Commitment

Interest in something can be measured with just two factors: time and effort. And no, money is not a factor. It is just a tool that gives you time or reduces effort. Relax, I will put examples to explain it better.

If you want to speak a new language, you will dedicate your spare time and you will put effort to learn it. If you hire a private teacher (money), in theory you will learn better (less effort) and faster (less time). On the other hand, if you only watch YouTube videos or use an app (less money), no one will explain the grammar in detail and you will have to be more disciplined (more effort). As you can see, money only modifies time and effort.

If you want to keep a friendship, you will find a way to talk with that person: having a coffee, video calls, whatever (time). And when you catch up, you will make that time valuable by actively listening to the other person (effort). Because you are interested in it. And not pretending that you are interested but thinking at the same time what you can cook for dinner. And make no mistake, if you don’t respond to a WhatsApp message or you don’t call someone, the reason is not "Sorry, I didn’t see your message" or "I don’t have time." You never miss the messages from your mother or partner and you do have time for Instagram or Netflix.

Well, this theory is the basis of my commitment. Our time and effort are limited resources so we must choose wisely how to invest them. I only get involved in projects that I believe what they believe I share its values and its mission. Only when I have this connection, I’m sure that I will dedicate all my time and effort possible.

I guess that this idea of understanding commitment and applying it to my way of working comes from having worked with some external agencies, freelancers and even colleagues who, to sum up, put little time and effort in you.

They neither care to listen to you nor care if you need something, but they do care about their ego. They always sell themselves, talking about how good they are and the last thing they've done. In the case of agencies, their unique objective is to make you buy their "standard pack" that they apply to all their clients in the same way. They will not ask you about your global goals or worry about whether you meet them. They will only contact you for sending an invoice at the end of the month. And the worst: they use words that you will not understand (65% of them are smoke and mirrors) and they present you with reports (more smoke and mirrors) to justify the hours and work that are on the bill. But I can tell you that it is not as much of time and effort as they say. It’s impossible.

Whenever I can, I try to get as far away from these people as possible. And, thanks to my commitment, I am also very far from them in their way of understanding work. Detect them and, if possible, run away.

My other values: | Empathy | Curiosity | Simplicity | Flexibility | Persistency