The Importance Of Getting Your Hands Dirty

Yesterday I greeted a new crop of graduate students. One of their assignments for the semester is to start a blog. I've learned to expect the reaction to this to range from enthusiasm to fear to 'what has this got to do with digital marketing'.

My explanation is that creating a blog to call their own is experiential learning. It's a way to understand the myriad and ever changing assortment of digital marketing tools available and to know first hand the challenge of creating new content on a consistent basis.

It's about getting your hands dirty. 

I'm a big believer in rolling up your sleeves and letting the dirt get under your nails. It makes us better at what we do if we understand it from the ground up. 

Yet too many of us run around preaching from a place we've never been. We run businesses we don't understand. We claim to know places we've never visited. We think letting our hands get all messy and soiled is something reserved for children - not for adults.

Getting your hands dirty is something very few of us are willing to do anymore. Digging in sounds too pedestrian. We literally fill our pockets with anti-bacterial lotions in fear that some unknown dirt particle will infiltrate our system and mar the pristine environment we keep ourselves housed in.


My Nana used to say a little bit of dirt never hurt anyone. In fact it can make you wiser, stronger and more resilient. My Nana was a wise woman.





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