“I can say the willingness to get dirty has always defined us as an nation, and it’s a hallmark of hard work and a hallmark of fun, and dirt is not the enemy.”

Mike Rowe

I love the term “sweat equity.” For me this is defined as the return on investment you receive for the effort you personally put into a project or initiative. There is such value in doing the hard work that requires you to roll up your sleeves and “get dirty.”

This can take a lot of different forms depending on how you define your work. It can be getting dirty in the sense of diving into details on a work project or it can be as simple as literal dirt under your fingernails after working in your garden. No matter how you define “getting dirty” nothing replaces the joy and satisfaction of seeing a job well done because of your personal investment of time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears.

I have long believed, and held as a core tenet for life, that work worth doing requires one to do whatever it takes to get the job done. No matter how dirty, messy or strenuous the work might be. Of course, this is bound by an adherence to what is morally and ethically right! Living by this principle is liberating because it keeps you focused on what needs to get done, and dispenses with the attitude that certain tasks or things are “beneath” you. Do what ever it takes to do the job done right.

So, go get dirty. Build up some sweat equity and revel in the fact that when the work is done, you will have created value that wasn’t there before.