Why I am doing this

If not, writing a blog will help to keep me accountable and achieve great things. I love to write. Nonetheless, I have always done it by hand in my thousands of messy journals. Blogging in a way, will also force me to write coherently, and articulate myself clearly.

This week’s lesson

This week’s lesson is prioritizing my vocation. The first step is identifying what your vocation actually is. This is a process. While writing this post, I only found out later what my vocation really is! You can also see all my steps for preparing for Self Mastery.

Find your vocation

I will be referring to the book Mastery by Robert Greene. I am applying his knowledge in my life and experimenting with his theories. I will also add my own extra steps where I feel necessary. 

First, I will try to figure out what is my vocation.

Mastery by Robert Greene describes the next steps to find your vocation:

1. Find your inclination/ vocation. 

Robert explains that your vocation is found back in your childhood. When you meet your vocation, you feel excited and curious. He talks about many ways of finding one’s vocation. Under each bullet point, I will write everything that interests me.

• An activity
  • Learning Chinese.
  • Writing.
  • Researching.
  • Organizing and planning.
  • Thinking of ways to improve something.
  • Singing.
  • Dancing.
• Culture
  • For me, I am very interested in Chinese culture. I am curious about the language and how they think. I am also interested in their food and history.
• An encounter with a master
  • When I was young, there was a child who was very good at drawing. It inspired me, and was the start of my drawing journey.
  • Martial arts.
• Your ‘deficiencies’
  • Organization.

2. Find your niche.

This is a step to take later when you are further ahead in the game. For future reference, we can write down what Robert said about this step to make the path less uncertain.

He shared two main ways to create your own “niche”. From my current (and biased) perspective, creating your niche in a competitive environment is beneficial. When everyone is almost doing the same, it’s easier to be successful. It becomes more difficult for people to compete with you.

• The first choice is to find a field you are roughly interested in. Then, branch off to something closer to your interests eventually. Resulting in you ending up with your niche.
• The second one is to completely master a field, and then move on to master another skill. Then you combine these together that makes a new niche.

This step is confusing for me, since I haven;t reached this far and I’m still in my exploration phase. Although, I have roughly chosen business and marketing as my field.

3. Avoid a false path

A lawyer would make lots of money, they are highly respected, and also viewed as smart! I told my ex at that time, his family, friends, and anyone who asked. I shared what I am going to study next year…business law! Yikes! My mom was so proud of me!

I can’t remember when, but I searched online what they actually do…it did not leave a great impression on me! And law…boring books? It sounds like a slow death to me! So…I told my mom that I don’t want to be a business lawyer anymore. I felt she was disappointed with what I said. Her reaction? She said I should be one!

It is totally unexpected from my mom! She was always so open minded. I would never expect she would force her child into a career path.

Luckily, I kept refusing. She eventually agreed and admitted she can’t force me into a career. My dear mom researched, and one day approached me with studying a Business Marketing and Management degree. It’s less fancy and less complicated, but I felt it was perfect! I agreed and was excited! Thanks mom!

We applied for an online part time university. This allowed me to delve into other topics of interest. In my first year, I had a part-time relationship (😂). In my second year, I built a business. Unfortunately, I had to close it. Then I started working as a part-time English teacher to fund any future business endeavors or projects.

Now, as I enter my third year, I will stay an English teacher. I will also be capable of focusing on my vocation.

Do not follow a path for money and popularity. Instead, choose it because it is your genuine interest and vocation. –From Mastery

4. Adapt

You are not tied to a particular position; your loyalty is not to a career or company. You are committed to your Life’s task, to giving it full expression. –Robert Greene

You want to retain the skills and experience you have gained. Your aim is to discover a new way to apply them. Your eye is on the future, not the past. – Robert Greene 

I have put in a month’s notice to quit from a part time company I work at. It

is the first business I have worked for, and I have been there for nearly 8 months. This company lies to the customers about their services. Their business structure is flawed at best. Their management systems are also flawed at best.

I have someone in my personal life who complains everyday about their work. They are someone who has been treated unfairly. They are someone who isn’t growing their skill-set because the work’s drama distracts them all the time. Even when facing extreme situations at this workplace, they don’t quit.

They also don’t seem to focus on what makes them happy, they are not following their vocation or inclination. It feels like I am watching how they are allowing this company to slowly suck their soul away, and day by day I see their sparkle dim.

Of course I am young, and don’t have major responsibilities. So I am unable to fully comprehend the situation. But it looks like a very terrible situation to be in. It reminds me that I should not be loyal to a company or a specific job role, but to my ‘Life’s Path’. Genuinely, thank you so much Robert Greene! 

5. Come back to your path

This is the one I struggle with the most. Since I was a child, I have tended to be easily distracted. I love to move on to the next interesting and fun thing. 

If I decide on doing this, I should stick with this for a very long time… and for years even!

What is my vocation?

It’s okay that I don’t exactly know, and I am still figuring it out. But I do have a vague idea of what it can be. I will order them from importance. 

1. The first is writing and creating systems. Related to business.
2. Second is learning Chinese.
3. Third is drawing.

I have other responsibilities as well:

Note: While writing this blog… I realized something. Writing is my vocation! I am so shocked, it has been under my nose this whole time! I have so many stories as a child where I did writing, and as a teenager. I also write everyday in a physical notebook.. my interests in business in a way also came from my writing!

Check-In

1. Choose your important vocations:
   • At this point, we have a list of vocations, and maybe a “field” we are interested in.
2. List of responsibilities
   • These includes daily habits, and other major responsibilities.

Vocation	Responsibilities + Habits
Learning Chinese Writing Business	Eating Healthy Exercising regularly Doing my part time job Doing assignments Studying for exams

Goals

I will first take a look at my responsibilities. I will assign any deadlines I have and major tasks.

I will then look at my vocations, and see how I can develop them further. Ideally, you should at least work 3 hours on your vocation. Here’s mine in action:

These are goals for 14 April to 20 April

Vocation	Responsibilities + Habits
Learning Chinese – Study 2 hours a day Writing – Blog about my journey while it is happening Business – Prioritize my studies and assignments (go to responsibilities)	Eating Healthy – track calories everyday Exercising regularly – exercise on Monday and Wednesday Doing my part time job – quit Doing assignments – Finish my marketing, management and project management assignment. Studying for exams – no tasks yet

Take note: I’m still working at the part time company. I am also working on Preply as a tutor. Additionally, I am doing assignments.

When I quit the part time company, I would have lots of extra hours in the day. The company is also creating a lot of mental exhaustion. Therefore, I will currently focus on “Learning Chinese” as my vocation. (Strategy: In 3 months I plan to be a B1 level, which is a fluent level. It’s a skill I can fully acquire without investing years and years, unlike the other vocations.)

Plan Well Ahead

I have added everything in my schedule for this week. However, I noticed I don’t have as much time as I would like to have. The part time company is chopping away too much of my day, and my deadline for assignments is next week. Therefore the whole day I will just focus on my studies and university.

From 9PM to 10PM I have class with my Chinese tutor.

From Preply alone, I make minimum average of $80 per month. Enough to afford my Chinese classes and my productivity app. Luckily I don’t have any responsibilities, just learning!

I will increase my Preply prices from $5 to $6 per class though. My current students have been with me for 7 months and will continue to have classes with me. I will charge $8 per class and work only 2 hours a day. It will provide me the average salary. This is the earnings of someone who works 9 hours a day, 5 days a week in my country.

My 2 hour Chinese study sessions are from 9PM to 11PM at night. My schedule is a bit packed, but I need to keep to my promise!

Here’s a snapshot of the week ahead: