[Parenting] The enemy of great is good enough

My kids have grown up now and they are forging their way in the world. It is part of the reasons I am writing this blog to reflect on a life which for 25 years was a whirlwind of life lesson. My kids have always worked and even though they did not need to they have always wanted to work.

5 or so years ago I would often get asked “how come you let your kids do ‘crappy’ jobs? You could hook them up with something comfortable, that pays better”.

Here is why I did not: It’s best to either do a job you love or a job you hate but whatever you do avoid the ‘in between’ jobs. The jobs that are ‘good enough’. From my own experience before I was 21 years old I did the following jobs:

1. Milkman’s helper 12 yrs old (In the old days when people delivered milk)
2. Paperboy 13-15
3. Weekend Golf Caddy 13 -18
4. Coffee shop cleaner 17-18
5. Beater (A guy who walks ahead of a shooting party to scare the pheasants out of the woods) 12-14
6. Trapper (Clay pigeon deployment person) 16-21
7. Shop retail salesperson 17 -19

Everyone of those jobs had elements of being ‘Crappy’ but I needed to earn money. During those years of crappy jobs I started to have a very clear idea of what I wanted to do. I saved up, went back to school, graduated and started a career in Computer systems design.

The enemy of great is not bad, the enemy of great is ‘good’. A job good enough, a job that will do for now, it sucks you and entices you in. So my son worked crappy jobs to earn some cash! I can think of no better way to focus the mind on what you would love to do.
Have you worked crappy jobs when you were young? did it help on reflection?