CAREER PLANNING FOR THE 21st CENTURY
PRISM STEP 2 – MINDSETS
YOUTUBE VIDEOS
LET'S DISCUSS MINDSETS
We’ve now established our life vision goals, but before we start developing plans to achieve them, we must understand some mindsets needed to survive and thrive in the 21st Century world of work. That is the second step of the PRISM System.
These mindsets, and those we already have established for ourselves, provide the context within which we can develop a viable plan to achieve our life vision goals – which is the next step in the PRISM System.
Probably you’ve already established some of these mindsets for yourself. Maybe you’ve already considered some of the other mindsets, but don’t regard them as important – so please re-consider. And for the few remaining mindsets, we suggest that you study and adopt them.
Note that there is a number of non-technical (so-called ‘soft’) skills associated with each mindset, which are introduced in Step 5. PRISM’s role is to provide some perspective on each skill, and reference articles and videos that will provide a start to acquiring it.
CLICK ON THE ICONS ON THE RIGHT FOR MORE DETAILS
WHAT ARE MINDSETS?
Our mindsets represent our views of the world – how we think about family and work and other people; generally, how we think about life. They influence everything we do (and don’t do). We recognize that there are issues in the world that need to be addressed, and our mindset influences how involved we want to get, and what skills we need to develop to support our involvement.
The mindset about work that my and maybe your parents taught was that, if we wanted to have a successful career, we would get a good degree (or qualify as a journeyman), arrive to work on time or earlier, work hard and productively, get on well with our fellow workers, make our managers look good, and be loyal to our employer – and maybe take a few courses to upgrade our skills and prepare ourselves for advancement. And if we did well by our employer, our employer would look after us when we were ready to retire.
How antiquated that seems now in today’s world of work!
Today, the fundamental mindset about work is that we need to think of ourselves as independent contractors, even if we are hired as an employee. We must look after our own careers and retirement, because no-one else will do it for us.
Independent contractors are typically hired to work on a specific project or to contribute a specific skill – and, when that project is finished or the skill is no longer needed, then an independent contractor is let go. And that can happen to employees too.
As an employee, we need to protect our employment – not just by keeping the skills that we were hired for up to date, but recognizing what other skills our employer value, and developing expertise in those skills too. This is particularly important for people hired in support roles (like HR, IT, or Accounting) whose jobs are vulnerable because they do not directly contribute to the ‘bottom line’ of their employer (unlike sales, manufacturing, or client service jobs). Our objective should always be to be recognized as a valuable employee – someone who senior management would be reluctant to let go.
Now let’s look at the impact of technology. As a simplistic example, consider a department of ten people. Management is interested in reducing costs by introducing automated development software, like Co-pilot. Typically, they’ll test the product first and measure its impact. (Notice that is what many fast food companies are starting to do with home deliveries and food counters.) Then, if productivity doubles, they’ll let 5 people go. If you are regarded as a valuable employee, you’ll survive the first cut.
The work environment will change, as will the allocation of work functions, A new ‘soft’ skill – flexibility or adaptability – will be required.
If you continue to show yourself to be a valuable employee, you may not only be the last person to survive as the automation process expands, but you may well be transferred to another department or promoted!
Now, you may feel that your work environment is not changing, and that you don’t need to make any changes. You may be right – in which case, you’re not ready for PRISM.
On the other hand, I hope you’re not like the frog in the pot of water, which is gradually being heated up, with the frog not noticing the small heat increases, until it becomes so hot that the frog is unable to jump out!
There are of course mindsets about mindsets! You can have fixed mindsets, which you choose not to change, and you can have growth mindsets, which you recognize are subject to change.
Watch Reference 1 to think about the relationship between mind and mindset.
WHAT ARE THE MINDSETS THAT WE NEED TO DEVELOP?
Let’s look at several detailed mindsets that have become an essential part of thriving in the world of work in the 21st Century. I’m going to introduce you to 10 of them. There are probably more, but anyone who accepts these 10 will be an effective employee (or contractor, or entrepreneur).
(As our service is CAREER COACHING, I thought it would be fun – and make the mindsets easier to remember – if we use words that start with the letter ‘C’. So, instead of Mindsets, we refer to Cogitations – look the word up if it’s new to you ???? – and claim that they help us to ‘C’ how to make better career choices and be more effective employees.)
The 10 Cogitations can be grouped into 4 categories:
1. LEARNING
- Continuous Learning
- Compounding Technological Advances with Convergence
- Computer Cognition
- Core Principles
2. RELATIONSHIPS
- Client Orientation
- Complex Interpersonal Communication
3. PERSONAL ATTITUDE
- Comfort with Change
- Curiosity
- Can-Do Positive Attitude
4. OTHER MINDSETS
- Complementary Compensation
There’s a brief discussion of each Cogitation below. If you want help to further understand or develop the mindsets, then consider requesting a no-charge call to see if we can help.
QUOTES ABOUT MINDSETS THAT MAY MAKE YOU THINK
Here are some quotes about mindsets that might be helpful. (Most of these quotes and the others for specific mindsets below are extracted from Dr. Mardy Grothe’s website.)
- Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it. (Steve Maraboli)
- People with a growth mindset, welcome setbacks with open arms. (Travis Bradberry)
- To create something exceptional, your mindset must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail. (Giorgio Armani)
- Quitting is never an option on the road to success. Find the way forward. If you have a positive mindset and are willing to persevere, there is little that is beyond your reach. (Roopleen)
- In the twenty-first century, the robot will take the place which slave labor occupied in ancient civilization. (Nikola Tesla)
- Today, you have the opportunity to transcend from a disempowered mindset of existence to an empowered reality of purpose-driven living. (Steve Maraboli)
- Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny. (Mahatma Gandhi)
MINDSET REFERENCES
Note that the references that you will find throughout the description of the PRISM System are not intended to be exhaustive – just enough to get you started on the subject matter. (Both articles and videos are included to acknowledge that people learn in different ways,) If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
1. Fixed vs. Growth: The two basic mindsets that shape our lives
MINDSETS ABOUT LEARNING
CONTINUOUS LEARNING
We’ve discussed the accelerating impact of technology on jobs. The result is an increasingly short lifespan of specific technical skills, typically 2-3 years. And the speed of technological change is impacting many different areas – biotechnology (gene-editing), material science (graphene), quantum mechanics (quantum entanglement), nanotechnology (water desalination), blockchain (supply chains), communications (5G). Some of these areas, such as quantum mechanics and graphene, change long-accepted scientific theory.
So, in many areas of the world of work, we all need to be continuously learning in order to be current in our awareness. New versions of software apps require upgrading our skills; How to apply new technologies needs to be understood; New methods must be recognized and learned.
Pity the professional generalist, such as a medical GP, for whom significant changes are being published monthly, if not weekly. This can become impossible for a human to keep up with, and encourages the use of AI-powered robots to support and eventually replace the humans.
An often-quoted statistic is that much of what university students learn in 1st year pure and applied science studies is outdated by the time they graduate. If, as we have established, the students will need to be learning continuously for the rest of their working careers, then is the concept of a 3- or 4-year university course that precedes employment a logical option – other than to learn basic principles or satisfy professional certification requirements?
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Continuous Learning is reflected in all 11 of the skills discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT CONTINUOUS LEARNING
* The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. (Alvin Toffler)
* The day you stop learning is the day you begin decaying. (Isaac Asimov)
* Be open to learning new lessons even if they contradict the lessons you learned yesterday. (Ellen DeGeneres)
* The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. (Stephen Hawking)
* As Thomas Sowell has written, “The Neanderthal in his cave had all the physical resources we have today.” The difference between the cavemen and us is the accumulation of knowledge. (George Gilder)
* Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. (Mahatma Gandhi)
CONTINUOUS LEARNING REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
1. Continuous Learning: A Guide for Your Business
COMPOUNDING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES WITH CONVERGENCE
In 1965, Gordon Moore, one of the co-founders of Intel, noticed that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit was doubling every year or two, and forecasted that this would continue for at least a decade. Over 50 years later, the exponential growth of technology is still a reflection of Moore’s Law, when applied to the latest technology (and cost has been halving too).
Some argue that Moore’s Law is outdated – and they may be right technically – but Cerebras has just announced an AI chip with 1.2 trillion transistors!
Accelerating technologies by themselves can have substantial impacts on businesses and society. But those impacts are dwarfed by what happens when technologies are converging, which is what we are and will be experiencing during the 2020s.
Let’s look at autonomous cars as an example. In addition to AI itself, the technologies converging to make autonomous cars a practical reality include sensor, battery, and G5 communications.
It is human nature to think of linear timelines! We all do that – which is why most forecasts of technological advances have been too conservative, even within the AI field. For example, in 2015, a survey of 352 AI experts predicted that it would take 12 years for a machine to beat a GO champion, when in fact it took 2 years!
Wherever we work, technology is impacting our work – and, if it doesn’t appear to be doing so directly, then it is impacting us indirectly through the organizations we work with. It is vital in order to protect our jobs or to make wise choices about a change of job, that we maintain awareness of technological advances that have the potential to impact our work further (and most do and will have their impact much faster than most uninformed people expect).
The need for a mindset that recognizes Compounding Technological Advances with Convergence is reflected in the skills of Cognitive Flexibility, Critical Thinking and Creativity discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT COMPOUNDING TECHNOLOGY
* Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. (Arthur C. Clarke)
* If we had a reliable way to label our toys good and bad, it would be easy to regulate technology wisely. But we can rarely see far enough ahead to know which road leads to damnation. (Freeman Dyson)
* Technological advance is rapid. But without progress in charity, technological advance is useless. Indeed, it is worse than useless. (Aldous Huxley)
* Technology…is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. (C. P. Snow)
* Technology evolves so much faster than wisdom. (Jennifer Stone)
* Reforms always create winners and losers, and the losers will always fight harder than the winners. (Danny Kahneman)
COMPOUNDING TECHNOLOGY REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
1. Why technology is accelerating
2. Technology feels like it’s accelerating — because it actually is
COMPUTER COGNITION
Computers are now an essential part of our lives. Most of us have one at home, whether it is a desktop, laptop or notebook. And then there are smart phones, which are just powerful computers in very small cases. And there are even nanobots, which are tiny computers that go to places that we can’t. And now we are entering a time when many everyday items, like watches and fridges and lamps, have a small computer hidden inside them which can communicate with the outside world. As you probably know, it’s called the Internet of Things, and it means that almost everything is or will be connected. Great for collecting data to be used by Artificial Intelligence algorithms, but a bit of a worry when we consider privacy issues!
Computers are the basic engines for most technological advances. They change our work environment, and, if we want to use them effectively, we need to understand what they can do, their strengths and their limitations. That doesn’t mean to say that we need to be able to program them ourselves; just that we know that someone (or something) needs to program them. And this requirement doesn’t just apply to computers, but also to the rest of their environment, such as communications technology, the internet, sensors, etc.
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Computer Cognition, which we might otherwise call Digital Literacy, is reflected in the skills of Complex Problem Solving and Critical Thinking discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT COMPUTER COGNITION
* I think there’s a world market for about 5 computers.” (Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board, IBM, circa 1948)
* It would appear that we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in 5 years. (John Von Neumann, circa 1949)
* If you automate a mess, you get an automated mess. (Rod Michael)
COMPUTER COGNITION REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
CORE PRINCIPLES
There is a saying that “Methods are many; Principles are few. Methods always change; Principles never do.” I remember teaching business systems design at Simon Fraser University in the 1970s, and talking of the importance of backing up programs and data. I also taught that the responsibility of a systems designer was to protect computer users from themselves. Both principles apply today 40 years later (and are frequently ignored), even though the methods to do so are vastly different.
It is very difficult to keep learning skills that need to be re-learned a year or two later, even though we must. The best way to deal with it is to drill down into a skill, and learn the underpinning principles. Then, when a new variation comes along, you can more easily understand and master it.
An effective way to discover the underlying principles is to question why something is done or designed the way it is – and then to question why the answer was chosen. Repeat this process until you end up finding no deeper explanation – and there you have a core principle.
When designing a system, try to define and implement the general case of everything that is required, so that, when the specifics change, your design will still work.
(Yes, that was another principle I taught and one I practised! When my business partner Ron Dragushan and I designed a complex multi-time-period, multi-union payroll system in the mid-70s, we used generic definitions that allowed the system to be updated annually for over 20 years!)
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Core Principles is reflected in all five of the skills classified as Internal Skills in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT CORE PRINCIPLES
* Circumstances should never alter principles! (Oscar Wilde)
* Important principles may, and must, be inflexible. (Abraham Lincoln)
CORE PRINCIPLES REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
MINDSETS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
CLIENT ORIENTATION
A business only survives long term if it sells quality products or services that clients (or customers) want at a price that provides good value. In addition, the client needs to have both a quality experience in acquiring and using the product or service, and positive experiences in any contacts with customer service and other support services subsequent to the sale.
Every employee, however remote from direct client contact, needs to think from the viewpoint of those clients, without whom there would be no business.
As employees, we also serve internal clients, including our supervisor and their management structure, and sometimes other departments. This requires us to think like an independent contractor!
Overall, we always need to remember that our jobs exist because our skills are needed by our employer – which does not imply entitlement, so much as appreciation. As paid jobs become scarcer, an attitude of gratitude that we are employed is desirable, even when we know our skills are essential for our employer.
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Client Orientation is reflected in the skills of Communication and sometimes Cross-cultural Competence discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT CLIENT ORIENTATION
* Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. (Bill Gates)
* Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company. (Tony Hsieh)
* I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. (Maya Angelou)
CLIENT ORIENTATION REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
COMPLEX INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Today, the options when communicating with others are many – we can talk, write, text, email, instant message, and on-line chat and post – to almost anywhere in the world. (Have I forgotten anything?) In addition, we have to learn to work with virtual assistants, who may be robots, and robots themselves, which may be involved in our workplace.
This involves complexities that we all must deal with if we are to communicate effectively – and effective communication is key to becoming a valuable employee or successful professional.
Most messages are sent immediately, and can be replied to almost immediately. This provides wonderful functionality, but it comes at a cost. Over 60% of interpersonal communication is non-verbal, which includes tone of voice, facial expression, and body positioning. This is a major challenge when you can’t see the other person (unless they’re sitting at the table across from you). Emojis don’t really help much!
There is a 7-word sentence “I did not say he stole money” which has 7 different meanings as you emphasize each of the words. Try it! Then think how you would communicate each meaning in a text message or email!
The speed of communication does not provide the reflection time that we used to have. A few, but not all, email systems provide the functionality to recover an email within a specific time after sending it. And haven’t we all sent emails, and then regretted pressing ‘Send’ – or realized that we sent it to the wrong person, or remembered something else that we intended to include? I know I have! (The total number of emails sent without the intended attachment must be enormous!)
Communication is getting even more complicated as the people we interact with come from different cultures and speak different languages. Help will come from new technology, currently under development, in which a group of people, each speaking a different language, will talk to each other – and each person will hear what is being said in their own language (and it will still sound like the speaker is speaking). Of course in the early stages of this technology, we can expect egregious examples of bad translation! But the functionality does not get around the need to phrase our communications appropriately for our audience’s culture. And how do we handle talking to a group of people from different cultures?
Complex communication is another reality that we will be living with in our world of work, especially as work team become increasingly diverse in culture and geographic location. It is up to us to be aware of the pitfalls, and minimize them.
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Complex Interpersonal Communication is reflected in the skills of Communication and Cross-cultural Competence discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT COMPLEX INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
* The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. (Author Unidentified)
* Sometimes there is greater lack of communication in facile talking than in silence. (Faith Baldwin)
* In the last analysis, what we are communicates far more eloquently and persuasively than what we say or even anything we do. (Stephen R. Covey)
* You must possess at the same time the habit of communicating and the habit of listening. The union is rather rare, but irresistible. (Benjamin Disraeli)
* The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said. (Peter F. Drucker)
COMPLEX INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
MINDSETS ABOUT PERSONAL ATTITUDE
COMFORT WITH CHANGE
There are 3 approaches to change that we can choose: We can oppose it (negative); We can accept it (passive); Or, we can embrace it (positive).
Nobody enjoys change (I certainly don’t), but we need to do more than just accept that the world as we know it is changing rapidly – we need to embrace the changes! Accept that they are inevitable, and look for where they can benefit us (and our families). Every time something changes, there are opportunities for those who are looking for them.
Embracing change isn’t really an option for anyone currently in the workforce. (I have friends who have retired, and are grateful that they don’t have to adjust to all the changes they see where they used to work.) Every job is impacted by technology in some way, and, if we ignore that, we will be the first ones to lose our jobs.
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Comfort with Change is reflected in all 11 skills discussed in Step 5, except perhaps Conflict Management.
QUOTES ABOUT COMFORT WITH CHANGE
* The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. (Alan Watts)
* Change means movement. Movement means friction. (Saul Alinsky)
* We must change in order to survive. (Pearl Bailey)
* They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. (Confucius)
* Funny thing about change, it’s like pulling off a bandage. Hurts like hell when you do it, but you always feel better after. (Danny Devito)
* People who appear to be resisting change may simply be the victim of bad habits. Habit, like gravity, never takes a day off. (Paul Gibbons)
* If a day goes by that don’t change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk a dead cow. (Woody Guthrie)
* In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. (Eric Hoffer)
* Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found. (Anne Morrow Lindbergh)
* Ignorance is always afraid of change. It fears the unknown and sticks to its rut, however miserable it may be there. In its blindness it stumbles on anyhow. (Jawaharlal Nehru)
* Change is the process by which the future invades our lives. (Alvin Toffler)
* Failure is not fatal but failure to change might be. (John Wooden)
* It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. (Charles Darwin)
COMFORT WITH CHANGE REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
1. How to get comfortable with the discomfort of change
2. Take these steps to become comfortable with change
3. How to get more comfortable with change
4. Don’t let a good crisis go to waste. Instead, use it as a catalyst for innovation
CURIOSITY
New technologies developed to resolve a particular problem class may often be applicable to resolve problems or achieve automation in a completely different area. And once a new application has been identified, a range of other applications may become obvious. It is curiosity that triggers these discoveries.
Imagine how valuable an employee we may become if we identify and promote new technological applications for our employer that improve profitability or customer experience!
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Curiosity is reflected in the skills of Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Coaching and Mentoring, and Cross-cultural Competence discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT CURIOSITY
* Curiosity is a core building block for professional growth. (Curiosity Is Your Super Power, TedX 2018)
* AI is a sword of Damocles hanging over many jobs; Curiosity is the shield. (Curiosity Is Your Super Power, TedX 2018)
* If you bring curiosity to your work it will cease to be merely a job and become a door through which you enter the best that life has to give you. (Robertson Davies)
* Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas. (Marie Curie)
* Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. (Samuel Johnson)
* Curiosity is the key to creativity. (Akio Morita)
* The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. (Ellen Parr)
* Curiosity is the beginning of wisdom. (Françoise Sagan)
* Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. (Zora Neale Hurston)
* The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards. (Anatole France)
* I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. (Albert Einstein)
* Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. (Tony Schwartz)
CURIOSITY REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
CAN-DO POSITIVE ATTITUDE
A positive attitude linked with action always makes a positive contribution to any team’s performance. It is not enough to just be optimistic; The optimism must be reflected in achievement.
When automation is implemented in an organization, especially if jobs are eliminated, the atmosphere amongst the survivors may be negative. Those that stay positive make a significant contribution to productivity, and are the employees that management will want to keep.
The need for a mindset that emphasizes a Positive Attitude is reflected in all skills discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT CAN-DO POSITIVE ATTITUDE
* If you can quit, quit. If you can’t quit, stop complaining – this is what you chose. (Joe Konrath)
* It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack. (Germany Kent)
* Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction. (Germany Kent)
* All I can control is myself and just keep having a positive attitude. (Rose Namajunas)
* Always go into meetings or negotiations with a positive attitude. Tell yourself you’re going to make this the best deal for all parties. (Natalie Massenet)
* Never complain about that which you tolerate. (Mike Murdoch)
CAN-DO POSITIVE ATTITUDE REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.
- 18 simple ways to keep a positive attitude at work
- What is positive mindset: 89 ways to achieve a positive mental attitude
OTHER MINDSETS
COMPLEMENTARY COMPENSATION
Whether we are employed, or are contractors in the so-called gig economy, or even if we’re self-employed, there is a major risk in relying on only one source of income.
The accelerating impact of technologies not only increases the likelihood of our primary income source being automated, but also increases the competition for whatever work remains.
Certainly, the mindsets we are discussing are designed to help us be employed longer than most. That shouldn’t stop us from taking sensible precautions.
So, if we are employed, it is wise to develop a side income, known as a side hustle. BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHOULD THIS REDUCE OUR COMMITMENT TO OUR CURRENT JOB AND EMPLOYER. (I know – easy to say, but very hard to do! The issue is our personal integrity, and that should never be compromised.)
Similarly, as a contractor or self-employed, we need to avoid being primarily dependent on a single client or customer. Wherever possible, we should avoid dependence on a single skill or industry.
If we decide to start up a business while employed, it is wise to build the business until its income is comparable with our employment income before quitting. (People who do this are called ‘chicken entrepreneurs.’) The tempting alternative is to quit to start the business, and maybe then find that our income expectations will not be met!
There is an associated mindset – the entrepreneurial mindset. This is best illustrated by reading Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad’s Four Quadrant Theory’.
The ESBI Quadrants represent the stepping stones from being an Employee (paid for our time by an employer) to being Self-employed (working for ourself, but still being paid for our time) to being a Businessperson (whose business system that we control will still operate when we are not there) to being an Investor (who invests in other people’s businesses).
If we have ES thinking, then we think about how much money we are being paid for our time. The BI entrepreneurial mindset involves thinking about how much value our product or service or money provides, and charging accordingly.
The need for a mindset that emphasizes Complementary Compensation is reflected in the skill of Career Pivoting discussed in Step 5.
QUOTES ABOUT COMPLEMENTARY COMPENSATION
* Never depend on a single income. Make investments to create a second source. (Warren Buffet)
* It is not the economy that determines your income, it is your own personal development. (Mac Duke)
* The greater the passive income you can build, the freer you will become. (Todd M. Fleming)
* Learn to fish (income), share your fish (community service), teach others to fish (multiply yourself). Then find another sidestream, with different fish (diversify income). And before THAT sidestream dries up, plant a garden (manage risk), like Thomas Jefferson (genius) would have done. (Jennifer Ritchie Payette)
COMPLEMENTARY COMPENSATION REFERENCES
If you encounter a particularly noteworthy reference, please do send us a comment with the details.