Overcome your fear through action and an open mind

We are afraid of what we don’t know

In my field of work, we are always given tasks that are absolutely new to us. The work involves handling application change requests and enhancements. Since I work in a technology-consulting company, we are always making something new (changes and enhancements) to the application through major, operational and maintenance releases.

When I was beginning with my career, I always felt pressured and stressed in handling projects assigned to me. You always have to research on available documentations, ask questions and request for functional/technical walkthroughs from people involved in the project, most of whom are from different teams within the engagement.

In my reflections, the pressure and stress I feel is caused by the fear of doing new (unfamiliar) things. Before, I was the type of person who is quite averse in taking risks. The risk of failing, not quickly understanding the requirements, functional or technical design and the risk of embarrassment during discussions with colleagues. I was afraid of a new complex task because I do not know what lies beneath it, the code, data model, the functionality, etc. and more importantly, I do not know yet what to do with it.  

Later in my career I observed that nothing should be really feared or get stressed about in handling new and intimidating release items. You should have an open mind that is excited to explore new things that are coming to you. After completing several complex items, I realized that nothing should be feared about them once you know the ins and outs of the design. We are just afraid of what is unfamiliar, but after we immerse ourselves into it by careful study, focus and dedication, eventually that complex task will be completed successfully. Give it time, patience and proper analysis.

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Have an open mind

Always be open to new ideas and comprehensions that come up as you study the task. Be open in searching for and reading through reference documents. Other colleagues who are familiar with the process would also be of great help. And also the ever reliable Google provides informative results to every query, we just have to enter the right keywords. Have an exploratory/investigative mindset. It is when we are open that we receive answers that are beyond the box of our assumptions which would enable us to deliver more value to our work.

Do not come up with quick assumptions about the task. Study it objectively first and explore different points of view.  Having a mental barrier while working on your tasks will limit your results.  

Always take action

Action will provide clarity to grey areas in your research. We are enlightened when we begin to act upon the issues/studies that we are working on. Do you notice the time when you continue to think about the problem and doing nothing about it then after you take action even though you are still unsure, clarity arrives and the answer to the problem is found? That is the power of action. It is by action that we conquer the thing we fear.

Test this idea on your next working day. After you complete your task, you will realize that it’s not what you thought about and nothing should be scared of its complexity. Just thread along and eventually you will complete it. 

Increase your wealth in three ways while employed

image from: www.thinkadvisor.com

During my schooldays, I followed the common philosophy of “finish school – get a good job – strive to be rich”. After 5 years in the corporate world, I realized if I wanted to have financial freedom, being an employee might not be the best path for me.

My original goal was to be a good employee hoping that it would bring me financial stability along the way. For about 4 years it seems everything goes smoothly and I am on the optimal track towards stability.

Then came the first major disruption in my financial life.

There was the sudden need to get my own space in the city. I became tired of renting, moving to and from apartments were you have no control of whether the owners are good or bad, the room is decent or intolerable, clean or dirty – let alone with bed bugs (yikes!). Also, I thought that amortizing your own space is better than renting a high amount where only the apartment-owners get happy while you work hard to earn and give them part of your salary.

Suddenly my earnings were barely enough to support my needs. Then in the midst of this challenging stage in my life I began to search and develop ways to solve the situation.

So I started finding ways to increase the amount of money that flows into my pocket.

Establish multiple streams of income: be an entrepreneur

When you are an employee, you have to wait for a certain time of the year for your salary increase, bonuses and other financial benefits. But when you decide to become an entrepreneur in parallel with being an employee, you have the chance to increase your earnings any time of the year depending on how you strategize your business. Have the humility to start with a small business. “He who is faithful in little things is faithful also in much”. The lessons you will learn from that small business will be your foundation in handling things when you get into the big league. Little by little you will feel your burdens become lighter as you no longer have to take away a large part of your active income to support you and your family’s needs. Your businesses take care of them.

The goal is to eventually make your passive income surpass your expenses. This is the second stage of your financial life, when your assets are already paying for all your needs and when you have the choice whether to continue with your active job or let go of it. Now that is financial freedom: Where money is never or a little factor when making life decisions.

Do not remain an employee all your life. You are missing a great many things by staying on a single income mindset.

Increase the wealth of your future self

Invest in stocks, mutual funds and other forms of investment vehicles for your retirement. In the Philippines, investing in stocks just recently became popular with the rise of the economy, the young workforce and financial gurus who launched their respective programs to increase the people’s financial IQ. Some might think that the stock market is a very dangerous place to invest. This is true when you are doing active trading. But when you adopt the passive investing strategy, you minimize risks.

There is a system of investing called the Strategic Averaging Method wherein you buy with a fixed amount for a period of time no matter what happens to the stocks be it up or down. The average of the profit and loss of your money would be your gain. Invest only in giant companies, those you can see that could last long. There are exceptions however: even if a company is relatively new, check who heads this company. If they have a history of running a good well known business and this new venture is in a promising field of the current market, do your research and consider investing in this company.

But let not stocks, mutual funds or bonds become the core part of your wealth, investing in these vehicles is good but the money you put here should be the part of your salary/bonus intended for passive investments and the money that comes from the profit of your businesses. Investing in these vehicles basically provides two benefits, you earn money passively by betting on large reliable companies and your money defeats the annual inflation rate since statistically, annual increase in stock value is higher than the average annual inflation rate. 

In Dr. Thomas Stanley’s book The Millionaire Mind a survey was done to America’s millionaires and in one area, the study found out that these millionaires cited that investing in stocks are important but is not the main source of their wealth. For them, it is still better to invest money in your own business where you have direct control. They invest their profits into the stock market for it to earn more.

Give it all you’ve got at work

For most of us, our active job is the major source of our income, it is our first source of capital in building wealth. Our salary is the one thing readily available when we decide to start a business or an investment in the capital markets. If your goal is to eventually escape being an employee, you can’t just decide to deprioritize your job and focus on your other endeavors. With this, it is wise to be good at what you are already doing and get rewarded for it before you toss away your job while you are still employed. Use your money earned in your active job to buy your freedom. Freedom to choose who you want to be and what you want to do (Of course this involves a strong will and positive action – more on this on other posts).

Think of yourself as a slave of your company. In order to buy your freedom, you should save a sizeable amount of money and start off with the business that you really like to do. Of course it is better to start the business while an employee. The earlier you start the better. For when the time comes, you will be more ready to shift to a career that you like. One that gives you more freedom to do the things that matter for you.

We know life is a paradox. For this case, in order to move away from the very thing you are tired of, you have to become more of that thing. So it is better to work hard as an employee, get promoted or get a good increase and use your savings to buy your freedom (i.e. start your own business). Of course if you enjoy your work, you can still be a part time employee. But strive to significantly grow your business so you will become more financially secure and free.

Yes it is hard with all the challenges at work: demanding clients, difficult bosses, aggressive peers, company processes. But these very things make your reward worth all the effort. After all, your financial independence is at stake.

The best way to escape the “slavery” of employment is to become a good if not the best “slave”. This way, you can buy your freedom in a shorter time.

There is more to life outside the four corners of your day job.

Change begins in the mind

Believe you can, say it, always affirm it in your mind until it becomes a habit.

Some of us had a non-ideal childhood experience. We may not have perfect parents to teach us good core values to adopt in life. We may not be exposed in the ideal environment that nurtures the formation of great individuals. The experiences and environment where we grew up contribute to what we become in our adult life. And this adult version of us is the tire that meets the road. The road that is: being an employee or an entrepreneur.  Thus we may find our self “not good enough” when we are first tested on the professional world.

image from: www.youth-time.eu

Through these experiences, environments and also genes, I somehow acquired this silly mindset of a “can’t do” attitude. Whenever there is a complex task, a high stake endeavor, or anything that cannot not be completed easily, my “can’t do” attitude surfaces. “No, that can’t be done it’s difficult!” “It will only cause you stress!” “It’s better to stay where I am, I might fail in the process and just resort to self-pity.” There I was, a “can’t do” minded guy on a “CAN DO” cultured company. This was one of my major lessons in the professional world. To change this mindset or to be left behind by my peers.

Gradually, I overcame this mindset. It was so difficult at first. Imagine most of my adolescent to early adult life, I am like this? Hell that was difficult. Now how did I overcome this challenge? Like with the launching of a rocket ship to the moon, the gravity of old habits is only too difficult to overcome early in the flight. Through continual practice of thinking “This can be done” – and really believing it, my immersion to the company’s culture, my interaction with the talented people I work with and doing the task anyway however difficult, I overcame this mental block. My “greater than” self has been awakened. Now, the “can do” attitude is a habit that significantly helps me on my career.

Believe me you will be surprised at the unfolding of the situation when you think to yourself “this can be done”. Sometimes we just have to be open to let reality unfold before us by letting go of our preconceptions.

That seemingly deadlock task has a solution if we open our minds to the reality beyond our mental constructs. Always be open to help from your peers and superiors. They may offer an out of the box solution that will eliminate the problem.

Declare that it can be done and the universe will lay the solution at your feet. Just open your mind in order to see it.

It can be done!