Recession proof graduate

A very small book summary, new website, and more!

Hey everyone,

This week is a short edition due to travel. As always, thank you a million for reading.

Quote of the week:
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants.” — Bob Dylan

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I recently read the book Recession Proof Graduate and truly think that every young professional should read this book at some point. Admittedly, the book in itself isn’t ground breaking, but the bigger picture is. It’s a paradigm shifting book — much like The Third Door — that encourages young professionals to stand out.

The core concept of the book is this: you’re not able to get the job you want because you’re not approaching it correctly. Conventional job applications (putting your resume & CV forward and calling it a day) are holding you back.

To be a recession proof graduate means that the economy doesn’t dictate where you work, instead, you have control over your own destiny.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin

Here are some steps to follow if you don’t want to read the book:

1. Find an individual or an industry you’re dying to work for.

2. Offer to do work for free in exchange for experience.

3. Do your best work.

4. Get offered a job.

My explanation of it is a gross over simplification of a book. It ultimately comes down to betting on yourself, networking, and doing great work.

Here are a few quotes I highlighted:

“I’ve found that I am not totally honest about what I really want when a paycheck is dangled in front of me. I get greedy, rationalizing that I will find a way to enjoy the work that comes with it, and then find myself in an arrangement I can barely tolerate.”

“These job-listing sites are like city bars. There are typically only a few really "offers" in the huge crowd, while the rest are fairly lackluster. And no matter which one you're looking at, there are a bunch of other guys with Ed Hardy shirts fighting for them. This awful “numbers game” is exhausting, so you need a better strategy.”

“Over time, your purchases and financial obligations look more and more like a cage that you’ve trapped yourself in. Then one day, you’re afraid of leaving that cage behind. So you decide to keep doing the work you hate, just so you can keep paying the bills and making your cage better.”

If you ever get around to it (it’s pretty short) let me know what you think.

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Website Updates

I updated my site again and I am extremely proud of it. See below, or check it out.

For those of you who have a website, here were some tips that I followed:

• A clear call to action (my newsletter)

• Social proof (testimonials from friends & coworkers)

• A low number of links / places to click (clear direction)

With this, I also launched the resources area of my site. There’s just one post for now. I aspire to continue to launch more resources for professionals and writers as opposed to just creative writing.

Fleeing to Michigan

Today, I’m off to my stomping ground in Michigan to see friends & family for a couple of weeks. I’ve been remote in my day-job since April. A week before everything closed down, I was crowd-surfing at a concert in Denver.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. I’m grateful for a job that allows me to work remotely, I’m grateful for my friends & family. A lot to be grateful for!

Wishing you and yours the best,

Cullin