Work as an extension of yourself

I never met Leonardo da Vinci or Galileo. They lived thousands of miles from me, and hundreds of years before me. Yet, I am aware of both of these men and their names. They are globally famous and will be remembered forever because of the work they did. This is the power of the work we do: to extend beyond our immediate self and influence the world around us.

Granted, most of us will not achieve the impact of da Vinci and Galileo, but we still each impact others in subtle yet important ways through our work.

Think back to the high school teacher who got you interested in their subject; The musicians or artists you discovered as a teenager whose tastes and style you still try to emulate today; The brands and logos you’ve pinned to your own identity; The men and women who build and maintain the software and other products you love to use.

Each of these people, by doing their work well, had a positive impact on your life and the lives of others. You likely never met them, or knew them in a particularly close way, but you know them by the work they have done.

This is what it means for one’s work to extend oneself: the work we do becomes a way for us to connect with and to be known by other humans. By creating and doing, we make others aware of who we are. We influence them through our own self-expression, nudging them closer to us, making ourselves more familiar to them even across gaps of geography, language, and time.

Our work becomes an extension of ourselves, and a bridge to others.

This is true, even in the most mundane of settings.

In my work, I frequently come across open-source tools that have been made for me to use by others. Their names and faces are familiar to me, even if I don’t work with them directly. I feel a certain sense of community with these people, many of whom I will never be in the same room as.

Reflecting on this phenomenon, I admit that I want my work to extend beyond me as it does for others. I want my work to positively impact others in some way; I want my contributions to matter, and to be recognised as the person who produced this work.

Doing so gives me a sense of meaning and of purpose. A place among other people, and the feeling that I’m spending my time on something that matters. Knowing that someone else has reacted positively to the work that I have done gives me an immense sense of pride, and is the main reason I do what I do.

I want to be known for doing good work.