It's easy to tell a story that seems pre-planned after the fact. At 19, I was living in the UK while waiting to start University and I felt very constrained by money. Mud Island is expensive. Especially when you are thinking in Rands. I chose to study something that would help me understand money so I wouldn't be under its control. I studied Risk, Planning and Investing. Then, with some aggressive practicing what I preached, I eventually decided I had enough to live simply. My money could work for me, rather than me working for money.
That makes a great story. It is mostly true. Along the way through, my path could have gone in several other directions. I actually really enjoyed the work I was doing most of the time. I am just rather contrarian, and rather stubborn. When things don't work, I am not very good at just playing the game and doing what I am told. When I say, 'things don't work'... I mean they didn't work in my opinion. But I am just a pipsqueak. I know nothing. I also don't or didn't have that much actual power.
In most organisations, you have to be patient. You have to play the game. In the first 100 days in any new team, it is very easy to start seeing the obstacles. There is often a burst of energy as you feel the excitement of making a difference. Bringing your unique perspective. Then gradually you realise why some of the things haven't changed. You realise why it is so complicated. You discover a whole bunch of really difficult problems hidden in between the "obvious" solutions. Then after a while someone else joins. Their "first 100 day" spark of ideas no one has thought of could have come from your drawer. Change is hard.
One of my favourite parts of my Post-Work life has been the lack of need to convince anyone of anything. My blog posts are mine. If I want to press "Publish", I press "Publish". I do that most days, and don't need to wait for permission. Working in Investments, there are lots of rules about what you can and can't buy. What you can and can't say. Compliance. Working for clients means there are lots of rules about what you have to do, and when, and for who. Your inbox can become the boss of what you do each day. Your phone can become your micro-manager.
"Aiming small" changes the rules. To go big, you have to play the game. I started paying myself a Basic Income about 4 years ago. It meant I have to restrict my spending but I got more freedom from the road. I could w(o/a)nder off into the bushes. Go small.
The approach I took is not open to all. I was incredibly lucky in terms of where I was born, the teachers I got, the support I got, the friends I met, and the stubborn competitiveness and delayed-gratification that is in my blood. What I do think is open to all is being "all about the Base".
We don't have to aim for the big bucks. If you get used to what you have, and learn to work with that... everything else is a bonus. "Save more tomorrow" is a strategy where people commit to investing any raises or increases in salary. They don't adjust their lifestyle with their income. They get used to living on the Base.
The same can be true of working in an organisation. You have to be comfortable with the idea that things won't change. That what it is, is what it is. That is the Base. Then if things improve, that is the bonus. Acceptance is a great way of seeing the first steps that are actually on the menu.
The easiest place to start, is where you are. Then you can take control of the story from there.
That makes a great story. It is mostly true. Along the way through, my path could have gone in several other directions. I actually really enjoyed the work I was doing most of the time. I am just rather contrarian, and rather stubborn. When things don't work, I am not very good at just playing the game and doing what I am told. When I say, 'things don't work'... I mean they didn't work in my opinion. But I am just a pipsqueak. I know nothing. I also don't or didn't have that much actual power.
In most organisations, you have to be patient. You have to play the game. In the first 100 days in any new team, it is very easy to start seeing the obstacles. There is often a burst of energy as you feel the excitement of making a difference. Bringing your unique perspective. Then gradually you realise why some of the things haven't changed. You realise why it is so complicated. You discover a whole bunch of really difficult problems hidden in between the "obvious" solutions. Then after a while someone else joins. Their "first 100 day" spark of ideas no one has thought of could have come from your drawer. Change is hard.
One of my favourite parts of my Post-Work life has been the lack of need to convince anyone of anything. My blog posts are mine. If I want to press "Publish", I press "Publish". I do that most days, and don't need to wait for permission. Working in Investments, there are lots of rules about what you can and can't buy. What you can and can't say. Compliance. Working for clients means there are lots of rules about what you have to do, and when, and for who. Your inbox can become the boss of what you do each day. Your phone can become your micro-manager.
"Aiming small" changes the rules. To go big, you have to play the game. I started paying myself a Basic Income about 4 years ago. It meant I have to restrict my spending but I got more freedom from the road. I could w(o/a)nder off into the bushes. Go small.
The approach I took is not open to all. I was incredibly lucky in terms of where I was born, the teachers I got, the support I got, the friends I met, and the stubborn competitiveness and delayed-gratification that is in my blood. What I do think is open to all is being "all about the Base".
We don't have to aim for the big bucks. If you get used to what you have, and learn to work with that... everything else is a bonus. "Save more tomorrow" is a strategy where people commit to investing any raises or increases in salary. They don't adjust their lifestyle with their income. They get used to living on the Base.
The same can be true of working in an organisation. You have to be comfortable with the idea that things won't change. That what it is, is what it is. That is the Base. Then if things improve, that is the bonus. Acceptance is a great way of seeing the first steps that are actually on the menu.
The easiest place to start, is where you are. Then you can take control of the story from there.
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