Ten years ago, with my graduate degree finally in hand, I left my teaching job and headed out into the big, bad world.
My new job title became?the ridiculous-sounding “web technologist,” but that was just a fancy way of saying “the web guy.”
I designed webpages, coded in JavaScript, and updated?our online training manuals. I was the youngest member on the team, and I shared a windowless office next to a bathroom.
As time went on, I began moving up the ranks.
Management began to lean on me more. My responsibilities increased. I still had to share an office, but at least it had a window.
About a year ago, I became management.
Though I’m still (somehow) the youngest member of the team, I’m now the person in charge. I have way more responsibilities, and I enjoy?a private office with a window.
And yet…
I still update?those online training manuals.
I never let go of that assignment. In the past, I held on because it was job security. “If I’m the only one who knows how to do this, they can never get rid of me!”
Today, I keep doing it because it ensures I never lose touch.
It forces me to dig deep into the nooks and crannies of the projects my team is delivering to our customer. It forces me to look at what we do at the micro (not macro) level.?It forces me to get my hands dirty.
But more than that, I keep doing it because it reminds me of where I started.
I’m still that “web guy.” I just have better-sounding title now.
Stay in the Weeds
When we start out as bloggers, we’re one-person teams.
We do all the writing. We do all the social-media promotion. We answer all the comments (assuming we receive any). We answer all the emails (again, assuming we receive any).
However, there may come a day when that’s no longer the case.
Your blog, if all goes as planned, will grow in popularity. You’ll become one of those influential people we all look up to and applaud. And, if your blog becomes your business and you begin earning real money, your one-person team could become teams of two, three, four, and more.
When that happens, you’ll be tempted to delegate all those menial tasks you used to handle.
Don’t do it. Keep at least one task for yourself.
Be like Seth Godin, who still finds time to read and respond to every email he receives. Be like Michael Hyatt, Jon Acuff, and Jeff Goins, who all actively manage their Twitter accounts and engage with tens of thousands of followers. Be like Neil Patel, who still responds to every single comment he receives.
Do enjoy the fruits of your labor. Kick up your feet and admire the view from your nice, private office.
But whatever your proverbial “online training manual” may be, hold on tight to it.
Try as hard as you can (for as long as you can) to keep it yours.
Creative Commons Images via creative_stock and paldies.
