The Niche Movement Founder Kevin O’Connell returns to podcasting with Dustin Ramsdell to discuss working for yourself, building personal brands, and establishing careers in higher education.
Seeking Out Good Problems to Have (and solve!)
One of our contributing editors, Dustin Ramsdell, is trying to live off the mantra "don’t try to find the perfect life with no problems, find one with good problems to have that you enjoying solving." He has realized that "perfect" is an unrealistic expectation not worth trying to meet. You will never find the perfect job, the perfect relationship, or the perfect life, and that's okay. It's supposed to be like that. We’re always going to have issues arise in our lives, so we have to accept that, and work to create environments where we don’t mind solving the problems that do come up.
How to Make Time For What You Love
“You make time for what you want to make time for.”
This is something I say to people often. It can apply to anything and speaks to what we value and what we make space for in our lives. Whether it is volunteering, starting your own venture, or networking, there is always more that we can do with our time to achieve our goals. But often, I find that people suffer from inertia. They get stuck in the routine of what they've always done or whatever is easiest. Time is a finite resource. When we "save" it, it isn't going into some bank to use later. We have to make the most of the time that is given to us.
3 Lessons to Build an Original Personal Brand
Being geeky has always been a part of me. So much so that I made it my professional “brand” (which I put in air quotes since branding can be a loaded term but it’s the best way to capture a professional identity). I created the moniker “Higher Ed Geek” for myself several years back as a way to capture who I am, what I care about, and a way to distinguish myself in a crowded world.