"Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike
As if we had them not."
Measure for Measure, Act I, scene 1.
I just came across an old image. Life is like a relay race. So is your work. Someone has passed a baton to you. And you're now running with it. At some point, you'll pass it on to someone else. As you run, you should reflect on at least these considerations:
1. The person who gave you the baton - Who was it? What do you owe him or her, as a result of the gift of that baton? What responsibility has been passed on to you with it?
2. The person you'll eventually give the baton - Who will it be? Do you know? Do you care? Are you selecting a proper recipient, even now? What do you owe that person? What responsibility do you have to him or her? What duty, or possibility, or momentum, will you pass on?
3. On a deeper level, is this the right race for you? When you pass off the baton, should you then find a different race, or a different track?
To run the race of your life or work well is to take care of these things. And, while you hold the baton, you move forward as well as you can, and you uphold the process at its best.
That's running the race well.
