On Minor Eid, in a discussion with my friend Ammar, we’ve come to the joint conclusion that I don’t make the cut for entrepreneurship and that I am better off doing something else.
But how did we reach this conclusion?
How can you find out if you should get into the startup world hustle? and make a fortune, become a millionaire … or even, if luck strikes hard, a billionaire!
To spill the beans, I did plan for this year an entrepreneurship attempt. That is not because I think being in the position of an entrepreneur is superior to being an employee — rather I do think that every employee should consider themselves as an entrepreneur where they sell their skillsets in return for pay. And your charisma, sociability, goofability, experience, and problem-solving abilities all add up to creating a product. The Skilled-Worker product. The prize developed nations are fighting for!
Why then entrepreneurship?
My principal motivations behind considering the entrepreneurship route are
- There are no non-entrepreneurial options! I consider even working for someone else as entrepreneurial in nature.
- Added benefits like more ownership of time, money, and influence — standard reasons for everybody. This includes the fairytale billionaire dream.
- Above average free time as an adult as I don’t have any committed relationships around me (I have zero family in North America).
Ammar made me prioritize clearly my goals by asking a powerful question: what are the top three traits I would like in my ideal career?
After some reflection, for me they were…
- High impact – I want my work to make some mark in people’s life. Hopefully, it positively improves people’s lives. This is not because I am particularly generous or kind but rather simply a selfish human desire to feel important.
- Flexibility – imagine not having to worry about belonging somewhere and packing your bags to live anywhere. This is a must-have 21st-Century luxury.
- Upper-medium income – like anyone else, I want to be comfortable in life and enjoy the benefits that dispensable income brings.
When I reached these conclusions, I felt incredibly stupid. These are the things most people would list if you asked them what are the five traits they want in their career.
In fact, the only difference between me and Ammar was that for him the people with whom he works are very important. He wants to work with people that inspire him.
I felt stupid not only because anyone would want these career traits, but also because so many careers would have these traits including my current position as a Software Developer. I already have a career with these traits!
Nothing else to do…
If right out of college I have a career which has the traits I would possibly want in the next decade or even for the rest of my life, then what else is there to go after?
Ammar’s question was an intelligent one because it makes you forget about the details of your career. If you were to ask, what career you should pursue in the next 10 years, finding the answer to that question would be incredibly hard and discouraging.
But if you start by identifying the traits and not the details of the career itself, then it is an easier question to ask whether X career has any potential to provide for the desired traits.
I love being a programmer and will be one for the rest of my life. Luckily, it still pays decent enough, though its future prospect has some gloomy clouds as AI could be replacing thousands of software jobs.
But not so easy. The search doesn’t end there for me.
The first and most important trait I want in my career is impact. I am super lucky to be not only doing a job that is by itself heavy in impact — software that gets written once is used for a long time (my former boss is still uploading products in his Shopify store with my Java code!) — but I also happen to work with a team and industry that is critical. The code I write helps surgeons do implants, and this directly helps patients live happier lives. For many people in my company, their lives and jobs are better because my code makes their jobs easier and more fulfilling. That is incredibly impactful given that this code will be around for some time.
Is this the greatest impact I can do? I don’t think so. It’s not bad but it’s not the greatest impact I as an individual can do.
And this is where the search for a career continues. I believe that we should do the ‘toughest’ thing that we in particular are poised to do. I call this the Maximal Difficulty Career Rule. This rule dictates the maximization of one’s intellectual abilities in one’s career. It makes sense because our fullest intellectual potential could arguably be tied to its fullest utilization. That is not to say that that would lead to the most rewarding career. The Maximal Happiness Career Rule would encourage happiness over anything else — in which case incorporating the Difficulty rule would amount to finding a career that maximizes happiness while being as difficult as possible. If difficulty leads to greater misery then that should not be considered.
There is much to explore in terms of the relationship between career and the complexity of work involved. There are many reasons I believe why difficulty is important. I don’t think I have developed sufficiently well that idea here. That would be for another time. 🙂
