215 – Work Like A Man - a podcast by Alf Herigstad

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Work Like A Man…
Hey Everybody.  Welcome to Being A Better Man, I am your host and my name is Alf Herigstad.  We are not trying to change the world here…we are just trying to change your world, one day at a time.  The whole idea is that if we can get a bunch of guys to commit to just being a better man today than they were yesterday—then the world will be a slightly better place.  You don’t have to be great, you don’t even have to be good…you only have to be better than you were yesterday.  I think everybody can do that.  Anyways, I’m glad you are listening today.In these past 214 episode I don’t think I have ever dedicated an episode to sheer, old fashioned manual labor.  I’m a little surprised by that because manual labor has been such a big part of my life.  In fact I spent all day today doing just that here on our farm.
My definition of manual labor is when you are doing something physical, it becomes uncomfortable, and you keep on doing it until you finish the task you set out to do. Correct me if I’m wrong, please…but it seems to me like there are a lot of guys nowadays that spend a lot of energy trying to avoid manual labor at all costs.  Yes, I’m speaking to the younger crowd today primarily, guys that are 40 and younger.  Believe it or not, there are a lot of guys that actually do not know how to work hard.  It sounds weird to say it, but it’s true.  Working hard at a physical task is actually a skill that must be learned.
I’m not talking to guys that are physically disabled, or handicapped in any way.  You guys already know what it’s like to work hard because you do it every day of your lives.  I’m talking to everyone else.Life is so easy in these modern times, and people are trained that when something becomes hard or uncomfortable, it’s time to stop.  I’m talking about part of your body starts hurting, or you start sweating, or you get tired.  When these things happen a lot of guys just stop working, because that is what life has trained them to do. 
I know what I’m talking about because I have seen it first hand.  I was a fencing contractor for a number of years and the hardest thingI had to deal with was finding good people to work for me.  It’s hard work, building fences.  You have to dig a lot of holes and carry lots of heavy stuff.  You have to move big wheelbarrows full of concrete.  Finding guys that could do this all day with me, was my biggest challenge.
I tried hiring the biggest most strapping guys I could, but it didn’t matter.  No matter how big and strong they were, the fact was they didn’t know how to work hard.  I’m a big guy myself at 6’2”, 250 pounds, and I have had guys bigger than me and a lot younger that could not drive a wheelbarrow full of cement.  I had to take over for them.  I had to do the job I hired them to do because they simply didn’t know how to work.  It was frustrating, but now I’m looking at it through a whole different lens. I didn’t understand it back then but now I’m starting to realize that there are a lot of guys who, through no fault of their own, have simply not had the opportunity or occasion to learn how to actually work hard.  To work until it hurts.  I’m not just talking about working at a job, it could be working in your own back yard or helping a neighbor. 
You might be listening to this and think it doesn’t apply to you because you are a white color professional, or plan to be.  Maybe you were raised in a culture that said working hard was for those poor stiffs that couldn’t do anything else.  I have news for you…that is not an accurate point of view.
I think as a species, we developed in such a way that when we actually spend a day working hard, working past the point of discomfort and working through pain.  When we spend a day accomplishing something with the strength of our bodies we are rewarded with a unique sense of satisfaction that cannot come from any other...

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