Sir Henry Royce, the co-founder of Rolls Royce, had this Latin phrase inscribed on his mantle: Quidvis recte factum quamvis humble praeclarum – “Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble.”
There is a tendency among my generation to feel perpetually dissatisfied. I’m not learning anything from this class. This job doesn’t pay enough. I deserve a better internship. But when we see life through the lens of our inflated expectations, we fail to recognize the truth that Sir Henry Royce embodied: how you do anything is how you do everything.
Maybe you’re making coffee despite having a college degree. Maybe you got beat out for a job by someone you feel is less qualified than you. Any number of situations can cause us to feel frustrated, stuck, defeated. But the idea that any of this is unfair is delusional. The reality is we don’t deserve anything, and circumstances often lie outside of our control.
What we do have control over, however, is our response to these circumstances. Do we throw a pity party for ourselves? Or do we embrace our position and see it as an opportunity to progress, learn, and grow?
James Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, paid his way through college in the 1850s by convincing his school, the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, to let him work as a janitor in exchange for tuition. He worked with pride each day, up-keeping the facilities hours before he would begin his school day. Within one year at the school he was
teaching a full course as a professor in addition to his own studies. By age twenty-six he was named the Dean of Students. This isn’t to say working hard as a janitor is the best path to the presidency, but Garfield’s story perfectly illustrates how a shift of mentality is the difference between feeling sorry for yourself and reaching your potential. He understood the distinction between wanting something and feeling entitled to it.
A mentor of mine once told me, “If you’re to big to do the small things, you’re too small to do the big things.” This is why I put up with pulling weeds, scrubbing floors, and peeling potatoes when I was sixteen. Sure, I wanted more, but acting as if what we desire is no different than what we deserve is dangerous. Ironically, the people I’ve known who claimed they were “too good” for their positions tended to have the most trouble advancing.
As Andrew Carnegie famously said, our first jobs should introduce us to the broom.
Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University. His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.
