On Becoming More Future Proof

I was wrong.

As I transitioned from blue-collar to white-collar, I always felt my future was becoming more secure along the way.

And when I became a knowledge worker (i.e., know-collar), I thought I was even more secure. Because I, like many people, never imagined robots doing this type of work.

But this is no longer the case.

For the past few years, it has been evident that AI, robots, or a combination of both will automate most jobs.

“While individuals with low levels of education are somewhat exposed to AI, it is those with college degrees, including Master’s degrees, who are most exposed.” - The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Labor Market report by Micheal Webb, Stanford Department of Economics.

AI is making knowledge cheaper and cheaper. Humans selling knowledge are getting priced out of the market.

AI is doing to knowledge workers what cars did to blacksmiths shoeing horses in the early 1900s. And then again, what robots did to autoworkers in the ’70s and ’80s.

It is already impacting all of us.

"Know" collar is no longer a long-term strategy.

For the past ten years, I’ve managed Google Ads for clients as my primary source of income.

Google has been slowly taking more and more off my plate and handing it over to the bots.

The bots still need someone to guide them for now, so I should be good for awhile (fingers crossed).

But I won’t wait until it’s too late.

It’s time to pivot…. Again.

Back to Basics

For this pivot, I'm going back to basics.

I will take the time to ensure I'm setting myself up long-term. I will prioritize fulfillment and being the best me I can be.

“The key to attaining fulfillment and excellence is a mindset that empowers you to fit your circumstances to your unique interests and abilities. This mindset can be rendered in plain English: Harness your individuality in the pursuit of fulfillment to achieve excellence.” — Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment by Todd Rose, Ogi Ogas

I've never really taken the time to get to know my strengths, figure out my true motivations and map out a plan.

Over the 19 job changes, failed side hustles, and successful ads business, I was in constant survival mode.

This time, I will strip it all down and build it from the ground up.

And I'm going to share as much I can with you and whoever along the way.

Five-Step Future Proof Plan

Here are the five steps I am taking to ensure that my future work prioritizes fulfillment and being the best me I can be.

Step 1: Ikigia

Forget where I first heard about this, but this article and this image sum it up pretty well.

“Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means your ‘reason for being.’ ‘Iki’ in Japanese means ‘life,’ and ‘gai’ describes value or worth. Your ikigai is your life purpose or your bliss. It’s what brings you joy and inspires you to get out of bed every day.”

A big part of the reason you are reading this right now is because of this exercise.

Look at some of the things I discovered going through this process.

Do any of these sound familiar?

What gets me excited...

• Music

• Success stories

• Learning new things

• Working with creators/entreprenuers

• To name a few.

What I'm good at...

• Evangelizing

• Encouraging

• Entertaining

• To name a few.

What does the world need...

• More success stories.

• People helping people by doing more work that needs to be done, enjoying it, and gaining purpose from it.

What can I get paid for...

• Marketing

• Music

• Coaching

I won't go into everything here, but I think you get the picture.

Step 2: Define Future Self

I thought I was ready to move on after the Ikigai exercise, but after a couple of sessions with a life coach, Nano Ponce, it was clear I had more work to do.

He introduced me to Dr. Ben Hardy.

I've been working through the steps on his 7 Steps Towards Your FUTURE SELF video.

I won’t go into everything in this post because there is much to review.

But I’ve made up some serious ground on the clarity portion of the training, especially when figuring out my why.

Step 3: Get Clear On My Why

Why do you need a why?

For me, it's been a powerful force that has helped me power through laziness & when things get tough.

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

My wife and kids have been my biggest why.

Keeping food on the table and not being a loser dad are potent motivators.

But I need to level up...

I'm working on becoming more future-proof. I need to dig a little deeper into my why to do that.

Because it will help fine-tune my alignment with opportunities & the people I can help in the future.

Here's what I did...

To get clarity on my why, I did a few things.

1. I watched this video from Simon Sinek.

2. I referenced feedback from friends and clients I received during a Perry Marshall course exercise a few years back.

3. I used ChatGPT to help me sum it up.

Here are some of the answers I received:

I know these statements were my "why" because of the physical reaction I get when I read them. I get a "hit" of excitement when I read them.

Then I dumped all those into ChatGPT.

I figured it would be helpful to have a summary that I could use to reference when I need a reminder & a hit of excitement.

The results were pretty cool. Check this out…

Interesting huh?

It needs further refinement, but I will use the statement as a guide from here on out.

Step 4: Choose a business model

There are an endless amount of opportunities in the world.

I could go back to school; could look for a dream job, start a business, grow my agency, etc., etc.

There is also an almost endless amount of business models to use to capitalize on those opportunities.

I'm choosing the solopreneur, company-of-one model.

“There are almost 7 billion people on this planet. Someday, I hope, there will be almost 7 billion companies.” — The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson

I believe it is the future.

And after 10 years of being a solopreneur, it is clear that it is the best business model for me.

Step 5: Learn, Do, Teach

I've read many books and taken hundreds of courses on marketing, solopreneurship, and many more over the past 20 years.

Here are a few of the teachers I've learned from over the past year alone…

I will always be learning.

I'm already deep inside the AI rabbit hole. You’ll be hearing A LOT about it from me in the future.

From now on, though, I will be very deliberate about putting what I learn into action and teaching it to others.

Recap and some music

Ok, that was a lot to digest.

To recap, knowledge work is no longer a long-term strategy, and I need to pivot to make myself future-proof.

I will prioritize fulfillment and being the best me I can be using my Five-step plan.

Now, before I let you go...

Let’s take a deep breath and listen to some music.

I chose this song because it helps put things into perspective.

No matter how crazy life gets, it’s good to stop and remind ourselves how lucky we are even to exist.

Listen and make sure you listen to the lyrics closely…

You’ll gain a new perspective on life and have a smile on your face.

Have a good one,

Corey