Career advice that does not SUCK
6 things that I have learned as someone who has been making 6 figures since my early twenties.
I recently wrote about the myth that you can pick better men.
1. Play the right games.
Human beings love playing games. However, it is very easy to start playing the wrong game. This image illustrates the earning outcomes for different sports
Even some of the highest-paid tennis players might not make nearly as much as a mediocre football player. The same thing happens in other careers. Play a game (choose a career) with the earning potential that you want for yourself.
Also, do not play a game where you do not want to win. If you are considering becoming a software engineer, try to shadow a staff engineer and see if you want their lifestyle. If you are considering medicine, try to shadow a doctor. If you do not like the lifestyle of the winners in the game, STOP PLAYING IT.
2. Do not overthink yourself out of success.
So many women use rationality to talk themselves out of opportunities. Sometimes it is necessary to do the illogical thing, simply because your heart feels drawn to do so.
Do not let rationality rob you of the adventure of your life.
Move in the direction that makes your heart sing. If that path is for you, trust that you will figure it out.
3. Have epic meetings.
If you have a meeting coming up, do the following:
DO THE RECON WORK. Come prepared with questions to ask. Most people do not do this.
Have your ears out for high-impact work and see how you can get assigned/involved in those projects.
Have meetings with people who could advance your cause: professors, mentors, and coworkers, and see how you can be useful to them.
If it is a personal meeting, send a thank you note and brief summary of the meeting after it is over to the other persons.
What would you like to see in next week’s essay? I got one of the recommendations from a member of your community:
Please vote!
4. Networking is dead.
Yup, networking for the sake of networking is not a very good approach.
Instead, build awesome shit and tell people about it! That is far better for the following reasons:
It allows you to meet other productive people, and build a stronger relationships with them when you work on a project together.
It serves as proof of work and shows people that you can take initiative.
If you put it out on the internet, you never know who will see that project.
5. Take asymmetric risk.
Write that blog post.
Write that tweet.
Invest a little in that startup that you believe in.
Apply for that internship opportunity.
An asymmetric opportunity is a low-risk opportunist that does not require too much from you but can lead to outsized returns. There are lots of asymmetric opportunities around you. P.S.: If you want a full essay on this, comment below.
6. Find high-impact work.
If you think that something is broken in your company, do not automatically assume that there is a reason why it is that way. It could simply be that no one has gotten the chance to solve that problem.
To find high-impact work, find tasks that either make more money for your company, save money for your company or empower employees to be more productive. These tasks are inherently valuable and set you up for success.
On "high impact work," a good way to identify your company's priorities is to read through a recent earnings call transcript or read through the job descriptions of high level jobs in your department. Then figure out how what you're working on can best address these needs.
If you knew someone was going out of their way to make you more money, wouldn't you try to help them?
a full post on asymmetric risk please :)