I'm about to tell you what nobody will when you are new to the employment system

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself, whatever has to be done, it's always your choice."

Wayne Dyer

Be happy, you are at your new job, the first one in your entire life, you are fresh out of college. Be happy for yourself because right now you are a successful person. You are a lucky one, you studied a career that has a lot of demand. Companies fight each other in order to hire people very talented like you. You are a product of what society wants you to be.

So there you are, working hard 9 to 5 in order to get your salary. You already understood the system, there are "performance evaluations" that will determine if you get a raise or not. Your performance is not measured by your work, is measured comparatively by the works of others against yours. So you are not accountable for your results, the results of "others " determine if your work is valuable or not.

You see that everybody is normal, happy, have families, and spent their valuable and limited time on earth making money for other people. You see that, and think yourself: "It's weird, how they can be happy making money for other people, I understand, they need the salary, and they obtain the salary by giving away their precious lifetime, but that shouldn't make you happy, even less proud of how you obtain it ."

So now is the time when you start to feel a little bit miserable... It does not make sense that you spend your limited and precious time on earth working to make millions of dollars to other people...
Another rule comes into play at your job. Now it's expected that you will work "overtime" in order to accomplish that "important deadline" and that is REALLY IMPORTANT because your boss has just said it so... So you think: "important???, there are people dying of starvation, moms with cancer, children fighting at wars... And my boss says that this deadline to make millions for people that don't even know me it's important???? " This is the breaking point, you know that you have just been tricked to fall in the rat race.

Right now you don't feel ok, in the mornings, you don't want to go to work. This gets worse, some days you will be working and suddenly your tears will come out, you are not feeling well but you don't know why. You are spending your time on earth doing something unfulfilling. You don't like your reality and you realize that you have just spent a lot of years in becoming something you don't want to be.

You spend a lot of time studying a career that you thought was a good option, and it was. You were able to find a job with ease, and with a decent salary, but you are not happy. You don't even understand how your coworkers are happy. The worst is... You feel trapped, you have debts, you need your salary to pay the monthly quote of your brand new car. You don't have options, your job has become your life.

If you feel identified with this situation I completely understand you, but I'm sorry to tell you that the most probable thing is that you are depressed. What you have read was basically my story when I was a recent graduate. This article cannot go any longer, what I can tell you is that it is time to make a change. This society puts material possessions above happiness. Studies show that is far better for a person to invest in experiences, that it is in material things, so don't hold into that brand new car to liberate yourself.

Finally, If you see depression as a bad thing, change your mindset and see it as an incredible motivator for change. In my case, depression is the way of my body to tell me that I should change something.

Hope that this little article provided something to your life.

Regards.

Preparing for the worst case scenario makes you drop the best case scenario oportunities

“Doing something unimportant well does not make it important. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.” 

Timothy Ferriss, The 4 Hour Workweek

People are obsessed with buying a house, it seems to be the main goal of their lives, being able to own a house, it doesn't matter that they will pay it for 40 years, they want to own a house.

Here comes my question: why?, when I ask this to several people I almost always get the same answer: in case that I lose my job, nobody will be able to take this away from me (the house), so I never will be left on the street. They are preparing themselves for the worst-case scenario, not having a job, not being able to pay the bills, being left on the street, but they will own their house.

Studies have been made, we spend 90% of our lives worrying for things that WILL NEVER HAPPEN, and this worst-case scenario is one of those things. If you think about it, people that are obsessed with acquiring a house are putting themselves in a bad position by acquiring debt for the following 30 - 40 years, during this period of time if the worst-case scenario happens, for sure the bank will take away the most fulfilling goal of their lives... owning a house.

Let's think about preparing for the worst-case scenario a little deeper and you will come to the realization that it is ridiculous to think this way. Ok, here comes the example, let's prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Situation: currently you are looking to change job, and the hiring manager contacts you in order to schedule an interview. Your mindset is to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario and these are your thoughts: "Maybe I will go to the interview, and I will not give the best impression for any reason, so I will not get the job, also the interviewer will remember me and he will tell bad things about me, or maybe, he will know my next interviewer in the next company that I will apply and he will tell bad things, so I will never get the job. The best option here is not going to the interview".

If you analyze that mindset is ridiculous to be thinking and preparing yourself for the worst-case scenario because the odds are that it will never happen. You could die tonight while sleeping, you will never know, so the best thing you can do is aim for the best-case scenario. So let's aim for this.

The best-case scenario is the one that makes free to travel, to take risks, to spend time with the people that you love, to learn the skills that you like. I know, I make it sound easy and you know it isn't. I advise you to take baby steps, the first one is: get rid of your debt and avoid it at all costs. I know you have heard that debt is the only way of "owning", but do you really call paying something for 30-40 years "owning"??? I see this mindset every day with my colleagues, they are brainwashed into what society expects from us. Don't fall in that game, nobody really cares what is happening with your life. Instead of getting debt, focus on how you can get the things you want without needing a loan. Debt is one of the main causes of suicide, so I'm not talking bullshit here, a very bad financial desition could easily destroy your life.

Sorry,  I got distracted. Aim for achievable and trackable goals, focus on the good things that will happen 90% of the time and you will get better results to live the life you want. Aim for that new job position in another country that you like, start that side business that you have been putting off. You are the one that has the control to have a fulfilling life, don't waste it.

That's it for today.

Regards.

Who gets the dividends of your work?

"Win small, win early, and always learn."

One of my ex-managers at #ntel Corporation

Don't get confused, I'm not using the above quote as an inspirational one, for me, it is a generic, senseless phrase that can be used for any kind of task, especially those soul-crushing tasks that you are asked to do in your everyday job.

Check this example of how this "inspirational phrase" is used to motivate helpless workers, but it has a complete empty meaning

• I'm winning small, I'm winning early, I'm always learning. I work as an executor in a concentration camp.
• I'm winning small, I'm winning early, I'm always learning. I work as a process engineer in a weapons factory, whose weapons are used to kill people.
• I'm winning small, I'm winning early, I'm always learning. I work as an astronaut.

You get the point, that phrase can be used for anything. Here comes my second point: if you describe your work by the tasks you perform, instead of explaining who gets the dividends of your work, you are making the same mistake, because you are giving an empty, generic and senseless description of your activity.

Here comes another example: the typical average guy talks about the tasks he does at work without putting the care of who gets the dividends of his work. Let's say that he is a financial manager and he is responsible for the financial health of the company by controlling the money balances of all operations:

• I'm a financial manager, I'm responsible for the financial health of the company by controlling the money balances of all operations. The company is Al Qaeda.
• I'm a financial manager, I'm responsible for the financial health of the company by controlling the money balances of all operations. The company is a Human Traffic organization.
• I'm a financial manager, I'm responsible for the financial health of the company by controlling the money balances of all operations. The company is NASA.

As you see, describing the task you perform at work is a generic way of you feeling important, but trust me, you are not, the same task can be applied for a terrorist organization or the NASA. Both organizations are very different and the ones that get the dividends of your work are also very different, it seems that is important to identify who do you work for.

So a very different way to describe your work is by telling who is getting the dividends of your hard work and sweat (by dividends I mean benefit or money). So basically your work can be divided into the following categories.

• You are an entrepreneur: by every single minute that you work, the person that is going to obtain the dividends of your work is you, so you are working for yourself and for your direct benefit.
• You are a teacher or work in a non-profit organization: every single minute that you work, you are giving and helping some else's life. 
• You work in a private company (especially transnational): every minute, every single unpaid extra hour, every unpaid weekend that you worked to deliver that project on time, the ones that are getting the dividends of your work are stockholders that you don't even know, and you are making them millionaires. They don't know you or care about you, and they will not know if you get fired. Whoa, you must feel amazing.

So, the next time that you are about to describe your work, don't tell the tasks you do, tell who gets the benefit. Instead of telling I'm a financial manager, I'm responsible for the financial health of the company by controlling the money balances of all operations, tell: Hi, I'm Jon Doe and I work in order to make incredibly rich people that don't even know me.  They won't notice if I got fired nor they care. I'm very fulfilled by dedicating my life to make these persons rich.

Ok, you don't like that description about your work, you feel that is pathetic and makes feel unworthy. Well, you cannot always like the truth, but you can change it by moving your career to a fulfilling activity or start your own business. In my personal case, I got tired of making stockholders rich by giving my life to a corporation.

I hope that you got the point of this whole reading.

Bye.

The Failure Pornography

"The only thing that my friend boyfriend was successful, was at failing."

Ernesto Rivera

You read the blogs, you read Linkedin, you read the books, all of them talks about the importance of failing and how you should learn from the situation, improve and go on. So this should be the way? I don't think so, I believe that the message is incomplete.

Let me tell you a story, I used to work in a corporation as an electronic engineer. I don't know why, but since day one, I always felt out of place, I didn't like the job, I didn't like the corporate culture, I didn't like my coworkers. So as you can imagine, I was not the best performing employee of the corporation, I felt miserable, and I can openly say I was a failure at that job.

Normal literature would say that if I failed, I should learn the lesson, take an action plan, improve and become good at was I was doing. But the thing is, I didn't like the job, so why I should become good at something that I hate? There is no point in doing that. I knew that my failure was not because of lack of skill, but because I hated was I was doing, so I determined that I shouldn't focus in something that I hated, I should focus on becoming good in something that I liked.

I knew that I liked and I was good at teaching, so I quit. It took some time to become a university professor, but I made it. The result was I am one of the highest performing professors of the faculty, according to the students. Failure porn tells you to fail and try again and again until you become good at something. I tell you: fail, and identify in which areas you are good at and focus only on those areas. Fuck your current job if you suck at it, I can tell you that there are other good opportunities by trying to become good in something that you suck at.

I hope you got the message.

Bye.

What would you do?

"It is far better for a man to go wrong in freedom than go right in chains."

Thomas H. Huxley

Here we have a case, what choice would you make?

You have always dreamt about taking a scholarship in order to get a master degree in another country, you applied a delivered all the documentation and you were accepted, but they require you to attend an obligatory meeting next Wednesday at 9 am, in labor hours... You know that you need to talk to your boss in order to ask him for permission or to take the day as a vacation day. Here is how the conversation evolves:

Employee: Hi Mr. Boss, I'm here in order to ask you if I can take a vacation day for the next Wednesday, is that ok?

Boss: Sorry Mr. Employee, but you know that next Wednesday is our 10 million dollar project delivery to the client, the project that you are in charge of.

Employee: I know that I was planning about doing a handover to other of my coworkers, that way the delivery can be performed that day without my attendance. I really need the day off, is a very important matter to me.

Boss: I don't think it will be possible to give you the day off, the delivery is our highest priority and I don't want a single issue with it. Also, all the other employees are very busy and none of them are available to attend that project delivery... Sorry, the answer is no, you cannot take the day off.

Employee: Can I take the morning? let me explain you... I applied for a scholarship... I was accepted... require meeting... 9 am Wednesday morning... very important to me, I can't reschedule it for another day.

Boss: I understand, but we cannot reschedule the project delivery for another day or hour, everything is already coordinated with the client. I cannot give permission even just for the morning, I need you here all day, sorry the answer is no.

Employee: We need a workaround for this, I really need to attend that meeting.

Boss: I don't want to discuss this anymore, I already explained to you there is no way I can give permission for that day, my last word is no, and please leave.

So here is where the story ends, so the question is: what would you do? go to a meeting and fulfill your dream and probably getting fired for not attending to work or, go to work and missing the opportunity of your dream? 

The answer is simple: fuck your boss, fuck the project, fuck the company, fuck the client, you are the only one that matters if you are getting fired by attending to an opportunity that will fulfill you, well then screw them. Please remember, in the moment the company can save a dollar a year by replacing you with someone that can do your job for the lowest salary (I have seen that several times with my own eyes), they will do it!!! they don't care about you, you are just one resource that they will dispose like garbage at the moment that they can save pennies by doing so.

Now is time for us, the workers, to fire back, as I already mentioned in the previous posts, jobs are not a scarce resource, but the society wants you to think that in order to take advantage of you. You are your highest priority, if that means fucking the 10 million dollar project of your employer, generate a bad reputation or even getting fired in the short term that does not matters, what matter is your personal goals and improvement, and you will see, in the long run, that is what pays off.

I hope the story gives an idea of how to proceed in this kind of situations, see you in the next posts. Bye.

Which one is the Rich???

"The things you own end up owning you."

Tyler Durden, Fight Club

I'll simply put this example straightforward, who you would rather be?

   CASE A: 

This guy works in a transnational company and is pointed as a "role model" inside the company. Has a high income due to the promotions obtained by giving away years of his life for the company. Has a very nice house and a beautiful Mercedes Benz that he uses to impress the girls inside the company (and believe me, he does). Nonetheless, by spending so much time working 10 -12 hours per day + commuting, the place where he spends less time is his beautiful house, and this beautiful car that symbolizes his success is parked 12 hours a day receiving sun. Also, he owns everything to the bank, so he will have to keep this 12-hour workday lifestyle for the next 30 years. Occasionally on weekends (when he is not working) he takes his car and goes for a date with a new girl from the job (obviously, he only can meet girls there), the girl is impressed about how "successful" is this guy and they spend a brief relationship together until the guy repeats the process with some other girl.  

I'm not lying, the car is really amazing

    CASE B:

This guy has a small internet business that sells merchandise imported from China. It does not provide much income, but it is enough to pay the rent, to pay the food and be able to do the stuff that he likes like biking, reading, drink wine, etc. He does not have a beautiful car, he does not even have a car, he has a scooter, but due to the fact that his internet business is almost self-attended, he can spend the whole week traveling to a new beach when he likes. He does not produce the amount of money that the other guy does, but he has 90% more time to do the stuff he likes, and he is able to spend more time with his family, close friends, and his beloved girlfriend.

This is the scooter that he uses through the week to discover new places

Now comes the question, between A and B, which one is the rich guy?

As you guess, for me B is the answer. Your time (apart from health) is the most valuable asset that you have, your existence in this world is limited and it will end someday, and every second that you spend doing something unfulfilling will not come back. I know, the luxury car and the house can be tempting, but studies have shown that what really makes people happy are the experiences, not the possessions. 

Think it in this way, if you spend your whole day in a company working, and you only use your house for the sleeping hours, what is the difference between a small apartment to a big mansion??? is none because you will not be spending time there, it is like if you own and paradise island with a mansion on the other side of the world, but you can never go there because you need to spend your time working. I know the car is impressive, but if it's going to be parked 12 hours a day receiving sun, and will be only used occasionally, what is the difference between owning a Mercedes Benz or a Scooter if you are no using it? Again... the difference is none.

Having a rich life is defined by three factors:

• Wealth: have the money to the stuff you like.
• Time: have the time to the stuff you like.
• Mobility: Being able to go to the places that you like to do the stuff you like.

CASE A has a lot of wealth, but he does not have any time or mobility because he needs to spend his time working. CASE B has a better balance between the three factors and he is enjoying more out of his life.

I have adopted minimalism as a way of life and all my possessions can fit in a car's trunk, I will come back to this topic later, but for now, give it a thought of who is the rich person, and how you can improve your life by having a better wealth, health and mobility balance.

Until next time.

Bye. 

A little bit more about common advice

"Everything popular is wrong."

Oscar Wilde, the importance of being Earnest

This post continues the same topic as the previous one. How the following common advice, and doing what the majority of people does will NOT give the results that will make you happy.

Let's put an example of senseless advice that even the homeless across the street will give you.

• Don't change jobs often (less than 2 years), it will look bad on your resume.

Hold on a second, let's analyze this situation, this statement seems to be very absolute as if it were a rule of life. First of all, which is the reason for you changing jobs? If the reason of you wanting to change your job after a short period of time is because YOU HATE IT, you hate your boss, your tasks, your coworkers, your life... it will be just stupid not to move to another position and just continue being miserable.

But ok, let's rethink this in another way. Let's say you have just got hired on a new position and the following happens: (take in account that in this example I will take a salary as your motivation, but it could be several other things like more free time, a better schedule, more opportunity for traveling, etc).

1. The next day after your first day on your new job, another company offers you 50% more salary. It will be stupid not to take it.
2. You took the job earning 50% more, and the next day, another company contacts you offering you 100% more... Again it will be stupid not to take it.
3. Again, you took this other job and the next day... guess what?... another company offers you 1000% more salary!!!! Again, it will be very very stupid not to take it.
4. The next day after you took this last job, you won the lottery, you won´t need to work for the rest of your life. It will be very s.... you got the point.

So after this example, is it bad to change jobs often?, I don't think so. Remember, good opportunities always involve taking a risk (in this case a bad looking resume), but if the outcome is your happiness and realization, don't let common advice misguide you.

Well, let's continue with another example:

• You have changed jobs too often, no company will hire you.

This is not even advice, it is a judgment that I have heard several times. 

I studied electronics engineering, and when I was fresh out of college, I had a friend that studied computer science. Both of us were looking for jobs and both of us found one. I decided to stay in a company for 2 years and in the same amount of time, he had been through 5 companies.

The reason for him being through all these companies was several, he did not like two of the jobs and he quit after 3 months, and the other two companies closed after 6 months of being hired. But the important aspect here was, which was the consequence for him of changing jobs this often????

Here comes the answer, prepare for it, wait a moment, ok here it comes: He was earning 90 % more than me, that was the consequence. He told me this: companies know that having the absolute very best talent comes at a very high price, they have to pay the best salary, and they know that you can go in any moment to a better-paying company. This guy was awesome, I wanted to be like him.

So again, don't let others define you how to go through life, it will not give you the best results. Don't follow common advice, life live at your own terms, and you will maximize your opportunities of yielding good results.

Stay tuned for the next post, goodbye.