LOL, thought I had wrapped up this one question but thought of some more things. Where we physically work is also a thing. Like the city, the office, workspace. Pace, place, space. The vibe of the city that I’m working in has to match my vibe. I believe in my career that I’ll continue to gravitate towards Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities. Like the ones that I’ve lived in in my life - KC, ATX, ATL, CLT. These are growing cities that are obviously big enough to be cities and have lots of things to do but don’t feel like I’m trapped or lost in a huge place like NY or LA. I might want to even try living and having a career in more remote places, that are more in nature. Like Boise, Portland, Asheville, etc. My career is not tied, or at least I don’t think it should be tied to a specific city or place. I don’t want it to be limited. Online connection has enabled that so much in my life and I don’t see that going away any time soon.
My actual work place also has to be a welcoming one. I believe that I have to be in comfort and at ease physically to tap into my highest mental, emotional, and spiritual states. There has to be calm, because if people around me are panicking, stressed, anxious, then none of us are gonna be able to do our best jobs.
On the topic of remote work, which has been on the forefront accelerated with COVID, I believe in having a career where both remote work is possible and even sometimes expected as well as meeting together physically also occurs frequently enough and naturally. The balance I have right now with 2U is good where most of the people I interact with are in Charlotte but we also have the flexibility to work from home / remote when we want to. I like the office though to come into, especially on the weekends because usually no one else is there. I can get focused, deep work done without any distractions (whether that’s 2U work or personal). I basically want this flexibility in the future. Though I believe I’d be open to working remote fully if the opportunity presented itself. I just can’t work from home and in the same spot the entire work day repeatedly. I need to mix things up - like going to Barnes & Noble, coffee shops, office, my home, etc.
The other thing here was as it relates to the actual work space. For my career, I want to be able to make my desk customizable to what I’m feeling like. My chair has to be top quality, 2-3 external monitors, high quality mic, camera / video options, and more. I know I can’t get that at third party places like coffee shops and stuff but at least at home and at the office that I have. This kinda actually all goes into my quality of life stuff so I’ll bookmark this for then.
Another thing about my career is the topic of retiring. I feel like we’ve been sold this story of settling down, having a job, having a family, working until you’re X age, and then enjoying your life in retirement. And my parents may have to think like that because of what they’ve had to sacrifice. But I’m grateful enough to not have that be the main priority - of getting settled and looking forward to retirement. I can enjoy every day of my life ‘before’ then too. I believe that I’ll never actually be retired. I’ll always want to continue achieving things, ideating deeply, sharing my energy with others, and more. That the older I get, I’ll only have more to contribute to my community and to the world. Other people may see their life as a bell curve going up and then down during the retirement phase but if I’m growing exponentially now, then the rate at which I’m growing and transforming will only continue to increase. So long story short, I’ll probably never officially be retired. Maybe technically so I can withdraw my investments and 401k, etc. but not mentally or emotionally, and certainly not spiritually.
Another aspect here is money. I believe that whatever I need to live, I’ll be given that much money. And that phrase is subjective. I may only need $200 to live / month in one place or time in my life or $3000 / month or $10,000 / month. It’s all relative. Going back to a passage in Meditations though, I should enjoy life when I have the means to do so yet be equally grateful if / when I need to be more frugal and careful with how I spend my money. I’ll be equally happy in all situations.
Getting higher education is, I don’t believe, for me. Now that may change but I am getting all this knowledge through my life experiences, basically for free. Why do I need to spend tens of thousands of dollars so I can be talked to and have assignments that I have to complete? I want to do the assignments that I create for myself. These projects and bold ideas that I want to make a reality. I don’t want to get deeper into an established system whose value is only decreasing for someone in my position. I have to go beyond that system. I see value of learning from the professors at these institutions in areas where I have lots of interest. But I can do that outside the scope of the university. I view my podcast as a way to meet people I wouldn’t otherwise have talked to to learn about their life and thinking. Social media allows for that connection potential so there’s not as much use in a Master’s degree (right now) for me for what I want to achieve.
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