Light Yourself Up (Not Your To-Do List)

“We don't need more people putting out fires every day in work. We need people on fire and fired up for the day.” ― Jesse Cole

Corporate life has lied to us. It told us the goal was to be a “good firefighter,” running around with a metaphorical hose, dousing crises like a caffeine-fueled hero. But let’s be honest: half the time those fires are just burnt toast someone left in the office microwave. What Jesse Cole is really saying is: stop extinguishing, start igniting.

Here’s how to swap your fire extinguisher for a sparkler.

1. Stop Collecting Emergency Badges

If your whole personality is “Chief Problem-Solver,” congrats—you’ve basically built yourself a job as a human smoke alarm. Beep, beep, beep. Instead of bragging about the number of fires you’ve put out, try bragging about the flames you’ve started: ideas, joy, enthusiasm. They smell way better than burnt toast.

2. Light Your Own Torch First

Ever notice how Olympic torchbearers don’t sprint around waving fire at other people’s problems? They just keep their own flame lit. When you start the day fired up about your purpose (or at least your coffee), you burn brighter than any “urgent” Slack ping ever could.

3. Trade the Fire Extinguisher for a Flamethrower (Metaphorically)

Instead of putting out everyone else’s fires, try starting the kind that spreads in the best way. A laugh in a meeting. A wild idea scribbled on a napkin. A contagious burst of enthusiasm that makes other people wonder if you accidentally had three espressos (you didn’t—you’re just alive today).

Work doesn’t need you to be a firefighter; it needs you to be a firestarter. Not the dangerous, insurance-claim kind—the energizing, visionary, “wow, I want some of what they’re having” kind. So retire the extinguisher, light your own torch, and go set the day ablaze.

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