the adoption of responsibility...........................

      If you want to become invaluable in the workplace—in any community—just do the useful things no one else is doing. . . .

      You might object, "Well, I could not manage to take on something that important."  What if you began to build yourself into a person who could?  You could start by trying to solve a small problem—something that is bothering you, that you think you could fix.  You could start by confronting the dragon of just the size that you are likely to defeat.  A tiny serpent might not have had the time to hoard a lot of gold, but there might still be some treasure to be won, along with a reasonable probability of succeeding in such a quest (and not too much chance of a fiery or toothsome death).  Under reasonable circumstances, picking up the excess responsibility is an opportunity to become truly invaluable.  An then, if you want to negotiate for a raise, or more autonomy—or more free time, for that matter—you can go to your boss and say, "Here are ten things that were crying out to be done, each of them vital, and I am now doing all of them.  If you help me out a bit, I will continue.  I might even improve.  And everything, including your life, will improve along with me."  And then, if your boss has any sense—and sometimes bosses do—then your negotiation will be successful.  This is how such things work.  And do not forget that there is no shortage of genuinely good people who are thrilled if they can give someone useful and trustworthy a hand up.  It is one of the truly altruistic pleasures of life, and its depth is not to be underestimated, or to be disregarded with cheap cynicism that masks itself as world weary wisdom.

    It appears that the meaning that most effectively sustains life is to be found in the adoption of responsibility.

-Jordan Peterson, Beyond Order:  12 More Rules For Life