So far, I’ll written two related posts – one about good patterns and the other about enlisting support from family and friends. Now, I’d like to introduce you to another key in my goal of transitioning from Software Engineer to Entrepreneur.
I title this post “Do something you love doing and admire”. In my goal to become an Entrepreneur, I know I need to look for ideas or projects that play to my interests and strengths. My strengths are clearly technical related – I am educated as an Electrical Engineer and make my living doing Java J2EE software development projects. It follows that my new business startup will be technology related – probably a web service of some sort – because that plays nicely to my strengths.
As for interests, these vary across the spectrum. Apart from being my job, I’m also passionate about technology. I actually enjoy coding and designing nice user interfaces. It’s hard to explain if you do not share the same interest in software development but try to apply it to something you are passionate about. For me, it feels great when a web page I’m working on is displaying the right set of values retrieved from the database. It feels great when my code is clean, succinct, easy to understand and structured correctly. It feels great when another developer uses my code and it “just works”. It feels great when a business user comes to me and tell me they love what I’ve “done to the page”.
This, I think, is part of the key. Do something you love doing. I know this isn’t a completely novel idea but it’s true nonetheless and doesn’t make it less important. If you do what you love, then you’re more likely to be better at it. Why? You’ll spend more time at it. You’ll read up about it in your spare time. You think about it when you’re on the train. You talk about it with your friends at the pub.
Doing something you love doing is very important. However, it’s only 1/2 of the key. Paul Graham has an excellent post which you should read if you have the time. His post talks about “How to do what you love“. In that post he makes a good point about doing what you admire. That I believe is the second 1/2 of the key.
You have to do something you admire.
Some people may do something they love but they do not admire it. For example, an accountant may love the repetitiveness of their work. They love the fact that each day is consistent and they can leave at 5:30pm without fail. They love the fact that if they follow a process, there are never any surprises. They may even love the fact that things balance and are accounted for every time. Sure, they love what they do. But do they admire accounting? Please don’t get me wrong, they may admire accounting and I’m not saying it is a lack lustre line of work at all. I’m only using it as an example.
Why do you have to admire what you do or the people doing it? If you only love what you do (and not admire it), then you may end up doing the wrong thing. Huh? Let me explain.
Firstly, you could stagnate. If there is nothing to admire, why change? What’s the incentive to become better? If you love accounting, but do not have an accountant you admire and aspire to be, what is your incentive to be better than you are now? Do you want to stay being an accountant as you are now forever?
Secondly, it may not be the best thing for you to be doing. Paul Graham talks briefly about it in his post. When compared to spending time on a boat on the Carribbean or playing on the Xbox, how can work possibly stack up? Well, it can’t of course. But spending time on a boat or playing on the Xbox are not the best things you can do in the long run. The key I believe is we don’t admire being on a boat or playing on the Xbox. We may love doing these things but we don’t necessarily admire them.
So do something you love doing and admire. Look to the heroes in your industry and aspire to be like them. I am fortunate enough to not just love what I do but I also have heroes I aspire to be more like. These heroes have made the successful transition from being just a Software Engineer. Now, they run their own businesses, create products and services they are passionate about and are ultimately masters of their own destinies. This is worth admiring.
What do you admire most about what you do? Can you name your heroes? Is there something or someone you aspire to be?
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In my previous post, I wrote about developing positive patterns. If you have a goal you wish to accomplish or something you wish to change, you need to establish good patterns and surround yourself with aids that would encourage, support and motivate you. The more worthwhile the goal, the more difficult the journey and the bigger the role good patterns will play in determining whether you succeed or not.
For me, my goal is to transition from being just a Software Engineer to an Entrepreneur. A positive pattern is setting up this blog. The act of writing about this transition process – thoughts, actions and results – is an affirmative act and commitment. I am acknowledging to my sub-conscious this is a goal I really wish to accomplish so start allocating some brain cycles to coming up with a solution.
Another positive pattern is to let your family and friends know about your goal. For most of us, we’d like to follow through on a promise. If we make our family and friends aware of our goal, they can provide us with incentives to try and succeed. After all, we don’t want to let them down. It’s the same with this blog. When you (my readers) become emotionally attached to my cause and you have dedicated time to reading my posts, it gives me a strong incentive to follow through. The next time the alarm rings at 5:30am and I’m convincing myself to stay in bed for just another 10 mins, I’ll know what I’ll be thinking about.
So, stop and think about that. Try to establish those positive patterns. If you have close family and friends you can count on to help and motivate you, then set aside some time with them to explain what you’re trying to accomplish. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how supportive they can be.
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What are patterns and what do they have to do with me? In short, it has everything to do with you, me and everyone. Let me take a moment to explain.
Do you know someone who is always late? And are they always making up excuses? “I couldn’t find the file”, “My wife misplaced my car keys”, “I need more time”, “What you’re asking is impossible”, “I had some chores to do late last night”, “I didn’t realise we were planning to meet so soon” and on and on.
What about a friend who complains they are always broke? Yet, they make a decent living – they may even earn the same wage as you. Do you know anyone who is living from paycheck to paycheck? Spending everything as soon as they get paid?
Believe it or not, the reason why this friend is always late or broke is not because of some mystical force in the universe but because of the patterns they have established. How they feel, what they think and how they react are all elements of patterns they have established. These patterns operate at the sub-conscious level and are constantly working to fulfil our friend’s expectations.
If you feel you’re going to be late, you will be. If you think you’re always broke, you tend to be.
The trick to achieving your life goals and being happy is to minimise the negative patterns and reinforce the positive patterns. Focus on establishing the habits which lead to desired results. Eliminate the temptations to do bad and surround yourself with aids that encourage the good.
If you have been reading my previous posts, in particular the first one, you will know my goal is to transition from being just a Software Engineer to an Entrepreneur. I know this isn’t going to be easy. I don’t even have a business idea yet. I certainly do not know what it takes to establish a company.
So what’s patterns got to do with anything? Everything.
It’s not just about changing my environment or circumstances, it’s about changing me. In order to achieve my goal, I first have to change my patterns. Patterns that allow me to be a good Software Engineer may not be the same patterns I need to be a successful Entrepreneur.
For example, in order to be more business savvy, I may need to spend more time reading business related texts. One way to encourage this is to setup Bloglines with more business feeds at the top of the list so I end up reading these before anything else. Also, if I am to launch a new web service, I need to consistently dedicate time outside of work to do this. This could mean, forming a habit to wake up at 5:30am and blocking out 90 mins every day.
There are lots more examples and I’ll write more about these new patterns in future posts. In the meantime, if you have a life goal you wish to accomplish or have something in your life you are unhappy about, think about the patterns you have. Which patterns are negative? Can you minimise them? If possible, establish as many positive patterns as you can that would help you achieve your goals.
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