How to know what to do?
6 easy steps to help you figure out what you love doing...
Trust me, this is very important for you to know what work to do. You can make a shitload of money and still be miserable, anxious, and stressed most of the time. That’s not the best way to live your life. The goal isn’t to be rich in whatever way it is possible, but in a way that’s fun and exciting to you.
In this piece, I’ll be focusing on 6 points to help you understand yourself and choose a career that’s best for you.
1. Try a lot of things. Try fast.
When you go to a store to buy new shoes, you just don’t enter the store and select one, you would first ask the store crew to show you what all products they got, and then your eyes would fancy something, and then you’d try different sizes and scream when you find the perfect fit and then you’d see how it looks on you and then you would walk few steps in it to make sure if it’s comfortable. And if it’s not, you’d drop it and move to something else. Or you’d change your choice of the store if you don’t like their collection.
Whereas with careers, during college placement interviews they tell you, “Well, the only option available for you is Data Engineer” and a person who had been waiting for this moment for 3 or 4 years to “Get placed” will say “I’d take it” No trying, no changing the store, not making sure if it fits in your leg, you bought what they sold to you.
And at that moment, the person made one of the most important decisions of their life in a snap of a finger. You’d literally take more time to select a dress or what to order from the menu.
Speaking of my career, from the beginning of my life my parents were hell-bent on studying as hard as I can, getting into a prestigious college, getting a well-paid job, and working hard to get promotions till the day I die. They didn’t say that but it was implied.
And at that moment, during my early teens, I knew that that was all I was gonna do. Because I didn’t know what else to do. And I did what they said for a while till I went to college, I attended classes for the sake of attendance and whatnot, then I realized that this is a complete waste of my time and energy, so I decided that I am gonna try a lot of stuff during this time.
I tried to write, code (That didn’t work out) design, learned photo and video editing, tried learning an instrument, did voiceovers, participated in activities that fascinated me, and read like an obsessive reader. Those 3 years were the foundation of what I do for a living today, not all of them but some of them.
(Finding: What I love doing + What I am good at) is the result of (Trying a lot of things - (things that I didn’t enjoy much) + 2 (What I loved doing))
I began as a writer, started ghostwriting for people, got into fitness, started writing about fitness. Combined with my skill set — More emphasis on this in (4 points).
In short, I started working as a freelancer with just my skills, my phone, and an internet connection.
When you try around 5–10 things, you’d absolutely find 2 things that you’d do more than the other 8. It was writing and editing for me. It could be anything for you.
But then some might argue that the thing that they love doing doesn’t make money. I am sure someone’s out there making money from the thing that you love doing and it’s more than you can imagine because they are the best at it.
2. Don’t enter a space with a lot of competition.
When you work on the internet, the competition isn’t just your neighbors or Sharma Ji ka ladka, (Sometimes Sharma Ji ka ladka never comes into the equation) it’s the whole world. You’re competing with the world, while the world is also your best friend and your audience (People who will help you get rich, without actually helping you)
If you want to start Youtube today, you’d be easily in competition with 100k+ people. Definitely more than that. With the same goal as you.
And you know when you enter a shoe store, you won’t pick up something that everyone else is wearing. You would choose something that’s unique, something that only you have. And even if someone has it, it should be after you have it. That way you won’t be like everyone else. You’d be different.
That’s somewhere when you try not to copy everyone, but when it comes to careers, we do what everyone else is doing.
If you can’t differentiate yourself, you’re gonna lose. The best thing to do is to avoid competition and do something that nobody else is doing or very few people are doing. So that you can actually get noticed.
But then how do you escape competition? Specific Knowledge.
If you’re into a domain that already has competition, strive to be the best at what you do. Not best, the best.
3. Be okay with making mistakes
You’ll lose clients. You’ll lose money. You’ll lose people. Do not be afraid of trying just because you know that you are going to suck at something.
When you make a mistake, you realize what’s wrong, you learn from it. you realize what won’t work, you realize what can work.
In school, you’d be punished and you’d lose marks for making a mistake. But when you make a mistake in real life you know something that maybe nobody else knows: If I do x, I’ll have to face y. So you tell people not to do x and you can actually get paid for it.
4. Merge two industries together
When you combine things you’re not supposed to combine, people get interested. — Naval
25–30 Years back no one could’ve imagined that you could merge two industries and develop new skills and jobs. Currently, you can literally merge any two industries, or get good at two things that are a little different from each other and make a completely different domain.
Fitness — Write about it, make videos about it, with code — make a fitness app.
Tech—Start a tech channel, make videos about it, code, and build.
Jokes — Make memes, combine them with anything.
Figure out what skills you can combine and make a unique skill and then rule it. Be the best at it. See if it’s an untapped market. Check if it’s where the money is flowing. Check if it’s somewhere you can grow exponentially in 3–4 years.
5. Be obsessed.
See the above tweet, that’s what obsession is.
Mr. Beast is obsessed with Youtube, that’s all he does. I can bet he even breathes and shits Youtube. He reads everything about it. He knows everything about it. If you want to beat him, wait; you can’t. Because he’s the best. He’s obsessed.
If you can’t be that focused and obsessed like that, you won’t be even in the range.
Be obsessed with what you do, if you’re not obsessed with what you do, you will burn out after some time, and someone who is more obsessed than you will crush you.
Try to be in the top 5% of the industry you’re working in. Everyone else is indirectly there to steal the opportunities, customers, and clients from you.
The world is becoming skill-oriented or synthesis of multiple skills. If you’re not good at what you do, there’s definitely someone out there who is already ahead of you and is already working harder than you, putting in more hours in their skill than you. You’d be easy to replace. It’s the hard truth.
Just put your finger on a skill, lock yourself in a room, don’t do anything else. Be obsessive about being the best at it so that nobody can even come close to doing it as good as you.
If you come and tell me that I like to sing and play different instruments but that doesn't make money so instead I took the placement that I got. And while everyone else will tell you how amazing your decision was. I’ll ask you to leave your job and be obsessed with singing. Singing an hour every 3 days isn't an obsession. Dedicating your time and energy to it is.
Go to Google and search for your favorite singer and see how much money they make, it’s more than what you make right now.
Don’t be average. Don’t be mediocre. Don’t be like most people.
6. Build a brand or personality
If you don’t build a brand or a personality, people won’t remember you or have a recall of you. Your brand and your personality will help you differentiate yourself from the crowd.
You should be on the top of their head and the tip of their tongue.
Your name should be enough to tell people about what you do and who you are, that’s personal branding.
Take risks with your name, people will trust you for that. And when people trust you, they will buy everything that you want to sell. You can sell anything using your name and brand value.
When someone likes you as a person, that is, when you have a personal brand and a relationship strong enough, they will invest in you with their emotionally driven decisions. When people invest in you emotionally, they are more likely to stay with you and back you all the way.
EndNote: No matter what career you choose, if you follow these 6 steps, which are the pillars of your citadel. Victory is assured.
Thanks for reading, bye!
A definitive reading
Definitely a happy read !