I went to a restaurant over the weekend, An Irish pub that I like and go to often. I ordered mashed potatoes with my entrée, and asked for gravy to go with. When I got the bill I discovered that I was charged 75 cents for the gravy. My reaction was, Really? OMG are you kidding? I hate when they nickle and dime you like that. Ever go to a Mexican restaurant and ask for extra cheese or sour cream, and get charged a dollar for it? The first thing that comes to mind is how Bob Farrell says to give them a pickle. Bob Farrell started Farrell’s Ice cream parlors. He later became a business coach and motivational speaker. He is most famously known for his “Give them a pickle” speech where he says to not be cheap, the customer’s satisfaction is your top priority, and give them a pickle with their hamburger. The key here is you will more than make up for the cost of a pickle, or side of gravy, by winning a repeat customer. That repeat customer will return on your pickle investment several-fold over time with sales volume.

This morning I got to my day job and was thinking as I walked to get a cup of coffee. Things are going somewhat downhill there as they no longer provide free coffee. The medical insurance benefits they offer are covering less and less each year, and other benefits are being scaled back. I call it benefits erosion. Also it seems that hard work doesn’t go appreciated as much as I think it should. That got me thinking about Sisyphus. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus, the king of Ephyra, was punished for conspiring to kill his brother and father (for power). As a punishment, Sisyphus was condemned by Zeus to roll a large boulder up the side of a mountain, and each time as he got to the top, the boulder would uncontrollably roll back down the mountain. Sisyphus would have to go to the bottom of the mountain and roll the boulder back up the mountain – repeating this tedious task for eternity. This is why pointless or insufferable tasks are often called “Sisyphean”.

A few years ago I worked on a project where I spent many overtime hours, working hard towards a goal. The work was rewarding and the management was motivational, but it was very stressful. Working like this over a long period of time will make a man yearn for work-life balance. In our era of entrepreneurial worship where hard work is a measure of our worth, it is blasphemous to say such a thing. The speaker is made to think they are lazy or just don’t want to be successful. I think this is not always true. When your efforts are unappreciated or go unrewarded, of course there is a disincentive to work more than you need to. However, when I first started my podcast and web site, I would work all day, then come home and work late into the night and through the weekends. I didn’t complain about the long hours or lack of recreational time. Why? Because I was working with a purpose. The work was the reward.

When your work has meaning and purpose, it is rewarding. That meaning and purpose is defined by you. It helps if you get paid a lot of money, or if people are giving you many accolades. These are external rewards, and they can be effective. However nothing is more effective than when you feel that internal sense of reward from the meaning that you give the work. For example, working for yourself building a business or working for no financial reward but instead for a good cause provides a very rich and meaningful return on your time invested. Marcus Buckingham would call this working to your strengths. Because it gives you energy and enthusiasm. You look forward to it, and after spending many long hours working on it you feel a sense of accomplishment. So I feel if a person is seeking a work-life balance, it’s not that necessarily that they are lazy or lack entrepreneurial spirit, it’s that they are not working to their strengths. Most entrepreneurs work longer and harder hours than employees for a