Welcome back to another episode welcome to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast welcome to the corporate War today’s Proof of Life is Wednesday December 21 2022 and um back at you with another little 30-minute consult hopefully you can take away some goodness from this episode
Apply it to your life if you need it and if you don’t Share the corporate love to somebody you know to an associate somebody closer on the same wavelength and if not name drop me name drop me in passing just be casual about it say yeah I’ve been listening to uh a self-improvement a self-help a professional development podcast
My name is Alex so for the next 30 minutes you were mine if I speak too slow you can speed it up to 1.25 times one and a half times I mean that’s at your discretion is it not today we’re get we got a question from uh r slash career guidance
And they’re asking for advice now right off top I see it says something about a trigger warning a trigger warning about s-u-i-c-i-d-e and I don’t know if I want to really say that on the podcast I don’t know whether or not it’ll get censored who knows right
But if I say it uh like a side of sui right side of sui well then you piece that together it’s pretty much unaliving oneself right now this this post I don’t I’m pretty sure is not about planning to but the question necessarily asks what do I do with my useless bachelor’s degree
And that to me already strikes a chord strikes Accord because I know folks who run a path of no return who are past the points of no return they are on a Road to Perdition if you will and it’s tough It’s [ __ ] tough having to watch
Folks that you know folks that you might consider acquaintances close acquaintances friends even your Associates I don’t know if you would associate with them but acquaintances nonetheless go down a path that they will not be able to dig themselves out of so it becomes really more of a whole more of a grave
And it’s lined with that with student debt Let me read you the body to this and it’s saying I got my bachelor’s degree in computer programming and information systems but I absolutely hated computers absolutely hated computers okay right off bat why get a Bachelors in computer programming if they already hated computers you see I didn’t get into the law
Having hated the law no no no no there are maybe there might be individuals certain practitioners that you might not have a uh amicable a positive affinity for or good Good Will towards but I didn’t hate the law right as a professional as a legal professional myself
The law is a lovely thing why because it opens so many doors and even if doors closes it wedges open so many windows it prys open a lot of uh a lot of boxes that otherwise one might not have access to but I digress it says here I tried to quit multiple
Times but everyone kept telling me not to all right so everybody just told you don’t quit man instead of uh I mean I guess in that sense it’s still your fault at the end of the day because you should go with you should go with an interest an interest that you
Like and if that interest makes you money then you don’t necessarily have to like it but be interested in the ends treat it as a means to an end and for all we know this person maybe hasn’t had a day having to program computers but the day they started maybe they do
Fall in love with the work right because it’s a means to an end granted granted they did put themselves through this form of Education I don’t know if they got loans or I don’t know if they got scholarships but they’ve already progressed down this path and
Got a degree for it but having hated it really might just be a reflection of how you learned it think on that how you hated it might be a reflection of how you learned it it could be that before you started your degree you had an interest and you and
You liked computers you liked what they could do they were means to an end and that end might have been at that point I don’t know satisfaction if you weren’t necessarily making money from them maybe you uh lived at home and just toyed around with your basic Electronics computers and whatnot
That might have been an interest of yours but then having been put through a a certain uh curriculum now it doesn’t have that same appeal that once did now you [ __ ] hate them but it says here you hated them in the past so I tried to quit multiple times but everyone kept
Telling me not to I listened up until the points of no return When I thought I would end my life before I finish the degree I fought to appeal my grade for mental health reasons and now I don’t know what to do with this stupid piece of paper
It’s no one’s fault but mine really because I listened to the wrong people I let someone else choose my degree and control my life for the past couple of months I’ve been struggling to find a job that pays well anytime I search jobs related to my
Major I panic the lack of options is taking a huge toll on me I feel like a mouse on a glue trap damn that’s pretty imaginative I’m never getting out working on a computer is hell I don’t know how to code and I can’t learn it’s
Not just a mental block I hate it yeah if I laugh if I laugh it’s because I’m on the outside obviously I don’t know what this person is going through I cannot relate I do not empathize or is it sympathize I do not sympathize yeah I don’t sympathize I might
Empathize right I do not sympathize because I haven’t been in that position in a similar position what I can do being an outsider looking into this person’s situation it’s it’s like when you’re in a box right it’s like when you’re digging a hole right you don’t know what the [ __ ] is
Going on outside of the box outside of this hole and if you and if you sit in it long enough it’s as if the Box becomes your world it’s as if the hole that you dig becomes all that you know and everything else that happens around you
As a secondary it’s passing you by e right which is what which is why this person which is why this person who now says that they hate it and they can’t learn it they’re stuck at the bottom of their hole right now I think this is this
Ought to be rock bottom right if they’re having some type of ideation of ending it all one might count this as being rock bottom but how do you get away from it right well the issue is the issue is that they didn’t list any actual interests that
They have I appreciate and I love when folks include enough context for us to go on but on its face we don’t have this if I had this person as a client in front of me of paying clients right I would take my time ask the right questions because it’s apparent they
Still want to use they still want to do something with this bachelor’s degree but they’re calling it useless they’re outright discounting it they’ve put themselves through a program whether whether they wanted to or not because bear in mind they wanted to stop and yet they were pushed to continue and push to finish
So they received a degree they have a working degree so it’s not just that they want to be gone that they don’t want to be here that they want to stop living no no they want to do something they want to figure a way out from the whole that they’ve dug it’s
Like they’ve recognized they’re in a whole support of no return it’s like they’re pointed downward into the Earth and they want to find a way to turn around to turn the [ __ ] around but now now they’ve got to work against gravity right if you imagine somebody who had dug straight down now
You can’t dig up you can only turn around and continue digging it’s going to be sideways laterally diagonally but you have to dig out you cannot dig up you can only dig out so even though this appears to be Rock Bottom this person is work is not over
It’s not over just because they want to end it all nobody’s gonna come down and save them they’re in their own hole they’ve necessarily made their own bed because they followed somebody else’s Direction they didn’t put their interests I don’t mean their personal interest they didn’t put their professional interests
Ahead of other people’s opinions now what they’re seeking is a professional opinion they’re seeking an opinion that might help them on their own path on their own professional path they’re suffering I get it they’re struggling I understand do I sympathize not necessarily not necessarily
A lot of us many of us have been in that position before we can empathize we could be like damn well I want to be sure that this person is willing to work that’s why I I can’t feel the pity like yeah I feel bad that you’re in a
Situation but at the same time I uh maybe I have that backwards maybe I do sympathize maybe I pity this person but I can’t empathize as feeling the same way right where if I had to put myself in their shoes that’s empathy that’s having empathy right now
I can I can I can picture dead ends I can picture dead ends and when when uh options appear minimal and uh outcomes appear bleak and dark I’ve been in those situations now I can’t uh I can’t claim that I’ve actually thought through ideation right I mean that I that I
Haven’t right but you get to a point where you realize that it doesn’t solve anything it doesn’t I mean our purpose is greater our vision is grander it’s not Grandeur right I mean even though vision is great it’s for the improvements of uh of business overall right then how will unaliven yourself solve
Any of that it just takes takes one one brief moment a thought and recognizing that though it appears that you’re at a dead end though it appears that you have a useless bachelor’s degree there is always another option there’s always another Avenue there’s always another angle
What you have to learn is is how to hustle how to hustle and as a hustler well obviously I’ve I’ve never gone through with uh plans to terminate myself right it sounds funny saying it like that it’s like I’m self-employed and if I terminate myself the [ __ ] do I have left right
What the [ __ ] do I leave behind if I terminate if I choose to terminate myself what do I leave behind what if I got left nothing nothing you leave behind a [ __ ] mess literally So you don’t I mean our job is never finished our work is never done So having this client in a face-to-face and a one-to-one I’m I am no mental counselor right but it’s our belief it’s our belief that your professional aspirations your efforts towards professionalism your professional development can and does influence your personal well-being and that touches on fulfillment that touches on satisfaction that touches on happiness
That’s what is unpleasure even that touches on self-actualization of an individual of a professional we’re humans after all we strive for greatness each and every one of us now I could only speak to males to men to male men and whoever listens to this message toward male men right
You want to act the part you got to play the part it’s welcome to corporate it’s welcome to corporate baby girl and if you want to run incorporate you’ve got to learn how to play in corporate the first step is learning to hustle I don’t know this person’s age I don’t
Know what this person’s uh aptitudes for social interaction are I don’t know how outgoing they are as a as a client I would walk them through these steps and evaluate them thoroughly before providing a recommendation a personal recommendation a personalized something tailored to them otherwise best I could do is provide a general
Advice just general advice and again these come back to the principles of business to the principles of professionalism you’ve got to know how to sell what it is you know how to do or what it is you know how to make how to sell it how to Market it how to hustle it
I mean if we’re talking Street business you have to be a hustler you have to know how to hustle what it is that you know how to do otherwise you’re going to if you go into this treating your degree as useless how do you expect to Market a useless degree
I mean if you have additional interest which is something we would ask about how can you tie those interests into programming how can you tie those interests into Information Systems right now those fields I don’t know if it’s just uh if it’s analytics or if it’s engineering sounds like it’s more on the
Engineering side but if you hate computer if you hate computers so much I don’t know I I really dislike the usage of love and hate those two terms I feel like hate is a is a strong word love is a strong word also and frankly they’re both overused right
Maybe when I’m speaking to you know just the lay person just your basic Average Joe person love and hate is enough right but love and hate when you think about it are two very strong emotions and I think when you tie up love and hate into what you do
I feel like hate is enough to not do it and if you already hated computers you [ __ ] up you [ __ ] up now at this age you’ve got a couple of options and here’s where I’m going to be a little tough a little tough love for you you can start the [ __ ] over [Laughter]
Options option Z I’ll leave for the end and we ain’t gonna get there I hope you don’t get there if you know what I’m saying option Z but option A you can start the [ __ ] over in education and doing something that you want to do if if education is all
You know education is what you want to do you really really hated computers even though everybody’s [ __ ] using them you’re on your phone you got on your computer to [ __ ] about your useless degree you can start over in school and do something you are interested in pursue something else
Now the only reason I put that out there is because I’m thinking and necessarily assuming that you have other interests other than computers you made the degree sound like it wasn’t financially draining so I don’t know how you’re doing financially I don’t know how you went to school whether on loans
Or on scholarship but that is one option one of many right an alternative to that would be to supplement your degree with your interests begin to dilute that hate that you feel with things that you like notice how I said like not love right because again love and hate are very
Strong emotions and I feel like I feel as if folks who use Love and Hate can easily be misguided and misinformed easily but I’m not making any judgments on how smart or how intelligent this person is But it’s as if something that you hate it’s as if you introduce something that you quote unquote love to something that you quote unquote hate you then lose that eye for what you love it loses it loses its Brilliance it loses its luster you’re saying you’ll
Say now I don’t know if for whatever reason uh for the sake of argument I hate guns right I hated I hated past tense I hated guns right but then I would try to supplement that hate that passionate hate for I don’t know with knives and
I I understand I get this as a very crude analogy but I introduced knives to the equation that Association however tangential however tenuous however thin that association between knives and guns will influence each other now it’s the hope that I don’t I don’t have this your love this pure image of
Knives where if they even touch a gun like if I were ABS accidentally were to like toss or leave my gun on my desk and then I don’t know take my knife out and lay it next to it if they touch then I I’ll never see my knife the same way again
Right no no no take an interest that you can leverage and make profitable create value from it and roll it up in to your degree you’ve gotten some Technical Training you’ve gotten the training and you’ve got the degree to prove it you know how to program and you know how to utilize Information
Systems so if we sat you down went through your interests identified whatever assets you have and maximized those opportunities to leverage your degree which is an asset in and of itself it’s meant to be an asset right it’s not as useless as a social science or post-modern humanities
Which is a just a huge blanket of of uh watered down [ __ ] right I’m sure you know liberal arts and whatnot yours is still somewhat technical there’s just still somewhat logic based but I don’t know this could also be informed by Your World Views your outlook on work and your ethic toward it
That might come back to how you were raised what values you were instilled with But ultimately All of that can be changed it’s you who has to take the initiative and you’ve taken the first step in identifying that you feel as if you’re at a Crossroads notice how I stopped saying dead end you’re at a Crossroads right now I don’t know when you graduated another
Question I would ask I don’t know where you’ve applied and how many applications you’ve sent out to which organizations right another question that I would ask it’s important that all this gets addressed in order to create a personalized recommendation something for you to consider that might be feasible that might be viable
That might require that you develop a couple a couple of extra skills a couple of additional skills that might require you to further develop in some key areas like social interaction like public speaking like sales like [ __ ] hustling for you to make your degree marketable
For you to make use of your degree it’s not useless it’s just a degree it’s an inanimate object right just like those post-modern liberal arts degrees today those folks are getting picked up by weird initiatives weird corporate initiatives at some companies quote unquote tokenization they’re just tokenizing weird identities really they’re weird
And that could be any color any race any ethnicity anybody who backs it is on some weird [ __ ] they’re not necessarily doing good they’re not necessarily doing right they’re not even necessarily being productive they’re just profiteering it’s a bubble it’s a bubble and if there is no material benefit to
It which there isn’t it’s just the bubble just a bubble for the sake of what Public Image for the sake of targeting a demographic but it’s up to you to take the initiative now you have to take on that corporate mindset you you don’t want to stray so far from
Reality then you have to realize the reality in which you exist which is you have a computer science degree what else do you need what else do you do what else interests you what do you want from life otherwise you only have that that other option otherwise you will only continue having
That other other option don’t put yourself through that don’t put your career through that however short were long-lived it is I’m not even going to read any of the comments on this one that’s 30 minutes in and out you can reach us on IG that’s at corporate Cowboys with a z
On the patreon you can subscribe to any of the tiers some of them actually give you the ability to ask questions and pose prompts for future episodes again this comes back to corporate notice how I didn’t say and and I didn’t even ask if this person has a social
Life if they go out if they have friends I don’t know a girlfriend boyfriend I don’t ask any of that what are you doing for yourself to improve yourself to develop professionally because that will ultimately influence how you live personally unless you’re born on a silk pillow with a silver spoon
If you want to shoot us a buck shoot us a dollar I mean you could do that if you would like this podcast this operation is non-profit any money that comes in it’s obviously going to go towards business expenses and legal fees um and um yeah I mean if you want to send
Us something written something type written you can do that as well that’s PO Box 3372 Rancho Cordova California 95741 you see when you when you look at it from a certain angle this ideation it becomes a lot more than just disappointing it ought to motivate you
You ought to be scared of the end don’t race to get there I mean there’s shortcuts they’re shortcuts to the end you just want to take the right ones go go figure out what season it is but the episode is called the first half to self-sabotage
I believe it was in a season four I’ll find it for you real quick season four season four or is it season three season three season three season three was it season two nah Maybe season two episode 16. Season 2 Episode 16 the first half of self-sabotage that’s that’s the climb
That’s setting yourself up and you want to set yourself up successfully all puns intended have a nice one I’ll catch you next time
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