asked the other co-worker, barely holding back a chuckle.
That question opened the flood gates.
In a matter of seconds, we were gathered around one computer watching YouTube videos posted from the “Owen Mantis” YouTube account.
We saw Mike demonstrating his kung fu routines in an overgrown parking lot and a high school gym.
He was wielding a sword in a dojo.
Playing crouching tiger, hidden dragon, on what he described as “ruins.”
Apparently “ruins” is a loosely defined term. The setting looked closer to a decrepit warehouse in Newark than an overgrown temple from centuries past.
After watching a few videos and having a good laugh, we sat back down and refocused our attention on our black hole spreadsheets.
A few minutes passed, and I stood up again.
“You know,” I said, “as funny as those videos are, it’s pretty cool that Mike is so passionate about his hobby.”
Everyone agreed.
Tom added, “I give anybody credit who does something more than show up to work every day.”
Running the rat race
Many of us get caught up in chasing our next raise, our next promotion, our next I’ll be happy when pursuit.
This turns into working early mornings and late nights. It creates pressure to reschedule vacations for business trips. It means cancelling date nights just to hit your next client deliverable.
For those of us pursuing financial independence, it’s even easier to rationalize this insane behavior. After all,we need to accomplish 40 years worth of saving in a fraction of the time.
It’s easy to put your head down for 10 years and grind to hit your FI number.
But when you finally look up from that spreadsheet, you might not like what you see.
Your money situation may be set, but other important pieces of your life will be lacking.
How do you spend your new found free time when the last ten years have been nothing but meetings, networking events,financial models, and year end reviews?
Who do you spend your time with when you traded relationship building for building a career?
You can have it all
Making fun of someone who is passionate about a hobby is merely a reflection of our misplaced priorities.
I’m all for kicking ass at work.
I think you should work harder than your co-workers and do what it takes to get ahead. But hours driving a desk doesn’t always equal value added for the company or chances for advancement increased.
Take your work seriously, and pride yourself on delivering high quality results. But reach those results through time well managed and highly focused execution.
If you do your job well and do what is expected, setting boundaries should be easy.
“Sure I can work late Monday and Tuesday,but I have commitments the rest of the week, and I have weekend plans.”
Meet expectations and draw the line. Earn your keep, but don’t be a doormat.
Then take your nights and weekends to cultivate a passion. Use your free time to build relationships. Trade the late nights at the office for time spent in the gym or at a community event.
Dale Carnegie once said, “In order to be interesting, you must first be interested.”
Spending your extra time at the office is easier than being interested in something new.
But nobody cares how many hours you billed or how many clients you pleased. These hours won’t make you interesting – and they won’t make you feel fulfilled.
A successful career is subjective. Having piles of money is only one piece of the pie. Fulfillment is found not only from your work, but from your relationships, your passions, your hobbies, and your pursuits.
Like a sculptor starting with a solid block, you can hack away and make a hole, or you can work thoughtfully from every side, chipping diligently and evenly, and create a work of art.
The choice is yours. What is your kung fu?
*All names have been changed to respect the privacy of those involved.
