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| Photo by: Peamples World |
You will encounter thousands of 'battles' in your career. Very often, they come because everyone has an opinion about how something should look, sound, or act. If you write content as part of your role, you'll end up arguing with your peers over the stupidest things. Take what I just wrote:
...how something should look, sound, or act.
Did you know that there's an energetic disagreement (to put it politely) about the comma before the word or? It's called a serial, or Oxford, comma, and I've spent more time and energy arguing over it than I ever imagined. So much for the highest expectations of an aspiring writer. Instead of becoming the next Joyce, I get to spend my days arguing over a freaking comma...
Sorry. See, there we go. What a pain.
The point is, you're going to have these discussions. They'll range from the smallest (commas...sheesh) to major features that you think should make it into a software release, brochure, or financial statement that someone else thinks is superfluous. As I'm pretty sure we all learned as kids on the playground (well, except for today's youth and their omnipresent participation trophies), you can't win all the time.
Save Yourself
If you try to win every battle, you're just going to burn out. Fast. Hard. And in epic fashion. If you want to avoid that daunting fate, ask yourself one simple question:
Is it worth it?
If you can honestly answer "yes" to that question, dig and and fight for what you believe in! But if you've got even a little bit of doubt, or just realize you don't care that much (I don't care if you want a comma there!) then do what we're simply not used to doing. Let it go. Swallow your pride, do it with class and dignity, and just let the little details slide.
You'll be happier, in the long run. You'll bleed off stress. And you'll have more energy to fight over the things that truly matter.
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