Which Bricklayer are you?

We came across this parable recently that illustrated the mindset necessary if you want to go down the Uncommon Path that leads to an Uncommon Life.

There are three bricklayers on a job site. A man walks up to the first bricklayer and asks him, “What are you doing?” The first bricklayer replied, “What does it look like I am doing? I am doing a job.”

The man moves on to the next bricklayer and asks him what he is doing, and he says, “I am providing for my family and earning a living.”

The man then went to the last bricklayer and asked him, “What are you doing?” The last bricklayer replied, “I am building an amazing cathedral for God’s people.”

What is the difference between these bricklayers? We believe it is a mindset. The first bricklayer had a very poor mindset when it came to doing his job every day. The next bricklayer may or may not enjoy his work every day but he did have a purpose and that purpose was providing.

The third bricklayer’s mindset is the most important to talk about. He had a vision that was bigger than himself. He had a sense of purpose and he took pride in it. We would argue that not only is he providing for his family by doing the work, but he was passionate while doing it. He has a vocation, not just a job.

When you are excited and enthusiastic about what you do every day, that is attractive to other people. More and more people want to be around you and want to learn from you. This little story is but one example of how powerful our mindset can be, and it challenges us to think about things differently.

How can you have a bigger vision in your daily work? Think of something in your daily work that you don’t particularly enjoy.  For us, it’s paperwork. We’re not good at it and often times no matter how hard we work at it, something inevitably gets messed up. If asked, “What are you doing?” while in the throes of paperwork, we would probably respond like the first bricklayer.

However, this story challenges us to think differently and to think that the paperwork we are doing isn’t “just a job” but it actually helps us reach more people. We have big goals at Uncommon Wealth Partners and those goals do not happen if the paperwork doesn’t get done. We want to shift our mindset while doing the paperwork to “We are building a cathedral for God’s people”.

Where are you today? How can you challenge yourself to have the mindset of the third bricklayer? If you feel like you are just doing a job, what would turn your job into a vocation, with a passion and purpose for your life? If you made that mindset shift, what could this mean for your future?

Tweak a few things in your day to day and shift your mindset to that of the third bricklayer. A mindset shift is one of the first steps to take on the path to an Uncommon Life.