There have been many times during this year at work, when I found myself sweating it out to make sure something that we are doing and releasing to the world is up to a certain degree of quality, and someone or the other would see all of this and then make a comment along the lines of, “Why are you stressing yourself out so much on this? Nobody cares!“

This kind of critique -if one can call it that- has always been a puzzling one for me to unpack. First, because, well, why wouldn’t anyone care- doesn’t the quality of work matter? And, second, how can one not care when it’s their name attached to something that may well be seen as sub-standard, or just plain shoddy? Those of you who are enthusiasts of what you do, you’d get what I am going for here- you’d know if something isn’t the best shape of the work you could put out, and you can be certain that you will not be satisfied if you were to cut corners.

Now, I agree that it’s both unfair and impractical to set extremely high benchmarks on everything that comes our way in our lines of work. But on the other hand, I fear for a world where there are no standards to aspire to, and in which doing the bare minimum is considered to be enough. The answer to this conundrum lies in, of course, finding a balance between the two extremes.

Yes, perfection may well be the enemy of progress, but that isn’t an excuse to not strive for excellence in whatever you set out to do. There’s a definite value to doing something right, and the best way you possibly can. And no, there’s nothing wrong in caring about how you do things that really matter to you- in fact, I’d go as far to say that the sheer amount of effort you put in because you care makes you the absolutely right person for the job, as opposed to anyone else.

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Having said all this, a key thing to remember here is to not let yourself be paralyzed by the yardsticks you measure yourself with. And the only way to do that is to be clear, at the very outset, about the things you want to put your energy toward.

As we get started on a new year, and with it, the resolutions and goals we want to work toward in this period, I’d suggest making the effort to be clear about the work that drives you, and then go on to put in all the work that you feel is necessary to make it happen.

And if someone tells you that nobody would care about the effort you’re making, then know that’s absolutely not true- you care, and that alone is worth working hard for.

Good luck, and happy new year.

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