The word “industriousness” comes from the Latin “laboriositas,” which in turn derives from “labor,” meaning to perform work with effort and perseverance. However, to reach the full potential of industriousness, we must necessarily travel the path from habit to virtue. Therefore, it is worth remembering that habit consists of the mechanical repetition of an action in our daily work; while virtue is developed through the use of intelligence and will, in such a way that the same work action leads to a greater good.

In this regard, 25 years ago, when I worked in the human resources department of a bank, one of my responsibilities was managing the electronic employee tax declaration program (PDT). This program was used to report and pay all taxes related to the company’s employees. There was a maximum payment deadline to SUNAT (the Peruvian tax authority), based on the last digit of the company’s RUC (taxpayer identification number).

In that sense, I recall that I eventually turned the habit of filing and paying the PDT (Taxpayer’s Declaration Form) into a virtue. This is because I learned that by not doing this task at the last minute, but rather in a planned and proactive manner, other areas of the company, such as treasury, could also do their job better.

On the other hand, now at the family business, a daily task I absolutely had to do first thing each day was to enter the official SUNAT exchange rate from soles to dollars, both for buying and selling. But it only took a few weeks to realize that this repetitive task was crucial for managing sales, costs, invoicing, and various reports.

I’m sure you also have your own stories, or those of others, about daily work tasks that went from habit to virtue. Now I’ll share some related lessons.

• You discover that performing a task is more than simply finishing it; with that action you have helped or served another person at work.
• I am still grateful to Inés, a boss who had the vision to enroll me in a Covey course on the 7 habits of highly effective people.
• You understand the Eisenhower Matrix and the whole topic associated with what is important and urgent, giving order and priority to your tasks.
• And most importantly, through hard work it counteracts laziness or, as we might normally say: “I’ll do it later”.

To conclude this article, I encourage you to take concrete steps to cultivate and develop the virtue of diligence, for in doing so you will become a better person than I am sure you are today. And if you are a practicing Christian, believe me, you will be taking concrete steps on your path to holiness.

Last but not least, don’t forget: Keep your spirits up! Keep rowing hard against the current and out to sea!