Oh God! I also wish I realized this during the good times.
A few years back I went viral (positively) in my country, even generated dozens of news article profile about me. A lot of my friends were suggesting me to create contents to capitalize on the momentum. And during the high-growth years that followed I also rarely shared anything publicly.
I thought it was silly and superficial to have a lot of followers. Little did I know that years later it can be a good business and a nice starting point to start one :")
Beautifully written piece Louie. I would say comparison is always not bad. It's very useful especially with a heads down kind of guy like me. It's actually helped me move up in my career. I really didn't care too much about going up the ladder. What really motivated me was:
- I would not get interesting stuff to work on
- Non-tech managers would decide how the work should be done.
- I would not be able to decide what go work on.
It's only when the green eyed monster gets involved that comparison are bad.
Another incredible newsletter, Louie. Delivering the goods week after week. Love the storytelling. Something we can all learn from. That Taleb essay is a big eye opener. Why I left corporate as well (no employees in history books).
I like to think of the things that I could have done - but haven't - as something that led me to where I am now. It's impossible to predict if we would be talking here if you had diversified differently.
But I don't think about any of this, I do the opposite. I'm so caught up in the future and the next move that I often forget about the present and appreciate how far we've come. Luckily I have a wonderful wife who reminds me when I do this too often.
Maybe it's time for me to diversify too - with my years of experience, I feel I could go after many jobs out there. Maybe it's time for me to go from two employees to three in my agency, yet here I am writing all these words on Substack, Medium, and Twitter. Maybe I just love having choices.
Great writing Louie. What I saw in myself and colleagues in Corporation land: walk the wide path, an element of learned helplessness, fear, lack of a "treat myself as my business" attitude and a failure to build up credit outside of the walls of the employers city. As you noted, the consequence is a standing start when you eventually leave the city (or get evicted as many have discovered).
The newly freed company man becomes an Internet business tourist and bets the farm on a startup. Whereas the side-hustler becomes a portfolio pro and milks the cows (small bets...).
Oh God! I also wish I realized this during the good times.
A few years back I went viral (positively) in my country, even generated dozens of news article profile about me. A lot of my friends were suggesting me to create contents to capitalize on the momentum. And during the high-growth years that followed I also rarely shared anything publicly.
I thought it was silly and superficial to have a lot of followers. Little did I know that years later it can be a good business and a nice starting point to start one :")
Beautifully written piece Louie. I would say comparison is always not bad. It's very useful especially with a heads down kind of guy like me. It's actually helped me move up in my career. I really didn't care too much about going up the ladder. What really motivated me was:
- I would not get interesting stuff to work on
- Non-tech managers would decide how the work should be done.
- I would not be able to decide what go work on.
It's only when the green eyed monster gets involved that comparison are bad.
Another incredible newsletter, Louie. Delivering the goods week after week. Love the storytelling. Something we can all learn from. That Taleb essay is a big eye opener. Why I left corporate as well (no employees in history books).
I like to think of the things that I could have done - but haven't - as something that led me to where I am now. It's impossible to predict if we would be talking here if you had diversified differently.
But I don't think about any of this, I do the opposite. I'm so caught up in the future and the next move that I often forget about the present and appreciate how far we've come. Luckily I have a wonderful wife who reminds me when I do this too often.
Maybe it's time for me to diversify too - with my years of experience, I feel I could go after many jobs out there. Maybe it's time for me to go from two employees to three in my agency, yet here I am writing all these words on Substack, Medium, and Twitter. Maybe I just love having choices.
This is an interesting take on external vs internal career equity. How you're perceived internally and externally gives you leverage.
https://marketingbs.substack.com/p/external-vs-internal-career-equity
Great writing Louie. What I saw in myself and colleagues in Corporation land: walk the wide path, an element of learned helplessness, fear, lack of a "treat myself as my business" attitude and a failure to build up credit outside of the walls of the employers city. As you noted, the consequence is a standing start when you eventually leave the city (or get evicted as many have discovered).
The newly freed company man becomes an Internet business tourist and bets the farm on a startup. Whereas the side-hustler becomes a portfolio pro and milks the cows (small bets...).