What does it mean to do great work?
Musings on the meaning of own satisfaction and exceptional work.
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This question comes back to me now and then when I don’t feel fulfilled with what I do. It’s this emotion of inadequacy of what you give to the world and your own (conscious or not) standards below which you don’t feel comfortable settling.
How do you know you are doing great work?
One thing people primarily look for is feedback. A long time ago, that was the only place I looked for knowledge on the quality of my work. That is why we hold company feedback sessions or ask friends for feedback before releasing something to the crowds. To some extent, that makes sense, but it fails in the long run if that is your single source of truth.
Wait, but why? The short answer is that it’s a bunch of foreign standards from people who don’t have your way of thinking, values, or sense of what you want to accomplish. We’re talking here about creative work instead of strictly defined things to be done.
Yes, it can help you grow. Yes, it can be tremendously valuable but it’s overrated. More on that you can read in an article below 👇
To me great work does not come from a feeling of “I did my best”. You can do your best but it might not be enough to get something done. When doing great work what it involved for me was often:
achieving a certain level of depth and creativity,
working with complexity (even if these were my thoughts),
sharing a piece of myself, my experience,
loosing track of time, entering a state of flow,
moving through fear, rejection or anxiety,
involving a subject that is dear to me,
keeping up with my own standards1 especially when I didn’t have to.
It’s the work that makes you go beyond what you thought was possible to you. Even if only slightly. Often, doing great work involves searching for great environments which appreciate you or creating those yourself.
I believe that if we do the work we are destined to do by using our talents, wisdom and experience we tend to have much higher standards than we encounter. Also, slowly but steadily, we get to know the people who resonate with the work in effect.
This was my journey of discovery. Let me explain. 👇
In my writing career, my style changed every few years. I started writing in the late 90s and set up my first blog in the very early 00s. It was simple. It was bad. Yet it had some audience. I iterated, not sure where I was going, yet what directed me was an inner urge to express myself. The quality of my writing increased and subjects of interest evolved. My audience changed every few years.
Fast forward to today, in this newsletter as well as my blog, field notes or instagram, people came and went the more I became true to myself. It’s an uncomfortable feeling yet it also ties in to being unapologetically yourself.
I used to think that I let down those who left. Nowadays, I see it more as we both align better with each such decision. They know a little bit more about what they are looking for. Myself, I’m doing work that is more aligned with the way I look at the world.
What others are saying about doing great work?
🎧Rick Rubin
“I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me and it turns out when you make something truly for yourself, you are doing the best what you can for the audience. If we are making art, it’s almost like a diary entry. Could I be concerned that someone else might not like my diary entry?”
📺Seth Godin
“It’s possible to be a barista and have a significant job. It’s possible to work for an important non-profit and have an insignificant job. Did you stare to the face of change today and bring humanity to work? Did you do something that might not work? Did you do something that could not easily be done by a form or an AI. When we show up as human to connect with an interesting problem we feel alive. This is what we seek to do with our days. (…) We had enough of Netflix and chill, what we need is meaning.”
🍏Steve Jobs
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet keep looking and don’t settle." (…) Your time is limited, so do not waste it living someone else’s life. Do not let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
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Let me know in the comments how this translates to you and what was your path to doing great work.
If you are doing things that are aligned with your talents and skillset you will know what you aim for and be able to define the ambitions you seek to achieve. If you are doing things that are a drag this rule won’t work. You will cut corners, do the bare minimum.