“What is a requirement for success is that you, as a founder, give a damn about everything — even something as seemingly insignificant as a mascot. Remember, no one else will care about your website (your mom excluded) unless you do. That means that it’s up to you to think long and hard about the kind of brand you’re trying to create. The amount of “damns” your founders give will set the standard the rest of your company is going to follow, and that affects everything from product design to customer service to the copy on the website to, yes, whether or not you have a cute mascot. And so it’s really, really important to get this right and to get it right from the start.”
I give a damn. About the decisions I make. About the people I hire. About the clients I work with. About the lifestyle I’m able to create.
I give a damn about what I do – not necessarily each email I answer or task I complete – but how they contribute to the big picture: My big, hairy, audacious life and career goals.
I give a damn about the happiness of others. My wife. My family. My staff. My clients.
And maybe most importantly…I give a damn about myself – knowing full well that it can never an option to stop caring about myself. Taking time for myself. Listening to myself. Learning from my actions. They’re all critically important if you ever plan to “do epic shit”.
In the semantics of the quote I opened with above (taken from this great post on 99U) – the point is that, when starting a company – you must care. You must give a damn. Because if you don’t, no one else will.
The same can be true for anything – literally anything – you want to do. You must genuinely give a damn.
When you stop giving a damn – it’s a tell-tale sign that you should probably be doing something else.
But when you do give a damn. When you do care. When you are willing to give something your all. Nothing, nothing, will stand in your way.