Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / BBT #08 Snippet | Finding Your Purpose Outside of Your 9-to-5 Career
Transcript
- Black Box Theory: You to make sure that have an identity and a purpose. ⁓ and a passion outside of your full-time job, whether that's a hobby, whether that's a side hustle, whether that's a passing project that you're working on, that's working out, playing a new sport, picking up a new hobby. It has to be something. Your life cannot revolve around the work that you do because you won't be able to separate when those... And that was something I struggled with when I first started. I couldn't... I was so kind of like... And I still am ambitious and kind of like... I want to make sure that I put forth very good quality work. But I was finding myself, like those lines between personal life and my work life became, ⁓ those, especially those hours became very blurred to me when I first got out because I was in such this rush to ⁓ of prove myself and show like why I belonged on this team, why I was selected for this role, et cetera, et cetera. And that took a, definitely took a negative, you know, toll on me mentally. And when you are working in these demanding roles, and this isn't even just for someone in big two, this is anybody, right? Anybody working, putting in time, putting in 40 plus hours a week, you deserve this, right? Like, you deserve to have an outlet. You deserve to have something to look forward to outside of, you know, your nine to five, whatever your hours are. You deserve to have something to kind of take that stress away, to be able to decompress, to be able to put your energy into. Because without that, you're gonna lose yourself. You're not gonna be able to have an identity for yourself outside of work. And that's the last thing that I want for myself or anybody listen to this to believe that their purpose their extent on this earth is to just be an ⁓ employee of a company. I'm not saying that everyone is bound to be the next freaking Sam Altman bound to be the next ⁓ series, Combinator, startup founder, or the next big Shark competitor. I'm not saying that, but I know that everyone has a purpose. one of those ways that you find those purposes, or you find your purpose, you know, for being here is, ⁓ it's through outlets. ⁓ It's through ways to keep yourself entertained, ⁓ to keep stress-free, to keep yourself healthy, to get your mind off of the thing that consumes, you know, most of your time during the week. that's something I've definitely taken seriously, like, you know, like things that I've, you know, been more consistent than ever, counting in the gym. I've taken up a few side projects I'm working on and interests I've had for a while, but I didn't really just have the free time to do the research that I needed to. like that, I've been able to put towards things that I really want to and put money and energy towards things that I'm actually interested in. Obviously, I still put forth my best foot at work, but... It's just kind of like making sure that you have that distinction, you have that kind of line in the sand to understand like, okay, this is enough for this. And it's time for me to kind of like, you just have to know how to separate those things. that's just another thing I wanted to call out. But I mean, outside of all the, obviously it's demanding, it's tough, it's rigorous, ambitious. It's been, I think, definitely been a blessing for the both of us, I think for. what it's kind of provided for us financially, the network of people we're able to meet, being able to kind of like just work at one of the most cutting edge, one of the world's most valuable companies. It's a once in a lifetime, like it's definitely a privilege. Like it's a blessing to be here. You know, I don't want, ⁓ know, it's very easy to get comfortable in roles like these and just take it for granted and just kind of look at it as like something that you are entitled to and that something you are privileged to, but. I am very aware that that has been given to me can be taken away. So I just take every day with a... I ⁓ this sense of purpose with me every day, ⁓ that I worked tail off to be here. So that's just kind how I view it. And I think that when you give yourself that sense of purpose going into each day, it makes ⁓ your days a lot more enjoyable and purpose-filled, instead of just kind of dreading every day waking up like a... freaking robot or something like that.