+1: Sweeping Streets with Martin Luther King - Like Shakespeare, Beethoven and Michelangelo

Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last plus one, we talked about Martin Seligman's ideas on the science of having a job versus a career versus a calling. I propose we aim to have all three, such that our work involves us using our signature strengths and greatest service to the world while getting paid well and having fun mastering our chosen domain. Today I want to chat about another Martin, Martin Luther King Jr. He has a lot to say about the subject as well. Now, my hunch is you might have run across this little MLK Jr. Quote gem before he says, quote, 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. But you know what? That's not quite what he said. It's a paraphrased version of a sermon he once gave. And just reading that snippet doesn't do justice to how he said it. So we're going to invite the good Reverend King in to our optimized plus one today so we can actually hear him preach this. And more accurately, we're going to. And I had goosebumps as I typed this, Feel him preach this wisdom in the New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1967. Here it is. Listen to this. Now, if that doesn't give you goosebumps, I don't know what will. So today's plus one. What are you doing these days, whether you love it or not? What if you didn't need to change anything about it other than how you think about it? What if you waved a wand and imagined that God or whatever power inspires you, created you to do exactly what you're doing right now? It's your calling. How would you approach it with that mindset? And is today a good day to wave that wand and do whatever you do with the genius and artistry of a Shakespeare or Beethoven or Michelangelo? Fantastic. Let's do it. Here's to your calling.