As a CEO of a company, there is very little that I do on a daily basis that creates a tangible work product. By tangible, I mean something that I can count, something that can be easily measured, or something I can touch. When my husband asks me how my day was, I don’t tell him about the number of POs I wrote, boxes I shipped, tools I built, or sales I closed. Instead, I tell him about the conversations I had, the meetings I went to, the strategies I implemented, and the decisions I made. Both types of work are important but very different.

Writing this blog has helped me remember how incredibly rewarding it is to create something. Something that I can write, edit, read, share, and track. It has sparked creativity in me that I had forgotten was there. While I love my job and am fulfilled by what I do every day, it’s gratifying (and thought-provoking in a different way) to produce a tangible work product.

We humans take things for granted without even recognizing it, especially something like creating because we do it all day, every day. Some of us (like me) get so caught up in the unsolid-ness of our work that we forget what it’s like to produce concrete, physical work.  Or the opposite, we forget that we are even creating. We get bored with the repetitiousness of what we do and lose sight of the value of producing touchable, shippable work each day.

Creating is what humans are meant to do. And creating something that others can see, touch, smell, hear, taste, share, and experience is worthwhile of our time. While I am inventive, resourceful, and imaginative in my work every day, I am grateful to have been reminded of the power of creating a tangible piece of work.

I hope this is a good reminder to you, too.

Like this article? Check out my blog on going the extra mile.

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