My Career Advice For Anyone Feeling Stuck In Life
Summary
TLDRThe speaker reflects on their 20s, realizing the importance of choosing friends and career paths wisely. Initially stuck in unspecialized jobs, they were left with no skillset when laid off. With their wife's encouragement, they discovered a passion and proficiency for computers, leading to a career in software development. They emphasize finding the intersection of passion, proficiency, and profitability as key to a fulfilling career, and share a diagram by Michael Hyatt that helped them find their calling, encouraging others to consider these factors in their own life and career choices.
Takeaways
- 🔍 Choosing friends wisely in your 20s is crucial for positive influence and guidance.
- 🍴 Working in non-specialized jobs, like restaurant work or data entry, can leave you without a skill set for future career shifts.
- 💼 Long-term employment in replaceable jobs can be problematic if you get laid off without specialized skills.
- 💡 The importance of listening to positive advice and recognizing personal strengths, as the author's wife suggested pursuing computer skills.
- 📖 Self-improvement through learning new skills, such as coding and software development, can lead to career advancement.
- 📊 The three key components to determining a fulfilling career are passion, proficiency, and profitability.
- 🚀 Aligning passion, skills, and market demand is essential for career satisfaction and financial stability.
- 🎓 Avoiding college degrees in fields with limited job markets can prevent future financial strain.
- 🌐 The internet offers endless opportunities for career growth and leveraging skills, as highlighted in the changing job landscape.
- 📝 Regularly evaluating personal strengths, passions, and market demand can guide career choices and ensure long-term success.
Q & A
What was the main regret expressed by the speaker about their 20s?
-The speaker regrets wasting their 20s due to a lack of positive or beneficial influences and unwise choices in friends.
What type of jobs did the speaker hold in their early career?
-The speaker worked in a restaurant, had a part-time radio gig, and later took a data entry role at LabCorp.
Why does the speaker believe having a specialized skill set is important?
-A specialized skill set is important because it provides job security and makes it easier to transition to new roles if laid off.
How did the speaker eventually transition into a career in software development?
-Encouraged by their wife, the speaker started reading, studying, and learning to write code, which led to a career in software development.
What diagram did the speaker find that changed their mindset about their career?
-The speaker came across a diagram in a blog post by Michael Hyatt that helped determine their calling by focusing on passion, proficiency, and profitability.
What are the three key components of the diagram that the speaker mentions?
-The three key components are passion, proficiency, and profitability.
Why is it important to have all three components (passion, proficiency, profitability) in a career?
-Having all three ensures you enjoy your job, are good at it, and can make a living from it. Missing any one component can lead to dissatisfaction, poverty, or job instability.
How does the speaker suggest someone determine what they are good at?
-The speaker suggests asking people around you for their observations and making a list of things you're good at based on this feedback.
What advice does the speaker give about pursuing hobbies or interests as careers?
-The speaker advises ensuring that hobbies or interests are also profitable if they are to be pursued as careers, to avoid financial instability.
How can the diagram mentioned by the speaker be applied to other areas of life?
-The diagram can help make decisions in various areas, such as choosing college degrees or determining what content to create, by focusing on the intersection of passion, proficiency, and demand.
Outlines
🔄 Reflecting on a Wasted Decade
In this paragraph, the speaker reflects on their unproductive twenties, blaming a lack of positive influences and wise choices in friends. They describe a series of unfulfilling jobs, from working in a restaurant and part-time radio gig to a data entry role and a medical transcription department. This unspecialized career path left them vulnerable to layoffs, with no specific skill set to fall back on. Their wife encouraged them to pursue computer training, recognizing their natural affinity for technology. Despite this advice, the speaker remained influenced by unambitious colleagues until they eventually started self-learning coding and software development, which led to a pivotal career change.
📊 The Life-Changing Diagram
This paragraph introduces a diagram that significantly changed the speaker's mindset about their career. They emphasize the importance of this resource for young people uncertain about their future. The diagram, originally from a blog post by Michael Hyatt, helps individuals determine their calling by focusing on three components: passion, proficiency, and profitability. The speaker highlights the need for all three elements to avoid hating one’s job, being broke, or facing constant job insecurity. They also mention their new weekly newsletter for those interested in tech news and insights.
💡 Finding Your Career Sweet Spot
Here, the speaker delves deeper into the three key elements of the diagram: passion, proficiency, and profitability. They explain that passion alone doesn't pay, proficiency alone doesn't ensure satisfaction, and profitability alone doesn't guarantee happiness. The speaker illustrates the importance of balancing these elements using examples like an auto mechanic who is skilled but unhappy, and their own journey into software development. They conclude by stressing that finding the intersection of these three components leads to a fulfilling and sustainable career.
🔍 Assessing Your Strengths and Interests
In this paragraph, the speaker advises listeners on how to assess their strengths and interests to find a suitable career. They suggest making lists of what you're good at and what you love doing, then crossing off the non-profitable options. Using their own experience with computers as an example, the speaker demonstrates how identifying a profitable and enjoyable skill can lead to a successful career. They also address negative feedback about the notion of endless opportunities, reaffirming that the internet offers boundless potential for career growth. The speaker encourages viewers to use the diagram to avoid debt and choose practical college degrees, offering additional examples for different life decisions.
🚀 Applying the Diagram to Various Life Choices
This final paragraph highlights the versatility of the diagram, explaining how it can be adapted to different scenarios, such as deciding what videos to create for YouTube. The speaker stresses the importance of finding a balance between personal interests, audience demand, and existing content. They encourage viewers to assess their current position using the diagram, inviting them to share what's holding them back in the comments. The speaker closes by asking for likes, subscriptions, and mentions upcoming videos.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Wasted 20s
💡Passion
💡Proficiency
💡Profitability
💡Career
💡Skill Set
💡Laid Off
💡Software Development
💡Mindset
💡Newsletter
💡Calling
Highlights
The importance of choosing friends wisely in shaping one's early 20s.
The speaker's transition from working in a restaurant and part-time radio to a data entry role at lap Corp.
The realization of lacking a skill set after being laid off from a non-specialized job.
The wife's suggestion to pursue computer or programming training based on the speaker's skills and interests.
The transformative impact of a diagram on the speaker's mindset about career direction.
The launch of the speaker's weekly newsletter covering programming, tech news, and job market insights.
The three key components necessary for determining one's calling: passion, proficiency, and profitability.
The potential downside of pursuing a passion that doesn't lead to a profitable career.
The challenge of succeeding in a field where one lacks proficiency, despite having passion.
The necessity of a profitable career for long-term stability and satisfaction.
The idea that passion can develop later, with the priority being on a profitable and in-demand industry.
The speaker's personal journey from being laid off to becoming a software developer.
The role of the worldwide web in providing boundless opportunities for career growth in 2024 and beyond.
The application of the diagram to avoid unnecessary college debt by aligning passion, proficiency, and market demand.
The adaptability of the diagram to guide decision-making in various life aspects, such as content creation.
The speaker's encouragement for viewers to reflect on their current situation and consider the three key components of their career.
Transcripts
looking back I totally wasted my 20s I
had no one in my early 20s speaking
anything positive or beneficial to me
when they say to choose your friends
wisely they're not lying I worked in a
restaurant for a few years alongside a
part-time radio gig then I got married
and I stepped up into a data entry rle
at lap Corp entering data via a number
pad no there were no letters it was just
a square number pad and there was a
stack of drug tests and I just flipped
through it and punch in the numbers for
8 hours then I went on to working in a
medical transcription department for the
next 10 years now the problem with this
approach to life is that if you're ever
faced with the unfortunate circumstances
of being laid off you will realize that
you were left void of any skill set to
move forward with you don't have any
particular place to go after that if
you're in a job that's not specialized
and really anyone can do it and you stay
there for too long and you move up the
ladder when your days are over there you
have nowhere to go you have no specific
skill set or experience to shift into
something later I didn't go to school
for anything particular I worked jobs
that could be replaced easily and when
they announced that they were laying off
our entire department except my boss and
I then I knew my days were numbered now
in all this my wife was my biggest asset
she kept telling me hey you're fixing
everyone's computers in the office you
spend a lot of time on computers at home
why don't you do some training in
computers or programming and she said
this multiple times over those years but
I worked around very unambitious people
8 hours a day and just thought it was
impossible looking back she was right
all along but that's another story so in
those latter years in that job I started
reading I started started studying I
learned to write code and I got into
software development in the whole story
all of the details are found in this
video so I won't repeat that here but be
sure to go watch that if you're
interested but the turning point for me
in coming to the realization that I can
move forward with work in computers is
largely based on a diagram that I came
across a diagram that radically changed
my mindset on what I should be doing
with my life and when I talk to anyone
in a similar situation especially people
in their early 20s who have no clue what
to do with their lives what their
calling is how to make money how to
build a career that's in demand I now
Point them to this resource and I
initially came across it in a blog post
Years Ago by Michael hayatt and I don't
think this blog post exists anymore but
the diagram does and you may have seen
this before but I'm not sure you've
really investigated all of the questions
that this diagram answers so let me
explain it to you so there are three key
items here that help you determine your
calling and all three components have to
be here if not you'll either hate your
job you'll be broke or you'll forever be
in and out of work one of those three
and before I explain this I do want to
mention the launch of my weekly
newsletter that kicked off last week if
you're looking for a summary of the
latest programming and Tech news AI
updates or insights into the latest tech
job markets or you just want to be an
informed developer be sure to give it a
subscribe I think you'll love it link
below so there's three key items here
listen closely first there's passion
everyone has something they're
passionate about computers business
finances building things debating caring
for people whatever it is every person
has activities that fire them up it's
what excites them it's what makes them
tick the problem though is that passion
alone doesn't pay if I'm passionate
about collecting baseball cards that's
great but it probably won't put me in
any successful career in addition if you
aren't passionate about something over
time you'll begin to hate what you do
sure it may pay good and sure you might
be good at it but if you hate what you
do every day what good is the job second
is proficiency what are you good at as
my wife kept telling me I was good at
all things computers I was also
passionate about it but both of these
are not always the case many people are
good at things that they hate doing when
you're good at something people always
come to you and if you hate doing it
you'll be like ah not again there's an
auto mechanic in my area that's really
good at what he does but he complains
non-stop every time you go in there it's
just negativity and Dread but on the
other hand if you're passionate about
something but not at all good at it you
won't succeed either and then finally
and it's all going to come together here
there's profitability is the career a
profitable career if you have that
passion for collecting baseball cards
and you're proficient and you know all
the ins and outs of all the years and
Brands but you can't make money doing it
then it's not a good Pursuit and this is
actually called a hobby so if you have a
passion say serving people and helping
people get well and you're proficient at
it say you went to nursing school and
you passed with flying colors then you
need to check if it's profitable and
nursing pays good because they're always
in demand check all three are there but
if any one of these three things are
lacking then probably it isn't a wise
and good calling that fits you longterm
sure you may work jobs here and there
over the years and that's fine passion
can come later over the importance of a
paycheck and let me be clear being a
hard worker a person who is productive
and honest and all that goes a long way
many of us work jobs we hate for a while
to pay the bills that's a good thing
passion is an end goal and can come
later but you eventually want to reach
this intersection where you have passion
for what you do you're good at what you
do and it's a profitable industry it's
in demand if you have the passion for
something and you're good at it but it's
not a profitable career or sector to get
into you'll be poor if you have the
passion for something and it pays good
but you suck at it you'll be fired and
poor and if you're good at something it
pays well but you hate what you do every
single day of your life then you'll just
be a miserable person so where are you
at today think about these three things
first what are you good at ask people
often it's glaringly obvious to everyone
but you so ask people and then put a
list together of some things that you're
good at second what do you love doing
what excites you when you get to work on
it what topics excite you maybe it's
something that you haven't done in a
long time but always have had in the
back of your mind again make a list of a
few of these things finally take these
two lists and cross off the things that
aren't profitable for me I loved
computers I was good at computers and
actually this goes way back to high
school and it took me forever to realize
it and then finally the role of software
developer is a profitable career it pays
good so here I am in my vocational
calling can this change sure I mean here
I am talking to you on YouTube in fact
given the leverage that the worldwide
web gives you in 2024 and Beyond there
are boundless opportunities out there
crazy I actually had a comment recently
taking offense to me saying that there
are endless opportunities people like
this they're going nowhere and they want
to see everyone else fail as well such
as the nature of negative people and
this sort of diagram can help you in
many walks of life let me give you two
examples first think about college
degrees let's say you love theater
you're good at it and you go to college
for it to then get out with a ton of
debt and no market for that sort of
thing that's just a hobby or take
graphic design or fashion design art
photography tourism degrees you may love
these hobbies and interests and are wise
and knowledgeable about them but there's
no market so just following this chart
can save you tons of money in college
debt alone and here's a second example
this diagram actually can be altered to
help you figure out many other things in
life I saw this one just the other day
same kind of chart on how to determine
what video to create so you have what
you want to create what your viewers
want and then what others are creating
find that middle ground there and create
those videos but back to this original
diagram where are you at in this chart
have you found the calling that covers
all three of these areas yet if so full
steam ahead if not let me know down in
the comments what's stopping you I
always love reading them if you found
this video helpful give it a thumbs up
if you haven't subscribed to the channel
consider doing so and I'll see you in
the next video
[Music]
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