Seems like I am always learning something new based on my life experiences.  In order to document these revelations, I thought it would be an interesting idea to identify, capture and share the one thing I thought most interesting.

The insight came this week while watching episode #185 of the Ask Gary Vee Show featuring Seth Godin, as I ate lunch.

During this episode Gary and Seth begin debating the value of social media as it relates to work or social media activity as being considered work itself.  Seth make the argument that social media has become a distraction or something people use as an excuse for work, when all it is really doing is serving as an outlet for activity that allows us to feel like we are doing something meaningful instead of doing the harder tasks that are our best work.  Seth goes on to say that the real goal of our professional lives is to create a body of work that builds attention and trust.  By occupying ourselves with busy outlets, it serves as a distraction from our best work that could be considered that body of work our lives were aimed to create.

An insight that Gary points out, which I would consider as insight 1a for this post is how acutely aware Seth is of what that critical best work is for him.

I found these distractions to be an incredible insight because I am bombarded with things that are important, but sometimes not my best work.  I am too guilty of looking for things that need to be done and jumping into them instead of getting my best work done first or focusing on those items that would truly represent the best, body of work I am destined to leave behind.  I can make an impact on the world when working in accord with my strengths and gifts as opposed to just doing work.  My downfall here really roots in my desire to work hard.  In order to maximize my output, I relish the busyness by attacking tasks, thinking I can create value by sheer volume.  The measurement should be in the impact, not simply the output.

I am still filtering down ever finer what fits into this body of work or mission, so I’m not there yet, but always making progress.