Enthusiasm is defined as expressing joy in each task as we give it our best effort.  Finding joy in what we do and giving our best efforts are intertwined, and both are intensely personal journeys. The fruits of enthusiasm may or may not always be seen by others. Many people in history have enthusiastically accomplished great things, and we don’t read about those feats until after the person’s life is over. They were so busy being amazing and serving others that they didn’t have time to seek the limelight for their accomplishments.

Oliver Wendell Holmes shared, “It’s faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living.” In today’s terms, finding your “why” makes what you do matter and brings you contentment! No one else can make you enthusiastic. Someone else can offer you an opportunity that is exciting, but that is much different than finding joy and passionately giving your best to something because of a deep reason in your own soul. What’s incredible is that others can negatively influence your day or disrupt your work, but no one else can take away your joy or cause you to give less than your best once you figure out your “why” and what makes you enthusiastic. That’s powerful!

In the book The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn recounts the true story of Fred, the mail carrier who passionately loves his job and who genuinely cares about the people he serves. Because of that, Fred is constantly going the extra mile handling the mail – and sometimes watching over the houses – of the people on his route, treating everyone he meets as a friend. Where others might see delivering mail as monotonous drudgery, Fred sees an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those he serves.

As a middle school principal, I asked each member of our staff to read The Fred Factor. When I shared the books with the employees, I wanted each person at our school to know their work was affecting the eternity of a child. I loved the message from the book! Any task can be a drudgery. Some tasks can be viewed as “beneath” a person. However, with great enthusiasm about the bigger picture and the “why” behind the task, Fred showed that deep enthusiasm and joy can exist when doing what others may view as even the most mundane things.

As a leader in education, I have watched human beings do extraordinary things for a child! Once, when I asked a custodian on our campus why she worked so hard to make things sparkle she said, “My work shows a child that school really does matter. When I go above and beyond, my hope is that it will inspire the children to do the same!” She had a personal mission, fired by enthusiasm, that she was going to make a difference for children by the caliber of work she did. It was an honor to see her work influence the lives of children for the good on a daily basis.

As I age, I’ve learned so many things about enthusiasm!

• Enthusiasm is contagious! When it is caught by others, there is a multiplier effect and simple things done well inspire others to do the same.

• If you listen intensely during an interview, you will hire people who are enthusiastic about their work, and that energy becomes an exponential resource to the organization and the other employees.

• Enthusiasm is like a fire in a person’s soul that simply can’t be extinguished. It may grow a bit dimmer when the person is weary or stretched thin, but deep enthusiasm is grounded in eternity and will always return to burn bright if it is genuine within a person.

As we look around us in the days to come, let’s seek out enthusiastic people. They will be those who find deep joy in what they do and give their best effort to the tasks at hand. May you be inspired by their lives and be a source of inspiration yourselves as you find your “why” and serve others well!