~one year ago, I had just graduated from university and I was eager to join the “real world”.

I went straight into the job search and quickly realized that I was nothing more than a job applicant with all of the experience of someone who had never had a job. Que the reality freight train.

I spent May to November submerged in my basement, asking myself “what do I want to do? What do I enjoy? Who even am I?” (Journal Entry 8/27/2021) Not exactly the easiest prompts to approach.

In retrospect, this was absolutely necessary, and knowing what I know now, the arduous process was well worth it.

Nevertheless, I could have done a few things differently and if I had a time machine, I would go back and give myself the following advice:

1. take a breath
   • Everything will be okay, trust the process
   • You’re not that important – no one feels sorry for you and you think about yourself infinitely more than anyone else does.
2. Stop playing the LinkedIn Lottery (aimlessly submitting job applications), especially if you are simply submitting to submit – this is a waste of time. Instead…
3. Focus on creating and maintaining mutually-beneficial relationships. Talk to people – anyone really. Everyone has something to offer.
4. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel – everything you are dealing with, someone has already dealt with. Again, you aren’t that special and it’s time you realize that.
5. Answer the following questions
   • Who are you?
   • What are you looking for?
   • What are your values?
   • Who do you want to be?
   • If you could be doing anything, what would it be?
6. Complete the following exercises:
   • Ten-Year Plan – Debbie Millman
   • Visualize Your Own Funeral
   • 80/20 your entire life
7. Read these books:
   • How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
   • Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
   • 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene
   • Start With Why – Simon Sinek
   • The Infinite Game – Simon Sinek
8. Take care of yourself. Using a computer for ~16 hours a day isn’t the play. Go out for a walk or something. At the bare minimum, order some blue light glasses.
9. 9) Learning MS Excel on paper/whiteboard isn’t effective. Although arguably necessary in my personal process, I would recommend against this.
10. Nerd it up. Nerd it out as much as you want, but remember that “perfection is the enemy of progress”.

a lot can happen in a year. it’s important to realize that you wished to be where you are now, at one point in the past.

keep on swimming.