“Life Isn’t About Finding Yourself. Life Is About Creating Yourself” George Bernard Shaw
Build It And They Will Come, Do A Great Job Building It And They’ll Stand In Line To Get In … are people’s stories of how they carved out a WorkLife that was rewarding, fulfilling and meaningful, how they worked with people they admired, how they contributed in ways that were valuable, and how their WorkLife allowed them to make a difference in a way that had a positive impact.
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” George Bernard Shaw. Those were Marco’s opening words at his university’s annual alumni day. But let’s hear Marco’s full address to understand his story:
A Build It And They Will Come, Do A Great Job Building It And They’ll Stand In Line To Get In Case Study:
Marco’s Alumni Address:
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” George Bernard Shaw
Two years ago, I interviewed for my dream job of advertising artist at my dream company. The process was really intense, but I got through the four rounds of interviews and reached the last stage — the dreaded “interview task”. You all know the drill: I had 4 hours to design a product that had a great UI (User Interface), was slick, and really stood out.
Now you also all know the actual time that goes into that 4-hour task is considerably more. The reality was I spent 40 hours preparing. But I was OK with that. This was my dream job, with my dream company, and I really wanted that job.
I didn’t get it. I was told it was a close call, and to re-apply in another year. I was totally gutted, and it took me time to pick myself back up. As I went through what I call my Rejection Recovery Resilience phase, I was reminded of something the actor Vince Vaughan said that helped me, and I believe will help you too. So I’ll share Vince Vaughan’s:
Words of Wisdom
“When you’re rejected, find a process where you allow yourself to feel disappointed. It is important not to turn off those feelings, but it is important to understand how to do that as quickly as possible to then become productive again, and start doing the things that are going to give you a better opportunity. The sooner you get back to your own growth, and what can enhance it, the sooner the chance of having what you want in life becomes greater.”
The time I spent in my Rejection Recovery Resilience phase brought me the fourth ‘R’: Reflection. I’m a firm believer in effective self-feedback through insightful self-questioning. I asked myself the question: “How can I use this experience to move forward in my WorkLife?” Through self-feedback I had an idea: I took the prototype I’d developed for the interview task, I added features, and I built it into an app which you may have heard of: NOQ. An app that allows people to queue remotely for the best restaurants in town. (People applauded — NOQ was a much talked about alumni success story.)
I built the app into a business I love. That wasn’t in my plan. That wasn’t the plan I had when I was starting out, when I was sitting where you’re sitting now. My plan then was to get a job as an advertising artist at my dream company. And you all know how that worked out.
Building the app into a business I loved actually happened quite organically, but because it wasn’t in my plan, I did need help along the way. I’m a firm believer in the:
Sage Wisdom
“When the student is ready, the teacher will come.” Buddha
This is exactly what happened. The help I needed came to me in many ways to include through the superpower of:
Book Wisdom
I discovered Principles by Ray Dalio. In the book Dalio shares the unconventional principles of life and work, that can be used by anyone to achieve their own goals. The book became my bible, I learnt so much from it. In particular I learnt how to make decisions in the best possible way. I learnt that having the courage to make them comes from: a) going after what I wanted; b) failing and recovering well through radical open-mindedness; and c) changing/evolving to become ever more capable and less fearful.
I didn’t have all the answers. I didn’t need to. I asked people what they wanted, and they told me. I then found a way of giving it to them.
You can do the same. You can build a business you love, by letting your community build your business with you. Try doing something that’s good for you, good for other people, good for your community, and then let them co-write it with you.
I began from the simple principle of wanting to use real demand in the form of bookings. I built it and they came. Did I do such a great job building it that they stand in line to get in? Well as you know NOQ means no standing in line, instead they queue remotely for the best restaurants in town.
That’s my last plug I promise.
Now go build it and they will come. Do a great job building it and they will stand in line to get in.
Thank you.
Epilogue
Marco’s story of how he let his community build his business struck a chord with the university. They asked him to develop a class that would help future students model what he had accomplished. The class was developed into an online course which has been made available to all alumni.
Today’s featured book is: Principles by Ray Dalio
WorkLife Book Wisdom Stories:
The intention of the stories I share is to inspire you through people’s stories of their WorkLife experiences. Through these stories, you will learn about people’s dreams and ambitions, along with the challenges, obstacles, failures and successes they encountered along the road of their WorkLife journey. And how they used the power of book wisdom to help them find the inspiration and guidance to navigate their path to live their WorkLife with passion, purpose and pride.
My hope is that these book wisdom stories will help you throughout the chapters of your WorkLife Story.
I believe stories are a powerful mechanism for teaching, a powerful medium to learn through, and a powerful way to communicate who you are and what you stand for.
If you enjoyed this, please hit the *Clap* 👏 button as many times as you wish.
Evolving Careers Players 