A strong work ethic is a set of moral principles which guides us in all things related to work. The determination to work and to work hard brings success.
Success comes through determination and self-discipline. If you want success, your willingness to work hard is foundational.
Building a strong work ethic allows people to seek out whatever is necessary to find success in little things and big. Most of us baby boomers were raised by the greatest generation—men and women who grew up hard during the Great Depression and World War II. They knew how to work and to fight!
Nothing was easy for their generation. Nothing was handed to them on a “silver platter.” They didn’t expect something for nothing. If they did not work and work hard, they could not endure the difficult times.
My father and mother established a strong work ethic in me by the time I was thirteen. I knew how to clean my room, wash clothes, do dishes, cook, can garden vegetables, take care of a baby sister, and “work before I played.” I count the work ethic they engraved in my soul as one of my greatest gifts. I can’t imagine where I would have ended up without it.
My parents instilled in me a fighting spirit that carried me through many dark and desperate years. Without that fighting spirit, my daughter and I would not have survived. I thank God every day for a strong work ethic.
My question is what are we teaching the generations that have come after us? Anything? Have we made everything easy for them?
After thirty-seven years in a clinical setting, I can tell you that all too often not much has been required of children in the past several decades. Little is required of them in many of their homes.
Many young people do nothing and take no responsibility within the home, because their parents require nothing.
Their rooms are a disaster, they make little contribution to the family function on a daily basis, and they live like they are in a hotel. Mom is to cook, clean, wait on them, placate, and expect nothing of them. A great example of this is a client I had many years ago, who went to a large university. She was bright, beautiful, and had everything going for her, but she had no work ethic and no concept of “doing life.” She could not live on her own, because her parents had taught her nothing about life’s responsibilities. She couldn’t manage her studies and life’s basic responsibilities (not even doing laundry), so she ended up dropping out of college and coming home after the first semester.
PREPARE YOUR CHILDREN FOR LIFE.
I pray my writings are read by some young adults who have a chance to change the direction of their children’s lives. If a child is big and old enough to do something by themselves, then let them do it. Expect them to do it!
Expecting little of your children is the worst thing you can do to them. Forge a work ethic so they are equipped to meet the demands of life.
A work ethic is not built into children’s lives if all they do is play video games and sit in front of a TV all day.
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
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