No One Does Their Best Work When Exhausted, Scared, or Alone

Great work has a direct correlation with saving time. Great work saves time for everybody. It's challenging to define what "great work" looks like, but like porn, you'll know it when you see it.

A generalized expectation for anyone doing any type of work is to do their best. When we hire someone, we expect their best work, and when we get a client, they also expect our best work. It's a baseline: no matter how your product or service is priced, the expectation is to deliver your best work.

Machine work is the most reliable form of work we can employ. With a machine, you can expect consistent output. Human work is the opposite—you're constantly at risk of inconsistent results. People, by definition, are not machines, and most of what we do is some form of art.

Machine or human, we all expect consistency and great results.

No one does their best work when exhausted, scared, or alone. We thrive when we sleep well, feel confident, and are part of a team. Our well-being is directly reflected in the work we do. It's necessary to pay attention to it and make sure we're doing something about it.

Humans can't compete with machine work—that's where most AI job displacement is happening. We can compete at human work: doing our best, creating work we're proud of, things we're happy to tell other people about so they can get inspired too.

Exhausted? Spend time away from the Internet, give yourself a break, and learn which activities recharge you.

Scared? Build confidence through small wins, trust the process—everything is going to be all right.

Alone? Hang out with other people and stop pretending to be anything you're not. Just be yourself and be kind.

Belong somewhere. That's the secret to doing great work. 

It doesn't mean it's easy, but that's the point. Doing hard things gives us purpose and a sense of accomplishment.