Last week I walked into the lobby of the building where I work and noticed a colleague, Kira, sitting in the chairs typically used by interviewees or guests. “Are you hear for an interview?” I joked. “Yes, for the Manager, Community Investment role,” she replied. Her reply was funny because she named her job. And then, as she often does, Kira said something pretty profound: “You know, I earn my job every day.” Amazing. How many of us actually imagine ourselves interviewing for our role every day? What does it mean to define our purpose and apply it to our work every single day? Kira and I have answers. Here are five ways to earn your job every day.

Have a purpose

Some people dread going into the office or the job site on Monday morning. Others see a true purpose in their work every day. Having a sense of purpose in a job means being present and focused on how daily tasks fit into the bigger picture. It means not falling into complacency because you are in a constant state of construction. According to HBR’s Dan Pontefract, life is short and it’s up to you to define and live your purpose every day: “You deserve to work in a role, and for an organization, where your personal purpose shines. But you cannot leave it up to the organization, your boss, or your team. It really does come down to you defining and enacting your purpose.”

Earning your job every day requires you to demonstrate in small (and big) ways how your personal purpose is realized in your role.

Add value

The story goes that we all have the same hours in the day as Beyoncé does. The facts are that she probably adds more value in those hours than we do. This is fine. The point is that earning your job every day means that you probably leave your colleagues, customers, patients, and other stakeholders better than you found them (and if you don’t you’ve learned some things along the way).

There are many ways to add value for your community. Getting shit done is something everyone values, but not something that we all consistently achieve. By blocking out time for the right tasks and thinking of your day in minutes, not hours, you can be more productive. By asking “how can I help?” and thanking people for their efforts we add value by making others feel supported and appreciated. And when you remark “I did this” to yourself, your teammates or your boss people get a sense of what makes you proud and also what you accomplished.

Earning your job every day means making things happen (sometimes that can mean stopping things from happening, too).

Ask for feedback

Recently, I was in the room when a senior leader at Vancity offered some simple advice to a group of people leaders about how to make giving feedback contagious in a community: “just ask ‘how did that go for you?’ after any kind of experience” she said. According to the NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI), targeted feedback is essential for high performing organizations. People aren’t getting the feedback they need, though. Engagement grows when people get regular feedback, ideally when it happens at least weekly and in the moment after, say, a trainwreck or super-awesome presentation. The thing is that people don’t always appreciate receiving feedback, but we become more open to it when someone asks us to give it. So offer the gift of feedback by going first – it will become contagious.

Earning your job every day means asking for feedback so frequently that it simply becomes a habit; first for you and then for everyone else.

Be uncomfortable

Asking for and giving feedback can be uncomfortable. And getting out of your comfort zone is critical if you want to authentically earn your job every day. Think about it. When we’re demonstrating our value during an interview or delivering quick wins during the first 90-days in our role we can really feel what it means to earn our role. Over time we become comfortable and can become complacent, though. We might even begin to fear change, which can lead us to protecting what we have as opposed to exploring new ways to make an organization better through our work. In her spectacular TED Talk, Luvvie Ajayi articulates beautiful and simple ways to bust apart the status quo: “if more of us chose to do this for the greater good we’d be in a better place than we are now…it is our duty to speak truth to power…especially when it is difficult.”

Earning your job every day means not settling for the status quo and making it a little bit uncomfortable for people who have settled.

Inspire 10% more

Changing the world every day is hard. Maybe even impossible. No matter how much purpose, productivity or discomfort we bring to our organization every day we might not be able to steer things to a better place. Big, significant changes take time – probably more than a day. There is, however, a chance that you can make small shifts in behaviour or project direction every day. I’m focusing this year on enhancing peoples’ joy and curiosity on my team – there’s intention here, as these things are needed in our organization. Time’s Ellen Seidman argues that creating moments for “we” time at work enhances peoples’ happiness: “

Earning your job every day means leaving your community with 10% more of something important and valuable when you leave the office or job site.