Poor Man Survival
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The Importance of Adapting or Becoming Obsolete
In order to take advantage of our options during uncertain times one must be able to adapt.
The other day I was reading a Bloomberg
article about how income inequality
in the U.S. has hit a disturbing new threshold.
It
went on about the fact that wage growth is ridiculously slow, despite our near
full employment situation… that African Americans and women are still
disadvantaged… and that the wealthiest are accumulating more money than ever.
Really,
none of it surprised me. This is one of the issues that boosted Trump into the
White House. I also ran a four-part
series on the growth of artificial intelligence and its eventual widespread
growth and replacement of jobs here and throughout the world…as most have their
head buried in the sand, few expressed concern [other than Elon Musk].
Trump is an excellent example of
someone who adapts and has done so to a variety of business and political
landscapes over the years…I’m unsure if he’ll survive the multiple attacks against
him from the Deep State and the relentless negative media. Then again, I predicted this in these pages
the month before he took office. I know
I would not be able to withstand the onslaught.
In any event…
Here are 5 ways to increase your options right now:
- Learn a new professional skill. If your company goes bust right now, would you be able to get another job doing exactly what you’re doing in your current gig? If not, you need to expand your skillset. This kind of learning can create asymmetric payoffs – skills often work together synergistically.
- Start a side hustle. Work on something on the side. Again, if everything goes to sh*t it’s nice to have options.
- Save money. It’s also nice to have options if things go well. Money in the bank gives you the option to take advantage of opportunities – be they investments or some amazing offer that requires you to quit your job. Money in the bank also makes it easier to transition if everything goes to sh*t.
- Go to parties. Opportunities often come in the form of humans – both personal and professional. One of the best ways to meet people is by going to parties. I hate parties until I get to them, then they are always worthwhile.
- Shift your perspective. I know. This is BS. But it’s also not. When you shift your perspective and become aware of more options, then you can take advantage of them. Train yourself to see your opportunities and what you could do to expand them even further.
Adaptability: Learn How to Perform in the
Present
“The problem is that we imagine that knowledge is what was lacking: if only we had known more, if only we had thought it through more thoroughly. That is precisely the wrong approach. What makes us go astray in the first place is that we are unattuned to the present moment, insensitive to the circumstances. We are listening to our own thoughts, reacting to things that happened in the past, applying theories and ideas that we digested long ago but that have nothing to do with our predicament in the present. More books, theories, and thinking only make the problem worse.
Understand: the greatest generals, the most creative strategists, stand out not because they have more knowledge but because they are able, when necessary, to drop their preconceived notions and focus intensely on the present moment.” -Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies of War
Abraham Lincoln put it more succinctly: “My policy is to have no policy.”
Robert Greene’s 48th law in The 48 Laws of Power is about remaining fluid. It’s about evolving into something other than you are in order to take advantage of a new situation. He explains the importance of adaptability in evolutionary terms:
“In the evolution of species, protective armor has almost always spelled disaster. Although there are a few exceptions, the shell most often becomes a dead end for the animal encased in it; it slows the creature down, making it hard for it to forage for food and making it a target for fast-moving predators. Animals that take to the sea or sky, and that move swiftly and unpredictably, are infinitely more powerful and secure.”
Just because you’ve mastered a skillset doesn’t mean that skillset will continue to matter. A friend of mine was a well-known wedding photographer. When digital cameras began taking over, he refused to adopt the technology.
After years of refusal he became a sort of novelty. For a window of time he was the person to go to if you wanted old-school film prints. Ten years later, nobody cared about film anymore, they just wanted great images. Now he has finally made the switch and is slowly building up his clientele again.
When a machine takes over your job your best bet is to learn how to use the machine. Don’t hold on to your old-school way in the name of tradition.
It’s easy to think of castles or fortresses as symbols of protection. We think that if we become strong enough nothing can harm us. Remember France’s Maginot Line? It was an impenetrable series of fortresses built as a reaction to the German invasion in WWI.
When WWII came around, the Germans marched right around the line, making it totally useless. The French, instead of looking around at their current circumstances, reacted to a previous attack. They prepared for the past instead of the future. They spent a massive part of their national budget on digging their heels in.
Their refusal to adapt was even more expensive.
I might throw in another point…STOP giving attention to the meaningless drivel the media now passes off as news which in reality is nothing more than tawdry gossip revolving around innuendo and salacious nonsense which has little or zero meaning on your life. Media such as the Huffington Post, Newsweek and even mainstream media participate in sensationalistic infotainment to boost ratings rather than provide you with anything of substance or meaning.
It seems to me the goal today of all parents and educators is to place their kids into a self-protective bubble safeguarding them from every possible harm which might come their way-even colleges provide “safe zones” and non-controversial speakers who won’t offend the tender ears of students…making them less prepared for the real world. Progressive teachers in many systems are indoctrinating children [and severely punishing those who step out of line] against wayward thinking aka: capitalism is bad, our Founding Fathers were bad, guns are bad, etc. making children into immature adults.
Uncertainty has a paradoxical effect on the brain in which it causes both stress and the release of feel-good, motivation-heightening dopamine. Think about how much more often you check your phone when you’re waiting for a text from your crush, versus waiting for a text from someone you’ve been together with for a long time. Uncertainty is what drives you to keep pulling the arm of life’s metaphorical slot machine to see what comes up.
With more and jobs
vanishing due to AI, what will you do to adapt?
Personally, within a few months I plan to go back to “school” to resume
studies in cultural anthropology. I want
to learn why so many Americans are apathetic about learning. Studies indicate humans are becoming ‘lost’
inside their shiny little devices such as iPods and communicate less and less
with each other face-to-face and it is having an adverse affect on even the very
young and their socialization abilities.
Parents are making a mistake by allowing pre-teens to own such cell
phone as it providing an addictive platform at an early stage of life…
Bruce, the
Poor Man, free thinker, social critic & cynic
Note: Our Father’s Day Mega Survival Contest…we’ve
decided to post this $500 package on eBay and donate 25% of the proceeds to
either the VFW or the Wounded Warriors Project [I may simply decide that via a
flip of the coin as both are worthwhile projects]. When we assemble the complete package and
have a link, we’ll post it here & hopefully, some of you might bid on it…
Final Notes…
Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.
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3 comments:
Thank you - you are the oracle of infinite wisdom :)...Good idea to use eBay for your Father's Day Prepper package - either group will benefit from this & I know you've done a lot for veteran groups over the years.
Always a fine post...feeds the brain and useful resources and goodies.
Adapting to new surroundings is the hallmark of survival-those who don't perish, an old concept. Solid reminders here!
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