--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The job is not the work." description: "\"The job is not the work.\" — Seth Godin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/seth-godin-152_conformist_the-job-is-not-the-work-2161454_2161454.png" --- # The job is not the work. ![“The job is not the work.” quote by Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/seth-godin-152_conformist_the-job-is-not-the-work-2161454_2161454.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/seth-godin-152_conformist_the-job-is-not-the-work-2161454_2161454.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/seth-godin-152_conformist_the-job-is-not-the-work-2161454_2161454.png) > “The job is not the work.” [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Work is a tool, not identity; the job does not define the person. **In simple terms:** Job ≠ identity. Key Takeaway Define yourself beyond work. Themes identity work purpose Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - career change - entrepreneurship - personal growth Key Concepts self‑concept career fulfillment Questions to Reflect On - What defines you beyond your job? - How can you balance work and identity? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on purpose can ignore economic realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [“The job is what you do when you are told what to do. The job is showing up at the factory, following instructions, meeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-job-is-what-you-do-when-you-are-told-what-to-do-the-job-is/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The job is not your work; what you do with your heart and soul is the work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-job-is-not-your-work-what-you-do-with-your-heart-and-soul-is-the/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Your art is the act of taking personal responsibility, challenging the status quo, and changing people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/your-art-is-the-act-of-taking-personal-responsibility-challenging-the/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Someone can always do your job a little better or faster or cheaper than you can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/someone-can-always-do-your-job-a-little-better-or-faster-or-cheaper/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“did not want to “just have some office job and work nine to five like everyone else.” Ian was on a sneaky search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-jay/did-not-want-to-just-have-some-office-job-and-work-nine-to-five-like/) [Meg Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-jay/) > [There are times I wish I didn't have a job, even though I love my job: I get to work with interesting, eccentric colleagues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/there-are-times-i-wish-i-didn-t-have-a-job-even-though-i-love-my-job/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [My dream job was to work in an ice cream shop. Two weeks and five pounds later, I realized it wasn't for me. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/safra-a-catz/my-dream-job-was-to-work-in-an-ice-cream-shop-two-weeks-and-five/) [Safra A. Catz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/safra-a-catz/) > [That's my job: work hard, win, and inspire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-burroughs/that-s-my-job-work-hard-win-and-inspire/) [Jordan Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-burroughs/) > [There was a Gallup poll that said something like 70 percent of people in the United States do not enjoy their job - they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-diamandis/there-was-a-gallup-poll-that-said-something-like-70-percent-of-people/) [Peter Diamandis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-diamandis/) > [People are most shocked and most in disbelief that I go to the office every day. I have a job. When I'm not acting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-kutcher/people-are-most-shocked-and-most-in-disbelief-that-i-go-to-the-office/) [Ashton Kutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashton-kutcher/) > [“Even though your time on the job is temporary, if you do a good enough job, your work there will last forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idowu-koyenikan/even-though-your-time-on-the-job-is-temporary-if-you-do-a-good-enough/) [Idowu Koyenikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idowu-koyenikan/) > [I try to show up and do my job and get my work in every day, keep pressing forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerrit-cole/i-try-to-show-up-and-do-my-job-and-get-my-work-in-every-day-keep/) [Gerrit Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerrit-cole/) > [One becomes more interested in a job of work after the first impulse to drop it has been overcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/one-becomes-more-interested-in-a-job-of-work-after-the-first-impulse/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [You only have to start a job of work to realize how few decent, honest folk there are about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/you-only-have-to-start-a-job-of-work-to-realize-how-few-decent-honest/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [My job is to do the work, and how many people watch it, the reception that it gets, and all of that is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfonso-ribeiro/my-job-is-to-do-the-work-and-how-many-people-watch-it-the-reception/) [Alfonso Ribeiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfonso-ribeiro/) ## More by Seth Godin > [“You weren't born to be a cog in the giant industrial machine. You were trained to become a cog. There's an alternative available to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/you-weren-t-born-to-be-a-cog-in-the-giant-industrial-machine-you-were/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Forgive yourself for not being the richest, the thinnest, the tallest, the one with the best hair. Forgive yourself for not being the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/forgive-yourself-for-not-being-the-richest-the-thinnest-the-tallest/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The easier it is to quantify, the less it's worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-easier-it-is-to-quantify-the-less-it-s-worth/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential; otherwise you're just a middleman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/developing-expertise-or-assets-that-are-not-easily-copied-is/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Leadership is a choice. It's the choice not to do nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/leadership-is-a-choice-it-s-the-choice-not-to-do-nothing/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The next thing you do today will be the most important thing on your agenda, because, after all, you're doing it next. Well, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-next-thing-you-do-today-will-be-the-most-important-thing-on-your/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I look at Starbucks, Howard Schultz has made many brilliant decisions, and one of the things that they did was they invented the third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/i-look-at-starbucks-howard-schultz-has-made-many-brilliant-decisions/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Be relentlessly generous, without focusing on when it will come back to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/be-relentlessly-generous-without-focusing-on-when-it-will-come-back/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The public square is more public than ever, but minds are rarely changed in 140 character bursts and by selfies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-public-square-is-more-public-than-ever-but-minds-are-rarely/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Making an average pitch to average people, or having an average gala for average people isn't going to scale anymore. You've got to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/making-an-average-pitch-to-average-people-or-having-an-average-gala/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Our job is to make change. Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/our-job-is-to-make-change-our-job-is-to-connect-to-people-to-interact/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“Life is actually far better than it is in the movies. And it takes longer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/life-is-actually-far-better-than-it-is-in-the-movies-and-it-takes/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I don't think there's a shortage of remarkable ideas. I think your business has plenty of great opportunities to do great things. Nope, what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-shortage-of-remarkable-ideas-i-think-your/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The mirror we hold up to the person next to us is one of the most important pictures she will ever see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-mirror-we-hold-up-to-the-person-next-to-us-is-one-of-the-most/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [If you're a marketer who doesn't know how to invent, design, influence, adapt, and ultimately discard products, then you're no longer a marketer. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/if-you-re-a-marketer-who-doesn-t-know-how-to-invent-design-influence/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) [Explore all 1,110 Seth Godin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) ## More Conformist quotes > [Today it is the skeptics who are the social conformists, though because of powerful intellectual propaganda they continue to enjoy thinking of themselves as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/today-it-is-the-skeptics-who-are-the-social-conformists-though/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society . . . but for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/education-for-most-people-means-trying-to-lead-the-child-to-resemble/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [While my dad is a rebel at heart, I am a conformist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivaan-shah/while-my-dad-is-a-rebel-at-heart-i-am-a-conformist/) Vivaan Shah > [Our legal system, including the police, is anti-Dalit and anti-poor. The death penalty laws' wrathful majesty, in blood-shot equality, deals the fatal blow on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-r-krishna-iyer/our-legal-system-including-the-police-is-anti-dalit-and-anti-poor-the/) V. R. Krishna Iyer > [Only conformists are ever adored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-breillat/only-conformists-are-ever-adored/) [Catherine Breillat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-breillat/) > [The American people...have a stake in non-conformity. For they know that the American genius is non-conformist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-steele-commager/the-american-people-have-a-stake-in-non-conformity-for-they-know-that/) [Henry Steele Commager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-steele-commager/) > [The first step in freeing yourself from social restrictions is the realization that there is no such thing as a safe code of conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-browne/the-first-step-in-freeing-yourself-from-social-restrictions-is-the/) [Harry Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-browne/) > [I think it killed my sister as the times she was living in were so conformist. This is a subject I really want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-goldin/i-think-it-killed-my-sister-as-the-times-she-was-living-in-were-so/) [Nan Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-goldin/) > [Not long ago, a hat was a conformist accessory. Then the 1960s came along, and young people didn't want to wear hats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-treacy/not-long-ago-a-hat-was-a-conformist-accessory-then-the-1960s-came/) [Philip Treacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-treacy/) > [It's the non-conformist who gives color to history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-fuldheim/it-s-the-non-conformist-who-gives-color-to-history/) [Dorothy Fuldheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-fuldheim/) > [“Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the narrow-minded conformist sticks-in-the-mud who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-about-never-surrendering-to/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [Woe to him inside a non-conformist clique who does not conform to non-conformity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/woe-to-him-inside-a-non-conformist-clique-who-does-not-conform-to-non/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Schools are generally feminine places, institutions where conformity is valued, taught largely by conformist women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-m-bardwick/schools-are-generally-feminine-places-institutions-where-conformity/) [Judith M Bardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-m-bardwick/) > [The courage to be as oneself within the atmosphere of Enlightenment is the courage to affirm oneself as a bridge from a lower to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/the-courage-to-be-as-oneself-within-the-atmosphere-of-enlightenment/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [ \[F\]or the most part football these days is the opium of the people, not to speak of their crack cocaine. Its icon is the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/f-or-the-most-part-football-these-days-is-the-opium-of-the-people-not/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) Browse all 143 Conformist quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The job is not the work.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seth Godin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-job-is-not-the-work/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conformist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-job-is-not-the-work/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/seth-godin-152_conformist_the-job-is-not-the-work-2161454_2161454.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/seth-godin-152_conformist_the-job-is-not-the-work-2161454_2161454.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/seth-godin-152_conformist_the-job-is-not-the-work-2161454_2161454.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The job is not the work.” — Seth Godin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Seth Godin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The job is not the work.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-job-is-not-the-work/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-job-is-not-the-work/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```