Don't allow your 'formal' education to box you in (084)

1st Law Friday - August 16th 2024

Author

Lucas Dondertman
August 16, 2024

Welcome back to the 1st Law Newsletter - Friday Edition.

In this email:

  • Your dream occupation

  • Embracing a lifetime of improvement

  • Quote on fear and understanding

Your dream occupation

What is your dream occupation? Notice I don’t say job, because if you are thinking about jobs, that might conjure some negative connotations and you say you would rather not work at all. Think, instead about if you were retired tomorrow and had enough money to do anything… what is something that you would be happy to do consistently for the next 5 years?

I was talking to a friend recently about how, when you ask people about their dream occupation, it is rarely related to their actual professions. For example, my software friend wants to be a food vlogger. Myself, being a mechanical engineer, would drop it all to travel and write this newsletter full time. Another friend often considers how good of a therapist he would be, but feels as though his aptitude for stats and math beckons him towards a more technical and numbers based career.

Whatever it is, you should follow the call. If you truly believe in this dream, when you tell other people about it, they will believe in it too. Faith is confidence, and your faith in your ability to make this dream a reality will be evident to others and inspire confidence in them as well as yourself.

Thank you, Arif, for the inspiration.

Embracing a lifetime of improvement

I find it crazy how easy it is to convince yourself ‘its too late to start now’. Granted, for most sports, if you want to be world class and compete at the highest level, you did need to start when you were 6. But that is just because the peak physical health will be between 20-40. However, if you don’t start until you are 30, all hope is not lost - it is still possible to be among the best 50 year-olds at any given endeavor. Even if you start when you are 60, if you have been taking care of yourself, you can be the best 80 year-old in the world! A year is a year, and the time from 10-20 is the same as the time form 60-70. Even if it is not a physical pursuit, it is never too late to begin learning a new skill. Compounding doesn’t discriminate between the decades of your life.

Those who allege that old age is devoid of useful activity… are like those who would say that the pilot does nothing in the sailing of his ship, because, while others are climbing the masts, or running about the gangways, or working at the pumps, he sits quietly in the stern and simply holds the tiller. He may not be doing what younger members of the crew are doing, but what he does is better and much more important. It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment; in these qualities old age is usually not poorer, but is even richer.

Cicero - On Old Age

Life is long (god willing). You do not need to be in a rush, you have lots of time left. Do not let the illusion of old age stop you from starting something new.

Quote I Want To Share

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

Marie Curie

Fear comes form the unknown. Uncertainty makes us nervous. If you are worried about something, it is probably because you don’t know enough. Do your due diligence and make the informed decision.

Thanks for reading!

Lucas