Your Cause-Driven Work Started As A Child

What did you do as a child that influenced your direction toward the work you to today?

I liked to make and sell things from an early age, and wanted ways to contribute.

I remember programming a video game at around 13 (I made quite a few, this was one of the bad ones!), where the player would play as God. He would fly around looking for people who looked down on their luck, zap them with his cane, and they’d start jumping for joy (giving God a ‘point’). It occurred to me while testing the progress of the game that… it’s really boring to play.

“You can’t lose. You’re God.”

Other times I’d make things that people seemed to really appreciate, such as a trading card game that my friends would help pack some the evenings to sell the next day for a small commission.

All the while hoping to find a way of making things that mattered, that made a contribution. I hadn’t heard of social entrepreneurialism at the time. I wish I had!

If we’re doing work that matters – important, fulfilling work – we likely didn’t get there by accident. Which makes our work all the more important: our lives have led us to this moment, where now we can make our mark.

Do something important. Make a difference. It’s what you do.