The great comicbook writer Chuck Dixon recently dropped a magnificent quote.<\/p>\n
It was about the difference between amateurs and professionals.<\/p>\n
And that difference is:<\/p>\n
“Amateurs do on accident, pros do on purpose.”<\/p>\n
A very good distinction. It also dovetails with something I talk about at time inside Email Players – about the difference between a mere \u201ccontent creator\u201d and a Craftsman:<\/p>\n
Content creators are a dime a dozen.<\/p>\n
And the ones using AI are even cheaper.<\/p>\n
But in both cases they create content as a means to an end. They may enjoy it, maybe. But everything they teach, talk about, create content about goes wide, and never deep. A Craftsman, on the other hand, has an undeniable \u2014 can\u2019t be faked \u2014 \u201cmad scientist\u201d-like obsession with what they do\/teach. They\u2019re so irrational about excellence it almost makes people nervous to be around them.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re easy to spot these days since they\u2019re so rare.<\/p>\n
Takes Steve Jobs.<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t a computer guy, a software guy, or a tech guy.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t even know how to code.<\/p>\n
(Which even Bill Gates mocked him for).<\/p>\n
But he was a Craftsman, learned from his dad, who was a world class cabinet maker. Jobs was a notorious azzhole & narcissist. But I\u2019d argue that was from being a Craftsman. He demanded such perfection \u201cgood enough\u201d wasn\u2019t even in his vocabulary. And while you\u2019ll exhaust and sabotage yourself if you aren\u2019t careful with this attitude (it helps to have a billion dollar budget & millions of customers, so blowing deadlines ain\u2019t the end of the world like it is for those on a shoe string, for example \u2014 and probably even adds to the demand as people value what they wait for more than what comes fast\u2026) it\u2019s still the attitude to have with content creation.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re writing, every word drips with depth.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re making videos, every shift of body language has intensity.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re doing audio, every inflection oozes passion.<\/p>\n
Not on purpose, or as an act\u2026 but because you\u2019re naturally so intense about your topic. That\u2019s how you know you\u2019re a Craftsman and not a mere content creator. The fact so many content creators need to motivate themselves, have \u201caccountability partners\u201d, need Facebook groups, seek constant validation from peers\u2026 shows how few content creators are truly Craftsmen at what they do\/teach\/create.<\/p>\n
This is a small part of a much longer conversation.<\/p>\n
And something I sometimes talk about in Email Players.<\/p>\n
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