Have you heard the story about the young student who worked a summer job as a street painter to earn money for college? He was tasked with painting a yellow line down the middle of the road between two towns.

He was a diligent and enthusiastic worker excited to please his boss. This was his first paying job. On the first day he painted 5 miles of highway and at the end of the day his supervisor commented on how much he accomplished.

On his second day, he painted 3 miles of highway, and on his third day, 1 mile. Nonetheless, each day the young man started fresh and as enthused as the previous day. His supervisor was perplexed at how much less ground was covered and curiously asked why less road was painted each day. The young man answered: “Sorry, sir, but that bucket of paint just kept getting further away from where I was painting. It took me longer to get back there.”

Many of us are like the young college student – enthusiastically approaching our job; but wearing down due to inefficiencies and too much to do. Even when we perform a job we love, we have to keep returning to the paint bucket.

We may not be painting a yellow line down the road, but how many of us find that as we progress in our career we find that bucket getting further away from us. Sometimes imperceptively our resources are stretched thinner and thinner until the paint brush runs dry before we get to the next spot which needs paint.

Even though we are working harder, we get less accomplished. Soon, we get exhausted from returning to the bucket leaving less time for the quality work we intend to do.

Take a moment each day to reflect on whether the same old, same old still works. Do we need to move the bucket to stay efficient? Do we need to put more paint in the bucket, or do we need to paint a new road?

Periodically, reflect on the road you follow. It my be time to choose a different route.