It’s OK To Care About What You Do
February 16, 2011
Author 
In Ian Lurie has been one of my favorite bloggers lately, and not just because we’re both (occasionally) snarky. He consistently has something to say and is one of the rare people in our industry who isn’t afraid to break rules and write with personality.
Anyway somehow I missed this post from Ian, but it bears repeating and is advice that transcends the marketing world. That…it’s OK to give a crap:
I, for one, am sick of people telling me I should delegate everything, find someone offshore to do SEO for me for $10 a day, take my own work ‘less seriously’, blah blah blah blah. Screw that.
…What I’m talking about here is the fact that it’s OK to give a crap about the work you do, even if most others around you do not. This just means you’re one of the people who makes things go. You build the stuff that works, from cars to web sites to novels. More people like you around, and maybe Toyota doesn’t end up like, er, Toyota. Maybe Gourmet Magazine survives.
It’s OK if you acknowledge the fact that you are doing this for your own satisfaction. This isn’t a sacrifice on your part. It’s part of what keeps you happy. It’s part of what keeps me from teaching my kids new obscenities when I’m hold with the 4th utterly incompetent phone service person.
So please, continue to give a crap. You crazy people keep a lot of things going when they otherwise wouldn’t.
Ian is so spot on here it hurts. People have told me to take what I do less seriously all my life – long before I entered the business world. I used to hear that from others about all the time I spent producing music, time spent writing, or time spent on digital projects and long ago I learned to ignore them.
To this day I’ve never let someone else’s comments phase me. Why? Because I care about what I do and spend time on my passions for intrinsic reasons – my drive for that has always been stronger than externalities.
If you care about what you do, and I think most of you reading this do, refuse to let others drag you away from that. You understand something they don’t: the difference between living life and not.
Dane Findley replied | Feb 16, 2011 (2 comments)
Yes, wIthout passion, what’s the point of anything? The world seems eerily on autopilot as it is — it’s authenticity and passion that put the “magic” back into our daily lives!
On a side note: I sometimes wonder about the internet. New trends get rehashed so many times, we forget to ask if there’s anything real to them:
Case in point — I’ve tried one of those popular offshore “delegation sites” (that you mention in your post) on five occasions, and it’s never been effective for me. The quality of the work was not especially high, the cost was not especially low, the process was not especially efficient. And yet, one reads about how it’s the next-big-thing. No thanks. I’d rather hire a local freelancer and establish an actual relationship… and help my local economy in the process! And I don’t care if that makes me sound ancient!
{ twitter = danenow }
Adam Singer replied | Feb 18, 2011 (563 comments)
Yup – autopilot = why bother. Go through things alive and awake.
Catherine Lockey replied | Feb 16, 2011 (63 comments)
When my daughter was just one year old I became a single mom. My commitment to my child never wavered and, despite outcries from family, I worked only 19 hours a week and spent the majority of my time educating and loving her. This meant apartment living, used clothes, a beat up car etc. Those hours I spent with my daughter were invaluable – she truly had a beautiful early childhood and today she is a fearless, happy, independent soul attending one of the finest colleges in PA. I cannot ever fully express the satisfaction I feel regarding this experience.
Drive, determination and a one-minded focus are so extraordinarily productive. I agree Adam, don’t let others water down what you know is right. This applies to everyone who knows in their hearts they’re doing what they must.
Julie replied | Feb 16, 2011 (1 comment)
Very nice story. :)
Rich Sowa replied | Feb 16, 2011 (1 comment)
Adam,
Glad to hear someone else talk about “giving a crap”. I have run into the same thing when certain friends have said to me “why do you waste so much time writing and you don’t make money with a lot of it”. I tell them because I love to write and it is not always about the money. I just happen to give a crap about writing.
Writing keeps my creative spark alive and stimulates my right brain thinking instead of being logical all the time about everything.
Glad to see you are one of those crazy people.
Adam Singer replied | Feb 18, 2011 (563 comments)
Not everything in life has to be for money. In fact if you approach life that way you’ll likely even make *more* money.
Cassie Ladd replied | Feb 16, 2011 (1 comment)
Thank you! Ian and you have taken the words out of my mouth. I’m constantly on the defense about loving my job. I’m glad to know I’m not alone. I always enjoy reading your posts.
Thanks again,
Cassie
andrew replied | Feb 17, 2011 (36 comments)
If you don’t care about what you do, you’re probably doing something wrong. I’ve heard this many times in many places I work that I “care too much.” Maybe I do. I care about my employment, I care about my reputation, I care about my integrity and I care about work. Everything I do is an extension of myself, and I care about what those extensions are. Work included.
Mike Harrison replied | Feb 17, 2011 (1 comment)
Simply:
What Andrew said.
That’s it.
Richard Rothstein replied | Feb 18, 2011 (1 comment)
Great post Adam. I didn’t know you made music. Your newest stuff is very good to play at work and still get work done. Great example of not doing it for the money, releasing it under creative commons. There’s even a comic book out now that you might enjoy that’s been released that way. It’s at visionmachine.net if you’re interested.
Emily from Video Avatar replied | Feb 20, 2011 (8 comments)
I love it! We all get our critics but they somehow help us be better because they whould point our our flaws or mistakes but we really need to learn to have an open mind and accept what they say because we may also benefit from them.
Jonathon replied | Mar 1, 2011 (1 comment)
I agree completley. If you cant be passionate about your work, whatever it is than what’s the point of doing it. Even when I’ve held jobs at places like Wal-Mart, I’ve always tried to take a little passion with me to work everyday.
Damian replied | Mar 30, 2011 (3 comments)
Passion is what drives me in everything that I do. I am passionate about school and work which is what keeps me going every day. I hear my friends around me saying that I care to much about school and work. Of course I try because I care about what I am doing. If I didn’t care about what I was doing then I was doing the wrong thing.