In 2003, my mother passed away, when I was just 18. On July 28 of this year, my father passed away. I am currently unmarried, and an only child. These circumstances present a very unique experience with grief, as I no longer have immediate family. The past month has been a mixed bag. The memorial service was actually really neat, and I left with a deep sense of pride that this incredible human being loved by so many was my father. That feeling was along the same lines as when he told me that when he was recognized with a standing ovation at the holiday dinner after he retired. I cried because I was so proud of him. His memorial service was no different, and it gave me exactly what I needed to get back to work the following Monday, just as he would want me to do: "Do good work."

My dad didn't think this would make a good image, but he pulled the car over anyway. When I showed him the final image he was impressed.

DO GOOD WORK
One thing my dad always said to end our morning phone call was simple: do good work. It was unpolished, unpretentious, and not at all profound, but it always meant a lot. I always saw it as an encouragement and a reminder that being an entrepreneur and a creative requires doing the work. It was a reminder of the daily hustle that is the fruit of passion and builds success. When you're focused on doing, you have very little energy for time wasters such as one-upping those in your community and trying to prove yourself to them. The doing produces focus and humility. Creative professionals and entrepreneurs do.

My dad's simple wisdom also addressed integrity: do good work. It's okay to make shit. We all do it. Every creative does it. That's why the creative life is not for the faint of heart, posers or those with inflated egos. We also make good work, and this is what we strive for. In working with clients, my dad encouraged me to have integrity. Do good work, regardless of how you are treated, regardless of your mood, or how difficult the client is being, deliver your best work. You do the best work you are capable of, and you practice your craft with diligence and integrity.

Finally, my dad told me to do good work. We have to acknowledge that this is legitimate, valid work. Recently I have had a few conversations where people have dismissed what I do as invalid. Some have refused to acknowledge my work as a valid job. Others have called it a hobby and it's been assumed that because I work for myself, I have all the time in the world. These conversations have proved discouraging, but it brought me back to how my dad saw what I do. Even in his last weeks of life, he was encouraging me to keep my company. Keep working at it. He saw what I do as work. Not only does his wisdom affirm my job as valid work, it reminds me to keep at it even when people think its just make-believe (tell that to the IRS), think I have a ton of free time, or think that it's not a real job. It's hard work, its a hustle, and it's a worthy pursuit.

There is so much about my work that is less than pleasant. Managing my money, tracking expenses, estimating taxes, planning my weeks, there's lots of stuff that I don't really like doing. That's true for every entrepreneur. Sometimes doing the work sucks and it actually feels like work. "Do good work" reminds me to do the hard tasks when I least want to do them. It forms character and saves me tons of stress later on. "Do Good Work" is in the fuel my company runs on. It's the "how" of everything I do, and in that way, my dad will always be a part of what I do.