What does it take to change a life?
What does it take to change a life?
It's pretty simple actually.
Hello friend, Juan here.
This time I bring you a topic that was sparked from recent convos I’ve had with some friends.
So, without further ado, let’s just get into it.
Main quest 🛡
I was talking with 2 friends on Telegram and the convo touched on the topic of work, careers, and the like.
Both of them said how “lucky” I am. Being independent, not shackled to a traditional 9-5, and able to control my time.
It always makes me chuckle when I hear something like it.
Me lucky? 😆 ahaha far from it.
I’ve had to work for this.
Many moons ago, I was a shy, afraid little kid who would second guess every action.
Who would never match the expectations of his father.
And… who would be tasked to call somewhere and ask for something in particular. But would be scared shitless of doing it and would hope and pray that the person on the other side never picked up the phone just to have a valid excuse.
Yes. I was that person.
The one who had to work as a “do-it-all” on his parents’ store while off from school.
The one who had to take seasonal jobs on retail stores or call centers to earn some money because college tuition was soooo goddamned expensive.
The one who had to study part time and work the other half to make ends meets.
(And who’s engineering degree took 8 years instead of the regular 4 due to taking half-semesters.)
Seeing all your peers graduate, get a full time job, and start getting their own stuff while you get older and don’t have anything to your name is not precisely my definition of “lucky”.
Most of what I have now and have achieved over the past 5 years is the result of being determined, intentional, and putting a good amount of effort/hustle/hard work.
And if you break it down to its absolute basics, what would be the elements that contributed to that change?
I would say there are 2 “crucial” pieces that made it possible:
Skills.
Mindset.
So if you want to see it in a visual way, it’ll be like this:
Both of them are useful on their own. But if you really want to experience lasting change, you’ll have to combine them
It’s like having a cool, high-end sports car with cheap gasoline.
I got my first job back in 2014 because I learned English much better than my peers (and it was mostly by myself. English lessons at school were laughably easy).
I then got a high-paying developer job in 2018 thanks to technologies I learned on my own from online resources.
But it’s not just about me, I’ve seen this pattern repeated over and over again.
Whether with people I’ve mentored or with others I haven’t gotten in contact.
I’ve seen people that developed valuable skills for the market and got jobs or built their own startups but didn’t have a proper mindset. Then, they couldn’t handle the pressure or the demands and got burned out. They quit, they moved to something else, they convinced themselves it was “not for them”.
I’ve also met others who had a proper mindset, who knew how to manage their inner turmoil but who didn’t learn new skills or tried something new. They just sticked to what they know and are good at. They’re now living quite average lives just getting by.
Mix the two and now you have a powerful combo.
Developing the skills to advance your career or business and developing the growth mindset necessary to keep you going when it gets tough.
It also work wonders to take control of your future.
How many people got laid off or had to close shop due to the pandemic?
How many of those have bounced back years later?
How many people who get laid from a job see it as a disaster vs an opportunity?
And how many of them go on the internet to learn skills like digital marketing, dropshipping, remote sales, or copywriting.
But it’s not only about learning them, it’s about practicing constantly, making mistakes, learning from those, providing value to others, doing effective networking, and so on.
Taking accountability for one’s results (or lack thereof) and keep improving every day is not a surefire way to reach success. It’s not a “magic pill”. But it greatly improves our chances to end up in a much better place.
And later down the road, others will look at us and talk about how “lucky” we are. 😉
Experiments 🧪
This week I gave it a better go at the experiment I told you about in the previous edition. That is, turning my exercise habit from something I do twice a week with high intensity; to something I can do every day spread throughout the day. This is to get back into the exercising groove.
What I’ve done so far is using proper form for work activities (like carrying stuff, using farm tools, or applying force).
There’s been days which are more hectic than others so I’m learning how to balance the activity to not go overboard.
Also, dealing with sudden changes of weather has been something I’ve had to adapt on the fly. Still early to see results or make any assessments but I’m liking how it’s going so far.
To consider 🤔
Can you identify a point in life when you had a significant improvement? What were your mindset and skills before and after that change?
That’s it for now.
We’re getting dangerously close to the end of the month.
Let’s make the most out of what’s left.
Have a great start of the week and talk soon.
Cheers,
Juan.