As opposed to just do it. 

This seems to be one of the core ideas in Seth Godin's new book, The Practice, which is coming out next Tuesday, as I've heard him talk about it on a couple of podcasts in the last two weeks.

When we approach anything with a "just do it" mindset, it is about meeting an obligation. The mindset is to just get it over with. Such work never delights the audience. 

However, when we approach something with a "merely do it" mindset, as Seth puts it, it is about meeting a spec. The mindset is to do what it takes to satisfy what has been specified as a quality bar - the spec.

There is, of course, a third mindset on this spectrum, which is to "not do it". And this arises out of a fear of our inability to meet expectations, especially cases when the expectations are unreasonable. 

Seth's advice to overcome creative block, is to merely do it and not fall into the trap of choosing to not do it. 

I've never really had much trouble in avoiding the "not do it" pitfall. But I often tend towards the "just do it" end of the spectrum. 

This advice was particularly hard-hitting and a timely reminder for that reason.