These were a long time coming. But I was putting them off, for one reason or another.
I need to make certain commitments to myself. I am not getting any younger, and as much as I would like to hope that there is something beyond this life, I have to assume that this one chance is all we get.
I write these down so that I don’t forget how lucky I am, and how unfair the world is. To be more accurate, the world is fair, but people aren’t. It’s time to not only keep on dreaming and to work on realizing those dreams, but to learn to keep dreaming bigger, better and bolder dreams.
Sayonara to Finance, Bonjour to Analytics
One of the most consistent pieces of advice I have received is to focus on one thing first. For a long while, I wondered if that one thing should be a career in corporate finance, or even a stint in investment banking.
Now I realize that it shouldn’t be. Every time I could have chosen finance after graduating, I didn’t. I only interviewed for one bank job, and was always more interested in analyst and marketing roles.
I should also mention that I have a fundamental disagreement with middlemen amassing the most wealth, but that’s how these systems work. Finance is the biggest industry in the world, followed by real estate.
Whatever the case, I am turning away from the possibility of a finance career and head towards other pastures. I don’t know how late it is for me to try a career in analytics, or even a career in tech, but I won’t know until I try. If I think about finance every time the going gets tough, then I am doing little more than digging my own grave.
What I do know for sure is that I never want to hear anyone doubt my aptitude for doing technical tasks just because I have a business degree. And I have no need to justify myself to people who don’t understand careers beyond what a doctor or a lawyer does.
Being More Materialistic about the Medium Term
The problem with an optimist is that he looks to the future and dreams of the best possibilities. The problem with a pessimist is that he looks to the past and dwells on the worst possibilities.
In the middle lies the materialist, who exists in a single slice of time and looks no further than the horizons of that time period. For better or for worse, the world belongs to him.
It’s important for me to want more money. And not just money for the sake of money. I need to want money to buy $30 burgers, $100 t-shirts, $1000 shoes, $3000 Alienware PCs, $7000 trips to Europe and a $30,000 car. And I need to want to make a bare minimum of $60,000 within the next two years.
If I don’t want that bad enough for it to influence my decisions, then I am going to lose out to those who have wanted these things from the start.
I still want to invest in my own businesses, non-profit causes and my personal growth. But these are so vague, large scale and long term that they don’t sufficiently motivate my day to day activities.
I am already working at a near 80% capacity. If I need to push that to 99%, then so be it.
Being Ready to Win at Great Costs
There’s a Will Smith quote about running on treadmills. I haven’t found a more apt analogy for perseverance and determination than that, yet.
I have to acknowledge that I don’t get to be happy and pursue meaning and success at the same time. I have to sacrifice one or two for the other.
And since I have already gotten so good at sacrificing my happiness, I am going to double down on that for the next five to ten years. And if needed, the next thirty years.
I don’t get to settle down. I don’t get to think of getting a $300,000 mortgage. I don’t get to think of spending a gazillion bucks on clothes and accessories. I don’t get to have kids and spent $233,610 on average on each child until they are 17 years of age.
I am in it to win it. And I will do it at any cost, within the confines of my ethical boundaries.
Being More Open to New Experiences
As much as I love myself, I am willing to go beyond my boundaries to experience new things.
I will learn new languages within the next five years. These include not only R and Python, but also Spanish and Latin. I want to read and learn dead languages to better understand cultures. I want to sing, and I don’t care if I end up singing horribly. I want to learn self defense and redirect my dark shadow towards a more rewarding goal.
I want to learn complex financial models, because I want to use them to create valuations for my own business ideas, and maybe help others develop their ideas, too. I want to get better at leadership and human resources management, because I want to help my team grow as both a collective and as individuals.
I will focus on a few things, but never let go of the things I love and can come back to, time and time again.
Being Ready to Move On, Constantly
I have learned to ask and answer the question, “What have you done for me lately?”
That’s the main metric of most professional relationships, and it plays an important role in non professional contexts too.
Friends and families are great. But I have to move beyond my comfort (and also discomfort) zones to explore the larger world. We can always keep in touch and maybe get together from time to time.
I may ponder over my past from time to time, but I cannot dwell on it forever. To paraphrase Zuckerberg, I have to move fast and break things.
The more I sit and think What ifs, the more I miss out on my current opportunities. That’s a bad habit that I need to replace before long.
Time to embrace the future. Carpe Diem, indeed.
