May 4, 2014

The Lunch Pail Manifesto

What gets you out of bed each workday?

Work and the world have changed a lot since the days evoked by the lunch box and thermos on the front of Steven Pressfield’s book, Turning Pro (more about the book here and buy it here). However, as he and his publishing team at Black Irish Books knows, many lessons from careers of years past translate to our high-tech offices today. We continue to face monumental challenges for we which we must fortify ourselves and the reckoning that comes with any examination of work and life.

In that spirit, I offer The Lunch Pail Manifesto – 10 musings shared by the Turning Pro team for your own life and work.

The Lunch Pail Manifesto

  1. We must find the work that brings our lives meaning.
  2. We must strive to make our work purposeful, truthful, and authentic, a pure offering to our Muse and fellow human beings.
  3. We must wage a lifelong war with Resistance and accept that instant gratification is an oxymoron.
  4. We must not speak of our work with false modesty or braggadocio.
  5. We must not debase our work for short-term gain nor elevate it above its rightful station to inflate our ego.
  6. We must not covet the fruits of our work, or the fruits of others’ work.
  7. We must respect others’ work and offer aid to fellow professional laborers.
  8. We must accept that our work will never be perfect.
  9. We must accept that our work will never be without merit.
  10. We must accept that our work will never cease.

These ideas speak to me. What about you?

Last updated April 13, 2018

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