Newsletter from Jay Wilcox - December 2023: On Work and Luck

"I find the harder I work, the luckier I get."

-Anonymous

Good morning/afternoon/evening!

When I was a little kid, I remember perching my training wheels on both sides of a puddle--one tiny wheel up on the sidewalk and the other on the road, my big back wheel straddling the gutter, dipping just so into the water. I peddled and pretended I was an old-timey mill. I broke a sweat imagining all the grain I was smushing.

I guess you could say I've always believed in the value of hard work.

As I got a bit older, I took the training wheels off and started riding my bike up and down the hill in our backyard. I liked the mud under my tires. Heck, I even liked the struggle to get going, the spray of mud fanning out behind me as my tires finally found purchase.

I think about those days as I go into work sometimes. I'm fortunate to have found a meaningful career--a job that benefits from my skill set and inspires me to improve, where I'm recognized for my contributions. As a professor, when I pedal harder, I go farther. Greater effort--whether it's in lesson planning, grading, or even just responding to emails--begets greater results, and I don't take this for granted.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get" does not apply to every employment situation. I've been in jobs where my environment didn't speak the language of my effort, where trying harder only dug the rut deeper. I showed up early! I followed up with clients, making calls on weekends and after hours! I feel like so much of our culture's productivity depends on people who hope just one more skipped lunch or overtime shift will finally Impress the Boss.

Look, I do believe hard work can be good, both for its products and for its own sake. Peddling in those puddles provided valuable cardio. Similarly, almost every job I disliked functioned as a sort of "paying my dues" to get where I am today. I write this to dissect a popular notion of industriousness as panacea--this idea that if we just work harder, we'll improve our lot. Yes, hard work tends to beget opportunities! However, if we're too preoccupied smushing imaginary grain for villagers who will never exist, let alone recognize our efforts, we won't notice such opportunities.

It's the work of a lifetime to find the work of a lifetime. Such work moves us forward, professionally and personally, toward a more complete self. I framed that last sentence in terms of internal growth rather than external achievement, because not everyone has to want to get ahead. We can't all be gunning for promotion, and whatever our ambition, maybe our real task is noticing our lives. I loved the puddle while I was in it. I loved it because I knew I could lift my bike out of it when I was done. I loved it because sometimes a car's oil trickled into it and made weird, wobbly rainbows.

Infinite Regards,

Jay

P.S. - Time for an Ursula update, or as I call them, Ursulupdates! We just had a baby shower for her, and I'm so grateful for her fans and supporters. One of my biggest hopes for my daughter is that she'll notice her life, finding meaning and dignity and affirmation in all she does. I'm rooting pretty hard for this kid