You don’t need permission to make yourself useful
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Make yourself useful. We’ve all said that to someone. We’ve all heard it a few times too.
But what does it mean?
Oxford say it’s “doing something that is of some value or benefit to someone.” Cambridge say it’s “a way of telling someone to start being helpful.”
“Now you're here, you might as well make yourself useful - there's a lot of cleaning up to do.”
Let’s say you’re making dinner and the first step is to read up on how to sauté mushrooms. If you then actually do make dinner you’ve made yourself useful.
But you can also just read about cooking mushrooms until you turn into a fun guy. Unless you actually make and serve mushrooms you have not made yourself useful.
Making yourself useful is not making yourself busy. You can be busy without impacting others.
Studying, reading, thinking, dreaming, planning and preparing all have their place. But these only count as being useful to others if it ends in meaningful action.
Look at your todo list.
Look at your diary.
Look at your life.
Are you being busy or are you being useful?
Now here’s the clincher: You don’t need permission, instructions, a degree, a certificate or a paycheck to be useful. Don’t wait for someone else to make you useful.
Only you can make yourself useful.
“Now you're here, you might as well make yourself useful - there's a lot of cleaning up to do.”
Let’s say you’re making dinner and the first step is to read up on how to sauté mushrooms. If you then actually do make dinner you’ve made yourself useful.
But you can also just read about cooking mushrooms until you turn into a fun guy. Unless you actually make and serve mushrooms you have not made yourself useful.
Making yourself useful is not making yourself busy. You can be busy without impacting others.
Studying, reading, thinking, dreaming, planning and preparing all have their place. But these only count as being useful to others if it ends in meaningful action.
Look at your todo list.
Look at your diary.
Look at your life.
Are you being busy or are you being useful?
Now here’s the clincher: You don’t need permission, instructions, a degree, a certificate or a paycheck to be useful. Don’t wait for someone else to make you useful.
Only you can make yourself useful.