What Shelter In Policies Have Taught Me About Life.
Mark Manson once stated, “You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of fucks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a fuck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice — well, then you’re going to get fucked..”(The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: A Counterintuative Approach To Living A Good Life)
I first started to read the book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, when I was 20 years old. The year prior, I was enrolled in a private college in Western PA. During my time enrolled, I experienced various of sexual abuse from students on campus. In result, I took a leave of absence. My time away from college, became a way to recover myself and recreate the person I was going to be for the future.
From the time I completed the book, till the time of COVID19, I was practicing the art of not giving a f*ck. I changed my life, I brewed passion for learning, I had a career that inspired me again, I put time in personal development, I redefined my purpose in life.
And then COVID19 started to invade the United States in New York & New Jersey.
Before COVID19 would force New York City and Northern New Jersey into a complete Shelter-In, I was on the road to living my best life. I loved the company I worked at, loved their company culture, I loved the role I had as a Data Reporting Analyst, and I loved the opportunities I had at the company.
When COVID19 Caused Shelter In Policies, I Was Determined..
When COVID19 first came into play, I was determined to use that time to advance in my personal studies. Data Reporting Analyst, taught me, I loved analytical roles. If I wanted to continue my existence in the field, I would have to learn the technical skill sets necessary to achieve in the field, network in the spaces, and invest in myself.
Although as time continued, I realized that sometimes investing in your professional self means investing in your mental health. In my past, I always dismissed mental health because it was easy to runaway from it. Life’s distractions was all around me. Especially in a city like New York. If I felt my mental health declining, I usually would travel to another state looking for an escape, or I would hang out with my friends that could make me laugh away my problems, or even find new places where I am, to remove the dark feeling in myself. I wasn’t stuck in a home with limited options, with the only way of getting out was to walk around a community where the problem was.
As the realities of my current state became more vivid, the thought of investing in myself transformed, for the better…
Investing In Yourself Has Become A Race To Be The Best Product In The Market, Instead Of Your Best Self For The Future
In the hustle & bustle of New York City, it is very easy to forget about caring about yourself internally. You always have to be one step ahead of everyone else to get a great career, and invest in learning and developing new tools. So many people move to the city every year after college for a career, and every year you are competing with those individuals for a spot.
It’s easy to lose yourself into becoming a product to the system. And just following the needs of survival. Although when the needs of survival transformed, it taught me a lot about myself, and the life around me. Below I have shared some of my life’s findings:
- The Shelter-In policy has allowed for me to take a break on feeling like I have to consistently hone in my skills, and learn skills that are simply for fun or advance current activities, I haven’t done in a while. I created a media publication on Medium, called Deep Data, a podcast, learned photography, and developed better social media marketing tools.
- To not force a schedule, to live day by day. It’s okay to not have a planned out agenda. This is your time to take advantage of the time.
- To Feel it’s okay to not always feel a need to achieve a goal. It’s enforced in the United States, to always have a goal, and to always working on your next big thing. Sometimes the best things in life that happens are unplanned. And sometimes you plan on something and life takes a different turn. Living to your true self and creating morals, will allow you to gear yourself towards your goal.
- In boredom, you gain your highest creativity. These life moments are the moments you have to create a refresh button on what possibilities look like. It’s what create equal playing fields in innovation. And what builds new small businesses.
- Redefine What Your Life Can Look Like. When I went to college at 18, I thought I was going to study International Educational Policy. I thought I was going to help introduce policies to better our education systems around the globe. At age 20, I wanted to be a Financial Analyst. And at 22, I learned this whole time I loved analytics. I stopped defining the industry. And as I move forward after COVID19, I have redefined what it means to invest in myself for that future.
As Mark Manson suggests, Life is short. People will die, and be taken from us. And if we tackle life like COVID19, we will be investing more into the betterment of ourselves, then the rest of the world. If we continue to do that, we will be far away from being f*cked, we will be free.
Redefine your f*cked to free.
