Why I love my job and do what I do... (keys to success)

There's a lot of reasons why someone loves their job. It could be the company they work for and what it represents, or merely the opportunity to work from home. It could also be the people they work with, or the challenges they are presented with. For others, it could be the money. For me, it boils down to one thing: helping others.

When I wake up every morning I usually take my dog on a walk for a couple hours. I do this because it allows me to think about they day, create my action plan, etc. Most importantly, it allows me to think about one thing: What awesome stories, cool things can I share, and actions I can take today, to help someone else thrive in their job? You see, I love my job, because I am able to do what I love doing: helping others.

"I literally wake up every day thinking, what can I do that will help someone, what can I share?"

This all started for me back in 2016 when I went from finding out I might die before I see 50, to loosing over 80 pounds and turning my life around. I had a moment where I realized, "If I die today, how will I be remembered? What will my legacy be?" I made a promise to myself, that I want to be remembered as someone who helped others. Someone who's goal was to empower people. Really, I decided I want to help IT professionals become rockstars. I want to help business leaders change their company. I want to make a difference using technology.

"I want to make a difference using technology, I want to change the world"

Learning about new technologies and the business outcomes they bring is really what drives me. The more I learn, the more I brainstorm and think about how can this be used to help a business transform, how can it help employees to do their best work? Waking up every day I almost go nuts, because there's *so much* I want to share with the world, how do I share it? I figured I needed to do something bold. Something different. Well, I had an "ah-hah" moment and a few years ago: I started a blog. (https://aka.ms/MattsBlog)

Starting a blog gave me purpose, it gave me a sounding board, it gave me a vehicle to share my stories and my ideas. Most importantly it allowed me to take the technology I was learning about, translate it into something that makes sense and give insights as to how it could be used to achieve real outcomes. My blogging turned into a life's purpose. My job became blogging, thinking of scenarios and stories to write about. Thinking about that question I was asked in the meeting, or the customer I was talking to, and how can I write a blog about it? Because if they have that question, others must do as well.

Fast forward and my blog has over 1.2 million views and ranks in the top 20 of all TechNet/MSDN blogs at Microsoft

After writing my first few blog posts, I hooked up analytics and started looking at how my blog was being used. I was blown away. Average page view was ~3,000 per day, viewed from over 100 countries in dozens of different languages. What impressed me the most, each post on average was shared ~20 times across LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Then it hit me. I'm making a difference I'm impacting someone's life. The comments on the blog were flying in left and right "Thank you Matt, this is so helpful!" and "I had no idea this was possible, I'm going to go try this right now".

"I'm expanding my scope of influence - and that feels GREAT!"

During this process of blogging, my public speaking career really started to take off, speaking at various Microsoft and industry conferences, being invited to speak to user groups, and even working the Microsoft booths at trade shows. I never in a million years would have thought to have that opportunity. It amazes me how many people walk up to me at a conference because they have seen my photo and read my blog and thank me for what I'm doing.

I remember vividly when a fellow IT Professional approached me and told me a story about how he spent almost 24 hours awake and in stress trying to fix a problem - and how my blog helped to resolve the issue. He then went on to say how he received an award from his management for the work he did to resolve this problem. He said if it weren't for me and my blog, none of that would have happened. Now that is impact.

So why do I love my job?

I love my job, because I am empowered to help every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. In other words, by helping others to thrive in their job and enabling others to make a difference in this world - that's why I love my job. I'm making a difference, I'm leaving behind a legacy, and I'm changing lives.

What are the keys to success? Well, it depends on who you ask. For me, it's really these three simple rules:

1. Your number one priority is your health. Without it, how can you be successful in your personal and work life? (This includes a healthy diet, enough exercise, and a good night's sleep)
2. Keep an open mind, be willing to change/adapt. Remember, you work in technology, the world is constantly changing. Learn from it.
3. Contribute to the success of others. Help others reach their potential. Turns out, this means more to an employer than your own personal performance.

Everyone who is reading this, has something to share, a story to tell. Imagine if we all helped each other, what a different world this would be. Technology is AMAZING and I've seen first hand how it can turn a business around. How will you share your experiences and insights with someone? You never know the impact you may have by sharing!

--Matt Soseman