My Career Advice For Anyone Feeling Stuck In Life

Summary

The 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

00:00

🔄 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.

05:02

📊 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.

Keywords

💡Wasted 20s

The term 'Wasted 20s' refers to the period in a person's life when they feel they have not made the best use of their time, often due to lack of guidance or poor choices. In the video, the speaker reflects on their early 20s, where they did not receive positive influences and made career choices that did not lead to personal or professional growth.

💡Passion

Passion is a strong emotional connection or enthusiasm for a subject or activity. It's a key component in the video's theme of finding one's calling. The speaker mentions passion as something that can drive a person but also cautions that passion alone might not lead to a successful career unless combined with proficiency and profitability.

💡Proficiency

Proficiency is the state of being highly skilled or competent in a particular area. In the context of the video, it's one of the three key items that determine a person's calling. The speaker's wife noticed his proficiency in computers, which eventually led him to a career in software development.

💡Profitability

Profitability refers to the ability to generate income or profit. The video emphasizes that a career should not only be something one is passionate about and proficient in but also profitable to ensure financial stability and success. The speaker uses the example of nursing to illustrate a career that meets all three criteria.

💡Career

A career is a professional occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress. The video discusses the importance of choosing a career that aligns with one's passion, proficiency, and the potential for profitability.

💡Skill Set

A skill set refers to the collection of abilities and knowledge that a person possesses. The speaker regrets not developing a specialized skill set early in his career, which left him without a clear path forward when faced with job loss.

💡Laid Off

To be 'laid off' means to be dismissed from a job, often due to company downsizing or restructuring. The speaker describes being laid off as a wake-up call to the lack of a specialized skill set and the need to find a more secure career path.

💡Software Development

Software development is the process of creating computer programs and applications. It becomes the speaker's career after realizing his passion and proficiency in computers, illustrating a field where all three criteria—passion, proficiency, and profitability—are met.

💡Mindset

Mindset refers to a set of attitudes and beliefs that influence how a person perceives and interacts with the world. The video mentions a diagram that changed the speaker's mindset about his career direction, highlighting the importance of mindset in personal and professional development.

💡Newsletter

A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication that provides updates or insights on a particular topic. The speaker mentions launching a weekly newsletter to keep subscribers informed about programming, tech news, and job market updates, showing an additional way to stay engaged with one's field of interest.

💡Calling

A calling is a strong desire or inclination towards a particular kind of work or career. The video's main theme revolves around finding one's calling by intersecting passion, proficiency, and profitability, as it is believed to lead to a fulfilling and successful career.

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

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