1.

Distinguish What Is from the Way You'd Like Things to Be

Way back in the 20th century, people worked for one company, moved up through the ranks, and after about 30 years, they retired and received a gold watch and a pension. Wouldn't it be nice if life was still like that? Unfortunately, few of us will ever be able to afford to retire, and those gold watches and pensions have become a relic of the past.

Welcome to the 21st century, where everyone is a freelancer, and we're all hustling for work, all the time. You don't want that to be true or like the fact that it is? Too bad. The universe doesn't care what you want. If you doubt me, drive into the desert one night. When you've left civilization behind and it's just you and the stars in the sky, get out of your car. Stand there and tell the universe what you want...and notice how profoundly indifferent the universe is to your request.

You need to get with the program whether you like it or not. Adapt or die. (Well, not literally die, but find your options shrinking.) As a college professor, I don't like the rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs). If they prove successful, the result will be fewer professors in the classroom—a threat to my livelihood. And you know what? No one cares what I think. MOOCs are the future. I can either figure out a way to get on the train (that is, participate in the future) or discover that there won't be work for me.

This is tip #1 because where you want to start on your quest for work (or any quest in your life, for that matter) is by recontextualizing. In vernacular terms, you need to know where you are before you know where you're going, or know the lay of the land, or have some perspective before you begin your journey. As the American writer Henry Miller (1891–1980) said, “The world is not to be put in order; the world is order, incarnate. It is for us to harmonize with this order.”

As I tell my students (and I guess you're now one of them), if you want perfection, if you want it to all work out, go see a movie. And by the way, since you're at the beginning of your quest, know that you can do all the right things and still not get what you want. There are no guarantees. You have to decide that it's worth the battle. Some days, you'll lose the drive. You won't feel like it. You won't be motivated. You won't want to. And that's when you'll need to recommit to your goal.

It's sad but true: Life's a bitch and then you die. I believe there is no inherent meaning in anything. The only meaning is the meaning we give things—in other words, our interpretation. Well then, you say, what's the point of anything, if it's all meaningless? My answer to you is, imagine the freedom in knowing that you can create any interpretation you like of any person or interaction or circumstance. Hopefully, you'll create interpretations that empower you and the people around you. Either way, a perspective, a context, like this allows you to create and recreate every day. Underlying all of this is the knowledge that you have a unique set of talents and skills that you are obliged to share with the world.

So it's not about you and how you feel about the way things are; it's about the quest. As I write this, I'm sitting on a beautiful deck in a beautiful house in sunny southern California, on vacation for a few days. I'm human, too; the last thing I want to do today is work. I told my dear wife, “I'm not motivated to write today.” And her response was, “So write anyway.” For me, just like for you, it's not about how I feel, it's about my quest to help you. My goal is to have my experience, thoughts, and words contribute to your life to empower you to make your dreams come true.