Not Nineteen Forever
My name is James Saeed and I recently turned 20 years old. When Bill Gates was 20, he co-founded what would become the world’s largest software company. When Steve Jobs was 20, he was merely a year away from co-founding what would become the first company valued at $1tn.
I mention these men not because I’m about to co-found a game-changing, record-breaking company as they did. Quite the opposite actually. I mention these men to point out just how incredible their passion and dedication actually was. The kind of passion and dedication that I have idolised all my life. It’s the very reason I’ve invested myself in the field of technology for so long, and what has led up to my very first week of being 20 years old. Fittingly, my birthday started on a Monday to kick things off.
On Wednesday, I visited Microsoft’s UK HQ in Reading and the next day, I visited Amazon’s UK HQ in central London. I wish I could share photos, but I wasn’t even supposed to take them in the first place! These experiences were strange in the fact that I felt like I was opening the next chapter in my life by taking the first steps into my career. But at the same time, it also felt like dipping into the dreams I had when I was younger, by walking through these buildings I never thought I’d be in.
As much as I’d like to talk about what I saw and heard during these trips, I’d rather talk about the impact they had on me: motivation. Seeing the enthusiasm and love those employees have for their jobs at such highly valued companies in this wonderful industry that is technology, just made me crave it that much more. I’ve always been a very motivated person when it came to achieving success in the technology industry, but this was different, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
That brings us to the last day of this week, Sunday. This evening, the prototype build of the ‘Your Happy Life’ app will begin to roll out to our trial participants. This is a project that my partners and I have been heavily invested in for the past few months. Whilst I can’t reveal much about it, it’s one that I hope has an impact on the world, big or small. It’s what the employees at Microsoft and Amazon that I spoke to seemed to value the most. Having that impact on the world, big or small. And after hearing it from their mouths, and seeing it in their eyes, I’ve never been more excited about this trial.
To learn more about ‘Your Happy Life’: An Introduction to Your Happy Life
