Seth Godin has spoken about the shift that’s happening in education. This is the “prove yourself” economy. Rather than spending $250,000 on a certificate, his advice has been to build a body of work to prove yourself.
There’s a (positive?) tension there between the “work you” and everything else that you’re capable of creating, that you do create.
It can come down to a question of: if I blog, who should I blog for? Should I maintain a tech-only blog that’s honed at potential employers? Should I share my thoughts on my local community and society?
In “This Is Marketing”, Seth writes from the perspective of building a business: who is it that you’re seeking to change? If we apply that question to one’s personal output, the answer quickly moves away from “blog for perspective employers”, to something richer.
The answer to what to produce becomes something to the effect of “produce content for the people you want to have a positive influence on”. Produce what you feel like you need to produce. Do it for you, and do it for others. Instead of playing a game of “pick me”, you can live the live of “this is me”.