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Reading: 5-Hour Rule

5-Hour Rule: If you’re not spending 5 hours per week learning, you’re being irresponsible

The irony is that the problem isn’t a lack of jobs. Rather, it’s a lack of people with the right skills and knowledge to fill the jobs.

Learning is the single best investment of our time that we can make. Or as Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Those who work really hard throughout their career but don’t take time out of their schedule to constantly learn will be the new “at-risk” group. They risk remaining stuck on the bottom rung of global competition, and they risk losing their jobs to automation, just as blue-collar workers did between 2000 and 2010 when robots replaced 85 percent of manufacturing jobs.

 

6 essentials skills to master the new knowledge economy

1. Identify valuable knowledge at the right time. The value of knowledge isn’t static. It changes as a function of how valuable other people consider it and how rare it is. As new technologies mature and reshape industries, there is often a deficit of people with the needed skills, which creates the potential for high compensation. Because of the high compensation, more people are quickly trained, and the average compensation decreases.
2. Learn and master that knowledge quickly. Opportunity windows are temporary in nature. Individuals must take advantage of them when they see them. This means being able to learn new skills quickly. After reading thousands of books, I’ve found that understanding and using mental models is one of the most universal skills that EVERYONE should learn. It provides a strong foundation of knowledge that applies across every field. So when you jump into a new field, you have preexisting knowledge you can use to learn faster.
3. Communicate the value of your skills to others. People with the same skills can command wildly different salaries and fees based on how well they’re able to communicate and persuade others. This ability convinces others that the skills you have are valuable is a “multiplier skill.” Many people spend years mastering an underlying technical skill and virtually no time mastering this multiplier skill.
4. Convert knowledge into money and results. There are many ways to transform knowledge into value in your life. A few examples include finding and getting a job that pays well, getting a raise, building a successful business, selling your knowledge as a consultant, and building your reputation by becoming a thought leader.
5. Learn how to financially invest in learning to get the highest return. Each of us needs to find the right “portfolio” of books, online courses, and certificate/degree programs to help us achieve our goals within our budget. To get the right portfolio, we need to apply financial terms — such as return on investment, risk management, hurdle rate, hedging, and diversification — to our thinking on knowledge investment.
6. Master the skill of learning how to learn. Doing so exponentially increases the value of every hour we devote to learning (our learning rate). Our learning rate determines how quickly our knowledge compounds over time. Consider someone who reads and retains one book a week versus someone who takes 10 days to read a book. Over the course of a year, a 30% difference compounds to one person reading 85 more books.

 

Don’t be lazy. Don’t make excuses. Just get it done.

Even if you’re just an entry-level employee, there’s no excuse. You can find mini learning periods during your downtimes (commutes, lunch breaks, slow times).

 

We often believe we can’t afford the time it takes, but the opposite is true: None of us can afford not to learn.

 

Just three steps are needed to create your own learning ritual:

1. Find the time for reading and learning even if you are really busy and overwhelmed.
2. Stay consistent on using that “found” time without procrastinating or falling prey to distraction.
3. Increase the results you receive from each hour of learning by using proven hacks that help you remember and apply what you learn.

Editorial Intern at UNC

During my time as an Editorial Intern for UNC’s School of Media and Journalism (March- May 2017), I published five news releases onto the school’s website and its various social media channels including LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. See all of my articles here. 

Ad Campaign Analysis

General Facebook Ad campaign  Analysis and Recommendations

Today I Read: April 10, 2018

The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma

Written by Dominican-born, Pulitzer-prize-winning author, Junot Diaz

In his New Yorker essay, Diaz shares his experience being raped when he was eight-years-old and the detrimental effects it had on his childhood, teenage years, and adult life.

Though I can’t relate with his experience with childhood abuse, I can relate with his experience living with a mask. In his essay, Diaz describes multiple times how strong his mask was: “And, let me tell you, once that mask was on no power on earth could have torn it off me.”

I’m passionate about living life without a mask, and I want to help others do the same. I want people to be free to live how they chose- say what they want to say, dress how they want- without fear of being judged. One easy step I take towards this massive pursuit is not partaking in gossip. Gossiping creates bad energy, makes me feel gross, and doesn’t help me in any way (financially/emotionally/spiritually). Why should I waste my time talking about what he/she did/wore/said??

Though we may not all relate with the trauma Diaz experienced, we can all probably relate with hiding behind a mask. Hiding our true thoughts, feelings. Maybe even lying to fit in. Hiding parts of ourselves that we don’t feel are accepted or feel are the norm.

As Diaz reminds us, hiding behind a mask is never good. When we live our truth, we help others find the strength of their voice and remind them of their ability to chose who they want to be.

Empowering others is a continuously positive cycle- like a gift that keeps on giving. As feminists have brought to our attention, “empowered women empower women” but it goes for everyone. Empowered people empower people. I want to live in a world where everyone is empowered to be their authentic selves.

Background

Junot Diaz is the author of three books

1. Drown: reflects on Diaz’s strained relationship with his own father
2. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: “an overweight Dominican boy who is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy novels and with falling in love, as well as the curse that has plagued his family for generations”
3. This Is How You Lose Her: “a tale about a young man’s struggle to overcome his cultural training and inner habits in order to create lasting relationships”

I love his writing style. One NYT critic describes it as “a sort of streetwise brand of Spanglish that even the most monolingual reader can easily inhale: lots of flash words and razzle-dazzle talk, lots of body language on the sentences.” Uniquely his own.

Photography: Paris, France

Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris

Pont Neuf

Pont Neuf

Tuileries Garden

Tuileries Garden

Tuileries Garden

Tuileries Garden

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Les Invalides

Les Invalides

Les Invalides

Les Invalides

Les Invalides

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Arc de Triomf

Paris 2024 Bid- Hôtel-de-Ville

Paris 2024 Bid- Hôtel-de-Ville

Paris 2024 Bid- Hôtel-de-Ville

Paris 2024 Bid- Hôtel-de-Ville

Chateau de Versailles

Chateau de Versailles

Chateau de Versailles

Parc des buttes Chaumont

Parc des buttes Chaumont

Photography: Tarragona, Spain

Personal: Embrace feeling Overwhelmed

I am able to embrace feeling overwhelmed because I have felt it before and realized that it leads to great experiences. The aftertaste of feeling overwhelmed is amazing. It tastes like jumping up and down, tears of joy, calling my parents with good news, feeling incredibly lucky, and falling asleep with a huge smile on my face. I’m happy to occasionally feel overwhelmed because it means I’m challenging myself and on the verge of achieving great things. After a period of feeling overwhelmed, I’m rewarded with the fruits of my labor.

Last year in August, I felt overwhelmed by the tasks I was given to complete within a couple of days before the company’s annual global conference. I was in disbelief, knowing that my work would affect hundreds of people who would be flying in from over 30 countries to attend our conference. I ended up working over-time throughout the week, going into the office on a Saturday and leaving at 4am Sunday, going home, packing, and calling an Uber at 6am to the airport to meet the team for our plane ride to the conference location.

The conference turned out better than any conference the company ever hosted and better than I could have imagined. I could not believe how much the conference attendees enjoyed their time with us. They loved us, interns, who helped them feel welcomed and included throughout the conference. On the last day of the conference, they left us with incredible handwritten notes and feedback. Some even voluntarily sent us videos describing how much they enjoyed attending our conference.

During the conference, I was also invited to the White House to cover a session on Global Education on social media. I sat front row to listen to Obama’s Assistant and Michelle’s Chief of Staff, Tina Tchen talk about the White House Council on Women and Girls.

I will never forget receiving the e-mail from the White House to RSVP my attendance. It had the White House logo; it said my name and I almost passed out. The event was also on Obama’s birthday, while he was in office, and I felt like I was invited to Obama’s birthday party. 

If you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and unhappy, find the strength to push past it and soon enough you will become comfortable with the feeling. It mean’s you’re pushing yourself past your current limit. 

Though I have learned to make peace with feeling overwhelmed, I don’t want to glorify over-working and feeling overwhelmed. It is unhealthy to feel overwhelmed all the time. It is unhealthy to constantly feel stressed.

Four years ago, I unnecessarily stressed myself out and was in a really bad mental state because I convinced myself that I didn’t deserve to sleep but should continue to work until I fell asleep at my desk. My thinking was that, if I were to sleep, someone somewhere would be awake and progressing while I rested. I stayed in this mental state for about one year and it messed me up a lot- it destroyed my health, and hurt my relationships with my family, friends. I’m grateful I realized the importance of mental health and sleep!

Everyone struggles to push themselves past their comfort zones but not throw themselves off the cliff. As I continue to work towards my goals and gain new life experiences in the process, I’m excited to better understand my limits, learn when to say “yes,” and “no,” and deal with adversity and challenges with ease.

Until then, I’m grateful to my friends, family who love me regardless of my accomplishments or failures. They remind me that life is more than your credentials- that people are not defined by their work but by who they are.

Reading: Career: June 27, 2017

Kill Imposter Syndrome Before It Kills Your Career

In the article, CEO/Founder of Node, Falon Fatemi shares her experience working for Google at age 19 but doubting her own success. She went on to work at Google for 6 years, before becoming a Forbes Columnist and starting Node, an account-based intelligence platform.

Surrounded by all those talented people, I felt like I didn’t belong. Even after reading the litany of praises in my first annual review, I questioned my place.

This article resonated with me because just yesterday, I started my summer internship at Yahoo. When I got the call that I got the job, in early May, I was so excited but couldn’t believe it. I really felt like I won the lottery. I jumped on my walls and ran around my house yelling and celebrating (I was home alone and it was day time, so I think it was acceptable?). Lately, I’ve been questioning how healthy it is of me to consider myself “lucky” all the time. Do I give myself enough credit for my hard work? Do I attribute too much of my success to outside factors such as my location and good timing? It’s interesting- the fine line between being conceited and having self-confidence.

Personally, I don’t believe I have imposter-syndrome.

    Imposter Syndrome: an irrational feeling of inadequacy.

However, there are times I feel like I’m in a dream and can’t believe this is my life. Why is it so hard for me to believe that this is my life? Do I feel like I don’t deserve good things? 

I feel this way about my summer internship at Yahoo. Getting accepted into the Creative Strategy program at Google. Going to college on a full ride. And more.

Personally, I know the only way I will feel better is if I do my utmost best. If I do the best work I can and dedicate my ideas and hard work to my tasks, I will produce great outcomes and then slowly, it will dawn on me that I deserve to be here. I don’t think this mentality of having to “prove myself,” is unhealthy because my goal is to prove myself to MYSELF. Not to others.

 You are the ultimate arbiter of your own worth. Your job, your number of Facebook friends, and even your annual salary don’t describe your value.

I’m grateful to my family, friends, and teachers because they always believed in me and supported me. I am lucky to say that no one has ever told me that I couldn’t do something. I don’t feel like I have to prove anything to anybody. I’m grateful to have grown up surrounded by a great community of people. I attribute all my self-confidence and strong mentality to my supporters- the people whom I love and who convinced me, inadvertently, through their actions that I deserve the best (given that I work hard to achieve it). I wouldn’t have self-confidence without their positive reinforcement, and constant nurturing of me.

From the article, I learned that imposter syndrome is not gender-specific. Instead, about 70 percent of people– men and women — have experienced the phenomenon for at least a period of their career, including Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg.

Whenever I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing- that I’m undeserving of being the person that was chosen to be hired; that I’m lacking in skills- I will remind myself that Google was made for a reason! Just Google it! Or ask for help. And remind myself that I’m a fast learner. And that I have experience achieving things outside my comfort zone. One thing I really enjoyed about working at a small, non-profit start-up company last summer was that I was often thrown into situations that required skills that I did not have but I learned to excel in finding my own answers and finishing the task. When working in a small company, there are triple the amount of tasks that need to be done than people who have time to do them, so you learn to take on tasks outside your skillset and make it work!

Start-ups are my favorite atmosphere but working in a corporate environment for the past two days, I can’t say I miss not having an office cafeteria with free food or the numerous floors with lounges that offer snacks and five different types of milk.

Cheers to self-confidence, celebrating yourself once in a while, acknowledging your worth, and accepting good things with open arms. Let’s say things like, “I deserve this,” more often. And let’s say it out loud while we’re at it!

 

I deserve these intern treats.

*All quotes are retrieved from the main article unless otherwise noted.