Why I’m Grateful to Work on the Web

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  1. Blogging for Benjamin Competition
  2. Why I'm Grateful to Work on the Web
  3. 24 Pull Requests
  4. Update Downloadable Product's Expiration Date in WooCommere
  5. Get Lost in the Flow and Work for More Than a Salary
  6. Why A Plugin's Popularity Matters
  7. Why You Should (Or Shouldn't) Use Premium Plugins
  8. WooCommerce Terms & Conditions
  9. Only Ship to Continental United States with WooCommerce
  10. Just Talk
  11. Why I Love Jetpack
  12. Making Jetpack Better
  13. Remove Billing Address for Free Virtual Orders in WooCommerce
  14. Notify Admin of Customer Address Change in WooCommerce
  15. Open Your Self Up To New Possibilities
  16. 2013 Resolutions Review
  17. Create a Community
  18. Tips for Starting a Community
  19. The Intent of Goals
  20. Create The Ultimate Invoicing System Using WooCommerce
  21. Change From Address in Ninja Forms
  22. Work With People Who Inspire You
  23. Contact Form 7 & MailPoet Integration
  24. Monotasking
  25. Giving Back to The Community
  26. Adding Fuctionality to Lean Plugins
  27. Choose Stripe For a Payment Gateway
  28. A Dip Into Entrepreneurship
  29. Reward Yourself
  30. Blogging for Benjamin Plugin
  31. Blogging for Benjamin Wrap Up

Four days ago it was Thanksgiving here in the USA. One of the best traditions (aside from eating copious amounts of food) is to go around the table and say one thing that you're grateful for. There's actually been quite a bit of science about gratitude and how important it is to your overall happiness. One of my favorite researchers in this area is Brene Brown. She has some amazing TED Talks and this great clip about how important it is to be grateful.

She talks about how it isn't joy that makes us grateful but gratitude that brings us joy. So to be as joyful as I can be I'm going to list several things that I'm so grateful for working on the web. These aren't in any particular order just how they come up naturally in my head.

  • Working Remotely. I'm so happy that I can work remotely and spend additional time with family and friends. Somedays I work late, somedays I work early, but I'm trusted to get the job done, and so I can do it when I want.
  • Being Trusted. It's so important to be trusted in your organization. There are some days where you don't get all of the things you want done but my boss trusts me and know that I'm doing my best. He also knows that for everyday where I don't get as much done there are days where I get twice as much done.
  • Working with a talented team. I am so grateful to work with a talented team. Being able to bounce ideas back and forth with these team mates all day long is just fantastic.
  • GitHub. A couple years ago GitHub became the tool of choice for most open source projects and the incredible interface makes it so easy to submit patches. I love being able to work with a variety of tools and modify them when I need and then submit my patches to the developer so the changes get included in the next release. In fact on this very site I've submitted patches to both my theme (Highwind) and the form plugin (Ninja Forms).
  • JFDI. One of the best parts about the web is the lack of red tape if you want to do something you just do it! If you think you can make an existing idea better you improve it. If you have an idea to make something you just build it. And if you can make something with value people will use it – no need for credentials.
  • Feedback. One of the things my boss is great at is giving feedback. So far my feedback has been really great but it would still be useful if it was negative because then I have a chance to improve rather than get progressively worse. Good feedback is just one small part of…
  • Good Communication. I can't express how amazing good communication can be. I honestly believe good communication can solve any problem. On our team we use a variety of communication tools that cater to certain needs. Having a Trello board for the status of our products, p2 for company wide messages, and HipChat with a variety of rooms for different needs.

These are just a few of the things I'm grateful for. Since this is the second post of the Blogging for Benjamin competition I plan on expanding on these over the coming month.

One thought on “Why I’m Grateful to Work on the Web

  1. Being Trusted. YES. I think I value this more than working remotely.

    At my previous corporate jobs everyone was treated like a child. Filtered internet, checks to see you are ‘in your seat’ and busy work to prove you’re doing your work.

    It’s suffocating.

    I’m so glad to work in a results oriented company with talented people who trust and give a lot of grace!

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