How to Do Damn Good Work

In this episode of Walks with Uncle Henry, we’re diving deep into the idea of "damn good work"—what it really means and how it’s different from just good work. We explore the powerful notion that no matter what job you’re doing, you can do it with pride, skill, and joy.

Whether you're a street sweeper, a software engineer, or a chef, there’s always room to approach your work with the heart of a craftsman. In a world of quick fixes, corporate grind, and stress-fueled productivity, we often lose sight of what makes work truly meaningful. But the truth is, doing your job well can bring fulfillment, joy, and a sense of purpose that transcends paycheck-to-paycheck living.

Join me as I share the lessons I've learned from working everything from factory jobs to fine furniture making, and why approaching your work like an old-timey craftsman can change everything. From learning how to turn even the most mundane tasks into a work of art to finding inspiration in unexpected places, this episode will challenge you to rethink your approach to work, no matter your field.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The difference between “good” work and “damn good” work.
• How adopting a craftsman mindset can transform any job.
• Practical tips for staying motivated and proud of your labor—even when it’s not your dream gig.
• How building habits of preparation and focus can elevate your workday, every day.
• Why learning from masters outside your field can give you valuable insights into your own craft.

If you're feeling stuck, uninspired, or disconnected from your job, this episode is for you. Tune in to discover how you can add a little more joy, pride, and purpose into your daily grind. It’s time to stop just going through the motions and start doing damn good work.

Theme music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3tcKZl4Qa8gaMCrl8lTlAb

Transcript

There’s a beautiful Martin Luther King quote that I’ve adored for years, and it really gets to the heart of everything I want to talk about. It reads, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’” I mean, my God, words to live by. There should be a day dedicated to that guy.

This is Walks with Uncle Henry. The modern world is a strange place.

What I love most about this quote is that it highlights something that’s taken me a lifetime to understand. When I was a younger man, I had a fraught relationship with labor. I was thrust into the world of work, never really understanding how to work or what value I may get out of working. I got my first gig working at the Irish pub when I was 13, but it just paid for records that I wanted and sweet Jordan sneakers. Then, when I graduated high school with horrific grades, it was like, “Oh... oh shit, I need to do this, like, to eat. And live.” I got a job at a fine furniture maker that had been in my town for 100 years, and I spent my days gluing cushions and sewing upholstery fabric. With no real long-term vision or prospects, I tried every job the classifieds paper had to offer. In hindsight, I’m glad I did because I had so many wild experiences and learned so many important life lessons, and I will share them with you so you don’t have to work these jobs and learn them painfully like I did. I worked at a veterinary clinic, a boatyard, factories, more bars and restaurants than I can name, I spent summers harvesting garlic at a farm, I ran water lines and sold shoes, spent a couple of years at a grocery store, and almost got a job shoveling manure into a contraption that eventually created energy from it. Before I began, the boss man pulled me aside and said, “Hey, buddy, you don’t need to do this.” Then I swapped jobs for what would be a “real” career, in which I get compensated for using my brain and looking at a computer screen, which I must infer is probably better than shoveling cow shit onto a conveyor belt.

Now, the vast, vast majority of the workforce stares at a computer screen all day, and there’s something a little dissociating about it. Something even maybe a little unsettling. Even if you do work with your hands, in the trades, there’s a solid chance that your work is quite banal and not terribly inspiring. But just like us keyboard tappers, the shit has to get done. It can be difficult at times, but what really can take your work to the next level is approaching work like a true, old-timey craftsman. In our fast-paced, hyper-capitalist work culture, we really don’t see ourselves as craftsmen—but no matter what you do, you can approach it with a dedication to mastery. A willingness to learn how to sharpen your skills and improve every day. And ultimately, be proud of what you create. Again, the work most of us will need to do to survive may not look like an opportunity to act like a true craftsman, but it’s always there. If you’re a line cook, set out to make the best damn cheeseburger you can make. If you’re a software engineer, make your code beautiful, treat it as art. If you’re an electrician, make it so clean that people want to shake your hand. Again, many of us work jobs that, at face value, are not made to be romanticized, but I would argue the only way to find meaning in what you do is to romanticize the living (funny word) out of it. And no matter what you do, you can and should draw inspiration from true masters of their craft who do something entirely different than you.

I was riding with a friend recently on the way to a fishing trip, and he was describing a woman that he knows with exemplary welding skills. He went on and on about how this woman is a motherfucking goddess of welding, drawing praise from the older dudes who’ve been doing it longer than she’s been alive. I know very little about the inner workings of welding, but I was like, “Man, I want people to talk about my work with the same regard.” If you’re a writer, for example, you might draw real inspiration from watching a master chef at work—watching them obsess over the quality of ingredients and striking the balance between creativity and tradition. Although they are doing work that is very different from writing, there’s a way that they respect their craft that you can really glean something from. This appreciation for good work across the board can be applied to literally any job, anywhere. There are valuable skills that a Fortune 500 CEO can learn from the person who washes the windows in their building. I mean real skills that they can apply in the boardroom.

As someone who works at a computer essentially all day, you may be surprised to learn that some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned about my work were learned on farms. I remember one season when I was 20 or so, working alongside migrant workers. I was fascinated by the preparation they put into their work. I learned that a productive day doesn’t just happen—it’s planned for. On the farm, that looked like being prepared with multiple layers of clothes, an ample supply of water and snacks, knowing the forecast, having a plan of attack, and a backup plan when the first one fails. At my desk job, that looks like having an ample supply of caffeine ready to rock. I completely nerd out on my schedule and task list the day prior, so when I show up, I know exactly how shit is going down and what I’m getting done. And when priorities change, well, I’m prepared for that too. As Honest Abe said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I would spend the first four hours sharpening my axe.”

This applies to creatives more than tradesmen or hands-on workers, but really, approaching work like a farmer—as ridiculous as that may sound—is a great way to work. So many of us get caught in the inspiration trap, and of course, your motivation ebbs and flows; that’s to be expected. But at the end of the day, someone has to milk the cow and plow the field. What I mean by work like a farmer is just the notion that I’m building an ethic that is independent from motivation—and a secret is that motivation often follows beginning the work, even on days when the creative juices aren’t flowing and it feels difficult to get going. And you know, some days the tractor is honest to God broken, and you need to pivot to something that doesn’t require your best equipment, but even then, progress can be made.

I’ve worked with all generations that are in our current workforce and one that has since disappeared from it, that maybe I’ve learned the most from—the traditional generation—that’s the folks who came before the boomers. Sometimes called the silent generation. They treated work as a source of fulfillment, but not in a gross hustle culture kind of way—more of a prideful, “this is my duty to the world” way. This is what I can give. They saw their work as contributing, rather than just going through the motions. With quiet quitting and the like making headlines, it’s become somewhat rare to say that good work actually makes our entire life better. But friends, it can, under the right circumstances.

Of course, many of the traditional generation worked in a period of strong company loyalty and stability. I worked with one gentleman, Bill, who worked at the same factory for 50 years. I was puzzled, as a young person, because he didn’t have to work anymore, but really enjoyed it. They enjoyed the community of the workplace. They enjoyed using their mind and their bodies, and many of them looked younger for it. I especially remember one fiery farmer’s wife that I worked with at a grocery store, and in her 80s, she was running circles around the young folks. When asked what her secret to maintaining this youthful energy was, she responded in a whisper, “Working your ass off.” Again, this is not an endorsement of toxic work culture or overworking, but an endorsement for being proud of what you do, no matter what that is. The alternative sounds much more exhausting than finding the joy. If you’re in an honest-to-God terrible job, this advice probably doesn’t help you. But if you’re feeling iffy about your job—maybe disconnected or bored—maybe you can find comfort in knowing that there are ways to bring happiness to your labor. Every job offers ways to bring little bits of happiness to it, and it’s worth the effort to find yours. Maybe it’s something as simple as turning on some sick, nasty beats or creating a ritual, like cracking a cold lemonade at 3 PM each afternoon as the day starts to wear down. Find joy in the process.

In the same breath, this generation of folks saw work as an important part of their life, but did not see it as their whole identity. Their fulfilling life at work was countered by an even more fulfilling life outside of it. Of course, they lived in an age where there were no emails to respond to at 9 PM, and they weren’t on call at all times. Work ended when it ended. I question if their optimistic view on work was largely due to this—though they worked hard, they rested hard. With real, actual solitude.

One of the main maladies in today’s workplace is the normalization of stress. It’s so counterproductive because under stress, no one is doing their best work. If I were given a project—any project—and were given solid time and positive reinforcement to complete it, I would undoubtedly end up with a better final result than if I were stressed and hastily throwing it together. There are some workplaces or even roles and industries that are inherently stressful, much of it being out of your control. But of course, you need to really, really work with what you can control. For instance, it took me a long time to not take criticism personally. I work in a job where my work is constantly critiqued by many, many people, and I would always belabor how stressful that was—though it’s entirely expected in my job, it’s actually a requirement of my job at any level. It still made me anxious. Then one day, I stepped back and realized it actually wasn’t stressful—it was my response to it that made it stressful. Of course, the feedback was never personal. In fact, it was given by the people who respect and champion my work the most. And once I was able to, in the moment, de-escalate the stress that was rising when receiving feedback, my job became so, so much easier. It is a damn hard skill to hone, but taking your work seriously can be done without taking it personally. Mistakes are inevitable, and they are wonderful ways to learn. The kind of people we spoke about earlier—the kind of masters of their craft—fucked up a lot to earn that title. The top chef in the world didn’t know how to make a proper peanut butter and jelly sandwich at some point. The best writers in the world were spoken to by a teacher at some point to show they could improve what they’ve written. Everyone makes mistakes; it’s simply how you respond to them that makes the difference.

Thankfully, you’re living in a very strange era of work, because by employing a very basic skill, you have a huge leg up on many, many folks. Of course, that skill is the ability to pay attention. Doing good work starts outside of work, when you’re not doing any kind of work at all. Building a strong attention span and sharpening your ability to focus will improve every facet of your life, not just your work. It will improve your relationships, help you feel more at peace, and reduce stress—it makes such a remarkable difference. Our brain’s ability to focus is just like training a muscle, and by the way, our brains have this wild ability to regenerate and build new neural pathways based on the behaviors that we repeat. This means if your brain is fried from TikTok and Clash of Clans (which I recently learned about), you can rewire your mind to focus deeply and prioritize your ability to focus. I cannot bang this drum enough: you can change. People talk about how our smartphones have rewired us as if it’s permanent—like the damage is done and you’re just one too many Instagram Reels deep—but truly, you can change. It’s just science. The beauty of being able to focus is that you learn to get so much more done in a short amount of time, which prevents that pesky work stress we just discussed from compounding. Gaining back your attention span isn’t terribly difficult. The internet is filled with advice on this topic, but it’s often needlessly complicated. I recently saw a doctor selling a virtual course on detoxing from tech and regaining your attention span for $300—and folks, mine is much cheaper at $250—I’m joking, but really, here’s where to begin:

First off, you know what burns your attention. The issue with one-size-fits-all approaches to this is that there are so many different ways we’re burning our attention spans today, and they all look pretty different. For example, someone may not be interested in doomscrolling Instagram for nine hours a day but spends that same amount of time playing video games. You won’t have to do too much inner work to know where your attention is going—there’s likely something in your life that you know is a bit compulsive and distracting, and you know that you need to address it. Even if it’s not a huge time suck, start being mindful of things that make you feel crappy. I hear from a lot of people that reading the news puts them in a terrible mood—so, stop reading the news. Again, maximizing joy and minimizing anxiety is only going to improve how you show up in your job and in your life.

No matter what’s distracting you, you can always benefit from applying slow, simple living principles. Nothing too extreme—I’m not suggesting you sell your belongings and build a cabin in the woods, though I’d like to—but really, you can just meet yourself where you’re at. Define what a good, productive day looks like for you, and begin, day by day, to make it your reality. It doesn’t need to happen overnight, but you should give yourself a bit of a deadline. For example, I find one of the biggest predictors of having a productive day for me is waking up pretty insanely early. It just works for me. But if you’re sleeping in until 9 AM each day, I wouldn’t recommend waking up at 5 AM tomorrow. I would recommend waking up at maybe 8 AM and gradually going from there. Take your time, but be accountable. One straight-up hack to fast-track this process—read books. Like, any book, doesn’t matter—whatever interests you. Just read a physical book. Whatever the heck our brains are doing while we mindlessly scroll, reading real books seems to do the exact opposite.

Whether you’re just starting out in the workforce or you’ve been in it for a while and you’re looking to take your expertise to the next level, I’ve found that there are two phases you should go through. The first is the kind of “student phase,” where you’re working very slowly and deliberately, putting emphasis on getting better and just straight-up learning. Once you start to see the gains you’re making, begin focusing on how you can keep producing beautiful work more efficiently. Again, this looks different for different jobs, but whether you’re a plumber or a marketing executive, you can likely find areas to cut the fat, so to speak, and prioritize doing what matters most. Less meetings, less admin, more creating. Because the magic of your labor is doing the goddamn job.