9 Lessons for Building a Purposeful Career in the Air Era
I’ve made a lot of online content about career profiling over the last few years.
And you know, at the beginning, maybe the approach was more about passion.
About doing what your astrology chart says you are “meant to do”.
For many people, that was a fun mental exercise.
But, as you can expect, most people ultimately decided to stay in their conventional jobs because of the security of a paycheck.
But the situation has changed drastically in the past few years.
Especially since 2020.
First, people thought it was because of Covid.
Then came the work-from-home trend.
Then wars.
Then big MNC retrenchment exercises.
Then Trump.
And now, the Middle East is disrupting supplies around the world.
But if you’ve followed my content for a while, you’ll know that astrologically, something much bigger has been happening.
The world officially moved out of the Earth Era and 100% into the Air Era from 2020 onwards.
And this is why many of our old Earth Era ways of doing things simply no longer work.
Now, if you’re new here, I promise you that astrology is not mumbo jumbo when it is done by a genuinely skilled and technical astrologer.
I’ve put plenty of links to my other videos explaining the Earth-to-Air Era transition below.
But after spending 22 years helping people pursue purpose, I want to share some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned if you are looking to build a purposeful career that is relevant and enduring from this year onwards.
And you know, at the beginning, maybe the approach was more about passion.
About doing what your astrology chart says you are “meant to do”.
For many people, that was a fun mental exercise.
But, as you can expect, most people ultimately decided to stay in their conventional jobs because of the security of a paycheck.
But the situation has changed drastically in the past few years.
Especially since 2020.
First, people thought it was because of Covid.
Then came the work-from-home trend.
Then wars.
Then big MNC retrenchment exercises.
Then Trump.
And now, the Middle East is disrupting supplies around the world.
But if you’ve followed my content for a while, you’ll know that astrologically, something much bigger has been happening.
The world officially moved out of the Earth Era and 100% into the Air Era from 2020 onwards.
And this is why many of our old Earth Era ways of doing things simply no longer work.
Now, if you’re new here, I promise you that astrology is not mumbo jumbo when it is done by a genuinely skilled and technical astrologer.
I’ve put plenty of links to my other videos explaining the Earth-to-Air Era transition below.
But after spending 22 years helping people pursue purpose, I want to share some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned if you are looking to build a purposeful career that is relevant and enduring from this year onwards.
1. Purpose Is Not The Same Thing As Charity
I hear this all the time.
People say things like:
“I want a purposeful life.”
“But I have bills to pay.”
And it always strikes me that so many people assume that a purposeful career means doing things for free or cheap.
Think about that for a moment.
You are basically saying:
“I could do this wonderful thing, but no one would pay me for it.”
That’s not necessarily the best view of the world.
And psychologically, I think this can be very damaging.
Because once you accept that purpose = cannot make a living, you are also accepting that:
In order to make a living, I must sacrifice purpose.
I sincerely believe this is one of the most damaging beliefs contributing to unhappiness in society today.
It is why so many people accept that their careers have to be soulless.
They assume that if they want to make money, they have to give up doing something meaningful.
So we need a fundamental mindset shift.
Purpose can equal making a living.
In fact, I would argue that it should.
One of the major reasons I became an astrologer and started helping people with career profiling is because I sincerely believe that if everyone understood that they could build a purposeful career and make a living from doing something good in the world, many of the world's problems would take care of themselves.
Just putting that out there.
People say things like:
“I want a purposeful life.”
“But I have bills to pay.”
And it always strikes me that so many people assume that a purposeful career means doing things for free or cheap.
Think about that for a moment.
You are basically saying:
“I could do this wonderful thing, but no one would pay me for it.”
That’s not necessarily the best view of the world.
And psychologically, I think this can be very damaging.
Because once you accept that purpose = cannot make a living, you are also accepting that:
In order to make a living, I must sacrifice purpose.
I sincerely believe this is one of the most damaging beliefs contributing to unhappiness in society today.
It is why so many people accept that their careers have to be soulless.
They assume that if they want to make money, they have to give up doing something meaningful.
So we need a fundamental mindset shift.
Purpose can equal making a living.
In fact, I would argue that it should.
One of the major reasons I became an astrologer and started helping people with career profiling is because I sincerely believe that if everyone understood that they could build a purposeful career and make a living from doing something good in the world, many of the world's problems would take care of themselves.
Just putting that out there.
2. Your Skills Are More Than What's On Your CV
In the Earth Era, especially over the past 200 or so years, the concept of “skills” was largely repackaged into:
What can you do for your job?
Look at most resumes.
Under “Skills”, you’ll see things like:
• Linux
• Adobe Photoshop
• Project Management
• Preparing Monthly P&L
• Data Analysis, etc.
Most people don’t even think of it as a skill if it isn't anything that you can’t put on a CV.
But some of the most jaw-dropping skills a person can have never appear on a resume.
Think about the airline front-desk person who can calm down someone who has just missed their flight.
They can quickly understand the situation.
They can reassure the customer.
They can find another route.
They can solve the problem while everyone else is panicking.
Or think about the person who keeps an entire office laughing and joking through the hardest times.
These skills are unique and rare.
And they can be incredibly valuable when you find them.
Yet they almost never appear on a resume.
And tragically, most people don’t even think of them as skills.
I remember an astrology student I had from Canada.
Her name was Olivia.
She introduced herself as someone working in a very boring corporate job.
During one of our classes, she discovered that she had a strong 5th House emphasis in her astrology chart.
In astrology, the 5th House is associated with things like hobbies, creativity, expression, children and youth.
She was extremely skeptical.
She said:
“I’m not a creative person at all.”
And none of her careers had anything to do with creativity.
I knew that in the back of her mind she was probably thinking:
“Yeah, I’m not really sure this astrology thing works.”
So I asked her whether she had ever been really happy in any of her previous jobs.
As you might expect, every single one of them had felt just as soulless as her current job.
So I told her to stick with the process.
A couple of lessons later, she started sharing with the class about how she had actually built part of her house.
It turns out Olivia was a carpenter.
And you should have seen her face light up when she talked about carpentry.
She loved it.
She also loved teaching it to her nieces and nephews.
She said something along the lines of:
“Better than kids looking at screens all the time.”
After the class ended, Olivia started teaching carpentry workshops from her home in the city.
So when people tell me:
“May, I have no skills.”
“You’re so lucky. You have astrology. But I have no skills.”
That’s bullshit.
It is simply not true that you have no skills.
I became a professional astrologer because I went professional.
Not because I had astrology.
You have skills.
The real question is:
Are you willing to go professional?
What can you do for your job?
Look at most resumes.
Under “Skills”, you’ll see things like:
• Linux
• Adobe Photoshop
• Project Management
• Preparing Monthly P&L
• Data Analysis, etc.
Most people don’t even think of it as a skill if it isn't anything that you can’t put on a CV.
But some of the most jaw-dropping skills a person can have never appear on a resume.
Think about the airline front-desk person who can calm down someone who has just missed their flight.
They can quickly understand the situation.
They can reassure the customer.
They can find another route.
They can solve the problem while everyone else is panicking.
Or think about the person who keeps an entire office laughing and joking through the hardest times.
These skills are unique and rare.
And they can be incredibly valuable when you find them.
Yet they almost never appear on a resume.
And tragically, most people don’t even think of them as skills.
I remember an astrology student I had from Canada.
Her name was Olivia.
She introduced herself as someone working in a very boring corporate job.
During one of our classes, she discovered that she had a strong 5th House emphasis in her astrology chart.
In astrology, the 5th House is associated with things like hobbies, creativity, expression, children and youth.
She was extremely skeptical.
She said:
“I’m not a creative person at all.”
And none of her careers had anything to do with creativity.
I knew that in the back of her mind she was probably thinking:
“Yeah, I’m not really sure this astrology thing works.”
So I asked her whether she had ever been really happy in any of her previous jobs.
As you might expect, every single one of them had felt just as soulless as her current job.
So I told her to stick with the process.
A couple of lessons later, she started sharing with the class about how she had actually built part of her house.
It turns out Olivia was a carpenter.
And you should have seen her face light up when she talked about carpentry.
She loved it.
She also loved teaching it to her nieces and nephews.
She said something along the lines of:
“Better than kids looking at screens all the time.”
After the class ended, Olivia started teaching carpentry workshops from her home in the city.
So when people tell me:
“May, I have no skills.”
“You’re so lucky. You have astrology. But I have no skills.”
That’s bullshit.
It is simply not true that you have no skills.
I became a professional astrologer because I went professional.
Not because I had astrology.
You have skills.
The real question is:
Are you willing to go professional?
3. Career Status Will Transform In The Air Era
Sometimes, when I do a career profile for a client, things get a little awkward.
Especially when their chart describes what appears to be a “low-status career”.
I remember a woman I consulted years ago.
She held a senior position in an airline but she was deeply unhappy.
Her astrology profile described someone who would find purpose in giving advice about beauty and aesthetics to female customers.
And she needed to do it directly, through her physical presence.
So I joked with her:
“If I didn’t know you had such a senior corporate position, I might suggest that your dream job is being a handbag salesperson in a shopping mall.”
I wasn’t sure whether she would be offended.
But to my surprise, she said:
“Actually, I DID have that job when I was a teenager.”
She had worked as a holiday-job handbag salesperson.
And those few months had been some of the happiest months of her life.
Then she became increasingly senior in her corporate career.
And eventually, she felt like it was impossible to “demote” herself back to selling handbags.
But here’s the question.
Is it really true that some jobs are better than others?
If so, why was this woman miserable as a Senior Manager in an airline while loving her time standing for hours in a shopping mall selling handbags?
Apart from salary and income, how exactly do we determine that one career is “better” than another?
And here’s the irony.
If she remains in the airline industry today, her chances of being affected by retrenchment could be significant.
But if she built a career around helping women understand how to dress, carry themselves, feel beautiful and feel classy, she could potentially thrive in the Air Era.
This is one of the major shifts I expect to see.
Career status will transform.
In the past, we tended to think that bankers, senior managers and accountants had higher status than puppeteers, makeup artists or bakers.
But really, the differentiating factor was often just income.
And many high-paying corporate jobs are generic and replaceable.
Which means automation can easily come for them.
In contrast, careers that express your unique and personal contribution are likely to become increasingly valuable.
Especially when their chart describes what appears to be a “low-status career”.
I remember a woman I consulted years ago.
She held a senior position in an airline but she was deeply unhappy.
Her astrology profile described someone who would find purpose in giving advice about beauty and aesthetics to female customers.
And she needed to do it directly, through her physical presence.
So I joked with her:
“If I didn’t know you had such a senior corporate position, I might suggest that your dream job is being a handbag salesperson in a shopping mall.”
I wasn’t sure whether she would be offended.
But to my surprise, she said:
“Actually, I DID have that job when I was a teenager.”
She had worked as a holiday-job handbag salesperson.
And those few months had been some of the happiest months of her life.
Then she became increasingly senior in her corporate career.
And eventually, she felt like it was impossible to “demote” herself back to selling handbags.
But here’s the question.
Is it really true that some jobs are better than others?
If so, why was this woman miserable as a Senior Manager in an airline while loving her time standing for hours in a shopping mall selling handbags?
Apart from salary and income, how exactly do we determine that one career is “better” than another?
And here’s the irony.
If she remains in the airline industry today, her chances of being affected by retrenchment could be significant.
But if she built a career around helping women understand how to dress, carry themselves, feel beautiful and feel classy, she could potentially thrive in the Air Era.
This is one of the major shifts I expect to see.
Career status will transform.
In the past, we tended to think that bankers, senior managers and accountants had higher status than puppeteers, makeup artists or bakers.
But really, the differentiating factor was often just income.
And many high-paying corporate jobs are generic and replaceable.
Which means automation can easily come for them.
In contrast, careers that express your unique and personal contribution are likely to become increasingly valuable.
4. Don't Let Your Living Depend Entirely On One Entity
Too many people allow their entire income to be determined by one company and one management team.
This is why retrenchments are so frightening.
One decision can reduce your income from 100% to zero.
But this goes far beyond employees.
I’ve spoken with many business owners recently, and too many businesses are dependent on one major customer.
For example, businesses that rely heavily on government tenders. If they lose that one major paymaster, they are in serious trouble.
The same principle applies to investments and side hustles.
You don’t want to build your entire livelihood around one investment source, one e-commerce platform or one marketplace.
Because if that platform cuts you off, you could suddenly be left with nothing.
The recent situation in the Middle East illustrates this principle very clearly.
If your supply of crude oil, helium or fertilisers comes from only one place, you have a problem.
You need to diversify.
The same applies to your career.
Be open to multiple sources of income, have a wider range of activities and serve multiple markets if you can.
Astrologically, it is possible to identify a wide range of skills that you can potentially practice professionally.
I’ll use myself as an example, my income comes from seeing clients one-to-one.
But I also:
• Sell tickets for large-scale events.
• Earn teaching fees from courses.
• Conduct workshops for corporate brands.
• Collaborate with other experts.
• Write books and articles.
• Make YouTube videos.
The world changes very quickly and you want to have a range of activities that gives you flexibility in what you do and flexibility in how you earn.
This is why retrenchments are so frightening.
One decision can reduce your income from 100% to zero.
But this goes far beyond employees.
I’ve spoken with many business owners recently, and too many businesses are dependent on one major customer.
For example, businesses that rely heavily on government tenders. If they lose that one major paymaster, they are in serious trouble.
The same principle applies to investments and side hustles.
You don’t want to build your entire livelihood around one investment source, one e-commerce platform or one marketplace.
Because if that platform cuts you off, you could suddenly be left with nothing.
The recent situation in the Middle East illustrates this principle very clearly.
If your supply of crude oil, helium or fertilisers comes from only one place, you have a problem.
You need to diversify.
The same applies to your career.
Be open to multiple sources of income, have a wider range of activities and serve multiple markets if you can.
Astrologically, it is possible to identify a wide range of skills that you can potentially practice professionally.
I’ll use myself as an example, my income comes from seeing clients one-to-one.
But I also:
• Sell tickets for large-scale events.
• Earn teaching fees from courses.
• Conduct workshops for corporate brands.
• Collaborate with other experts.
• Write books and articles.
• Make YouTube videos.
The world changes very quickly and you want to have a range of activities that gives you flexibility in what you do and flexibility in how you earn.
5. Don't Do Opportunistic, Generic Projects Just For The Money
Building on the previous point, we’ve seen a lot of people flailing around in recent years looking for money-making opportunities.
• Investment groups.
• Trading.
• Property.
• Cryptocurrency.
• Co-living studios.
• E-commerce, etc.
Especially among people in their 40s and 50s, there is often a search for magic words like:
"Passive income.”
“Retire early.”
Now, I maintain that a purposeful career does not mean you shouldn’t make money.
Of course you should make money, but if you do something purely for money, there is no purpose in it.
In extreme cases, you get people who don’t really care what they invest in as long as it makes money or conduct businesses that take an extremely extractive approach where profit maximisation becomes the only objective.
And this is how you end up with crappy businesses.
For example, extremely cramped co-living spaces that aren’t even properly liveable or investment schemes that feel scammy and exploitative.
There is another problem.
When a group of people come together purely to make money, everyone has an incentive to cut everyone else out if it means they can make more money.
That’s not a very secure environment, especially if what you are looking for is security.
So if you’re trying to build a purposeful career from now on, be selective about who you work with and my tip is:
If you want to work with purposeful people, you need to be purposeful yourself.
Which means you have to ask yourself an uncomfortable question:
“Am I here just for the money, or is there a bigger reason why I’m here?”
• Investment groups.
• Trading.
• Property.
• Cryptocurrency.
• Co-living studios.
• E-commerce, etc.
Especially among people in their 40s and 50s, there is often a search for magic words like:
"Passive income.”
“Retire early.”
Now, I maintain that a purposeful career does not mean you shouldn’t make money.
Of course you should make money, but if you do something purely for money, there is no purpose in it.
In extreme cases, you get people who don’t really care what they invest in as long as it makes money or conduct businesses that take an extremely extractive approach where profit maximisation becomes the only objective.
And this is how you end up with crappy businesses.
For example, extremely cramped co-living spaces that aren’t even properly liveable or investment schemes that feel scammy and exploitative.
There is another problem.
When a group of people come together purely to make money, everyone has an incentive to cut everyone else out if it means they can make more money.
That’s not a very secure environment, especially if what you are looking for is security.
So if you’re trying to build a purposeful career from now on, be selective about who you work with and my tip is:
If you want to work with purposeful people, you need to be purposeful yourself.
Which means you have to ask yourself an uncomfortable question:
“Am I here just for the money, or is there a bigger reason why I’m here?”
6. If Your Product Is AI, You Are Screwed
Okay, AI is the golden child now.
Whenever I attend entrepreneurship events, it feels like AI is everywhere.
If you don’t “AI”, you’re apparently last century.
But from my perspective, not every business needs AI.
In fact, in some cases, incorporating AI completely defeats the purpose of the service.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather call a hotline than talk to a chatbot almost 100% of the time.
And this raises an important question.
AI companies are trying to IPO at valuations worth billions of dollars, but where is the revenue going to come from?
I recently polled my Mastermind audience and it seemed like almost everyone uses AI for free.
Even those who use multiple AI tools for different purposes generally don’t pay very much for them.
So where exactly is AI going?
Now, if your “purpose-driven new career” is essentially an AI product, think carefully.
Optimisation tends to make everything more similar.
Articles written by LLMs often sound similar.
AI-generated designs can look similar.
If everything becomes increasingly similar, customers eventually buy based on price and convenience.
And someone will always offer it cheaper, maybe even for free.
So if you’re trying to build a purposeful career that you can make a living from, I wouldn’t suggest making AI itself your product.
Use AI as a tool, but don’t necessarily make AI your product and don’t make it your USP.
Whenever I attend entrepreneurship events, it feels like AI is everywhere.
If you don’t “AI”, you’re apparently last century.
But from my perspective, not every business needs AI.
In fact, in some cases, incorporating AI completely defeats the purpose of the service.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather call a hotline than talk to a chatbot almost 100% of the time.
And this raises an important question.
AI companies are trying to IPO at valuations worth billions of dollars, but where is the revenue going to come from?
I recently polled my Mastermind audience and it seemed like almost everyone uses AI for free.
Even those who use multiple AI tools for different purposes generally don’t pay very much for them.
So where exactly is AI going?
Now, if your “purpose-driven new career” is essentially an AI product, think carefully.
Optimisation tends to make everything more similar.
Articles written by LLMs often sound similar.
AI-generated designs can look similar.
If everything becomes increasingly similar, customers eventually buy based on price and convenience.
And someone will always offer it cheaper, maybe even for free.
So if you’re trying to build a purposeful career that you can make a living from, I wouldn’t suggest making AI itself your product.
Use AI as a tool, but don’t necessarily make AI your product and don’t make it your USP.
7. People Buy YOU, Not Your Product
This builds directly on the AI conversation.
In the future, many products will be made fully or partially by AI and automation.
And if optimisation continues, products will increasingly look the same.
It’s already happening when you look at investment products, clothing, burgers, etc.
Many products in the market are essentially doing the same thing.
So companies compete on price or convenience.
And everyone races to the bottom.
In the Air Era, I believe the differentiating factor will increasingly be:
YOU.
Your style.
Your beliefs.
Your designs.
Your values.
Your communication.
Your quirks.
All of these things are quintessentially human.
And by definition, they are not optimised.
They will be inefficient, imperfect and sometimes bizarre.
And that is exactly why they can be valuable.
This is why someone will buy your crazy T-shirt.
They’ll attend your forest-bathing sessions.
They’ll try your weird cocktail blends.
They’ll attend your intense gym sessions.
They’re not necessarily buying the product, they’re buying you.
So if you want to make a living in the Air Era:
Don’t just sell a product. Sell YOU.
In the future, many products will be made fully or partially by AI and automation.
And if optimisation continues, products will increasingly look the same.
It’s already happening when you look at investment products, clothing, burgers, etc.
Many products in the market are essentially doing the same thing.
So companies compete on price or convenience.
And everyone races to the bottom.
In the Air Era, I believe the differentiating factor will increasingly be:
YOU.
Your style.
Your beliefs.
Your designs.
Your values.
Your communication.
Your quirks.
All of these things are quintessentially human.
And by definition, they are not optimised.
They will be inefficient, imperfect and sometimes bizarre.
And that is exactly why they can be valuable.
This is why someone will buy your crazy T-shirt.
They’ll attend your forest-bathing sessions.
They’ll try your weird cocktail blends.
They’ll attend your intense gym sessions.
They’re not necessarily buying the product, they’re buying you.
So if you want to make a living in the Air Era:
Don’t just sell a product. Sell YOU.
8. Purpose Is About WHO, Not WHAT
This one is really important.
I think the self-help industry has turned “Purpose” into something incredibly shiny.
Something like becoming the Dalai Lama or winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
But purpose doesn't have to be glamorous.
In Mandarin, the word for purpose, 作用 (zuòyòng), refers to usefulness.
And that’s really what purpose is.
You have to be useful.
That means helping someone solve a problem or helping someone get somewhere they want to go.
Purpose is therefore not necessarily about personal glamour.
It is not about becoming a superhero.
It is not about becoming famous.
It is about helping people.
And this is why, if you are seeking a purposeful career, you need to know:
Who is your natural audience?
So many people come to my classes or consultations and ask:
“May, what is my purpose?”
And I often tell them that’s a selfish question.
Because the assumption is that living a purposeful life is about you being able to tick the “purposeful” box.
Modern self-help can be very self-centred.
I think the better question is:
“Who is my purpose?”
When I do career profiling, this actually forms more than half of the profile.
• Who is your audience?
• Who are the people who mean something fundamental to you?
• What problem can you solve for them?
• What destination can you bring them to?
That is your life purpose.
Think of yourself as a Sherpa.
Your job is to guide your people up Mount Everest and you build a career around helping them get there.
That is how you build a purposeful career.
I think the self-help industry has turned “Purpose” into something incredibly shiny.
Something like becoming the Dalai Lama or winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
But purpose doesn't have to be glamorous.
In Mandarin, the word for purpose, 作用 (zuòyòng), refers to usefulness.
And that’s really what purpose is.
You have to be useful.
That means helping someone solve a problem or helping someone get somewhere they want to go.
Purpose is therefore not necessarily about personal glamour.
It is not about becoming a superhero.
It is not about becoming famous.
It is about helping people.
And this is why, if you are seeking a purposeful career, you need to know:
Who is your natural audience?
So many people come to my classes or consultations and ask:
“May, what is my purpose?”
And I often tell them that’s a selfish question.
Because the assumption is that living a purposeful life is about you being able to tick the “purposeful” box.
Modern self-help can be very self-centred.
I think the better question is:
“Who is my purpose?”
When I do career profiling, this actually forms more than half of the profile.
• Who is your audience?
• Who are the people who mean something fundamental to you?
• What problem can you solve for them?
• What destination can you bring them to?
That is your life purpose.
Think of yourself as a Sherpa.
Your job is to guide your people up Mount Everest and you build a career around helping them get there.
That is how you build a purposeful career.
9. Offer Yourself To Your Audience
Another thing many of us were taught not to do as employees in the Earth Era was to sell and market ourselves.
Unless you’re American, many cultures tend to see sales as crass, pushy or shameless.
So people tell me:
“I don’t want to do sales.”
“I don’t want to put myself out there.”
“I’m scared of rejection.”
“I feel funny asking people to pay me.”
But there’s an irony here.
These same people have no problem demanding that their company pay them a salary.
And frankly, somebody in the company had to do sales so that everyone could get paid.
So what exactly are you rejecting when you say:
“I don’t want to do sales”?
I think what most people are actually avoiding is something else.
They don’t want to be responsible for delivering an outcome to their customers.
If someone pays you for a haircut, you have to make them look good.
If they pay you for a consultation, you need to deliver something useful.
And suddenly, the possibility that someone might ask for their money back becomes real.
That is what you are actually afraid of.
You’re afraid you might be incompetent or dishonest (or perceived as dishonest).
So the skill you lack may not actually be sales but rather it may be communication.
You need to be able to explain what you are offering.
You need to communicate what people should expect.
You need practice delivering your service.
And you need quality feedback from your customers.
Once you have those three things, you become much more capable of meeting customer expectations.
And when you know you can deliver, you have much less trouble asking people to pay you.
In fact, you may eventually want to put yourself out there as much as possible.
Because solving problems for people is incredibly addictive and incredibly purposeful.
Unless you’re American, many cultures tend to see sales as crass, pushy or shameless.
So people tell me:
“I don’t want to do sales.”
“I don’t want to put myself out there.”
“I’m scared of rejection.”
“I feel funny asking people to pay me.”
But there’s an irony here.
These same people have no problem demanding that their company pay them a salary.
And frankly, somebody in the company had to do sales so that everyone could get paid.
So what exactly are you rejecting when you say:
“I don’t want to do sales”?
I think what most people are actually avoiding is something else.
They don’t want to be responsible for delivering an outcome to their customers.
If someone pays you for a haircut, you have to make them look good.
If they pay you for a consultation, you need to deliver something useful.
And suddenly, the possibility that someone might ask for their money back becomes real.
That is what you are actually afraid of.
You’re afraid you might be incompetent or dishonest (or perceived as dishonest).
So the skill you lack may not actually be sales but rather it may be communication.
You need to be able to explain what you are offering.
You need to communicate what people should expect.
You need practice delivering your service.
And you need quality feedback from your customers.
Once you have those three things, you become much more capable of meeting customer expectations.
And when you know you can deliver, you have much less trouble asking people to pay you.
In fact, you may eventually want to put yourself out there as much as possible.
Because solving problems for people is incredibly addictive and incredibly purposeful.
The Real Problem Isn't That We Will Run Out Of Jobs
Let me end with something a little more personal.
You might wonder why I have spent so many resources making videos and creating content about jobs, retrenchments, employment and purpose.
My biggest fear about the future of employment is actually not that everyone will become broke or that we’ll have no money.
Problems that can be solved with money are not necessarily real problems.
Food, shelter and resources are part of an economy. And the economy is a dynamic beast. It adjusts.
It has adjusted through every major era change in history.
What worries me is the possibility of a widespread existential crisis.
Because so many people have defined their identity through the careers they perform for a living.
It’s not just about salary.
It’s about where you stand in society.
It’s about how you see yourself.
It’s about whether you feel useful.
So imagine thousands or millions of people suddenly finding themselves with no job, no work and no contribution.
That could become an epidemic of purposelessness.
And no amount of government spending or free entertainment is going to fix that.
Many people say they want early retirement.
But there is a difference between choosing not to work and being unable to contribute.
A lack of work and service to society can become a curse of uselessness.
You might wonder why I have spent so many resources making videos and creating content about jobs, retrenchments, employment and purpose.
My biggest fear about the future of employment is actually not that everyone will become broke or that we’ll have no money.
Problems that can be solved with money are not necessarily real problems.
Food, shelter and resources are part of an economy. And the economy is a dynamic beast. It adjusts.
It has adjusted through every major era change in history.
What worries me is the possibility of a widespread existential crisis.
Because so many people have defined their identity through the careers they perform for a living.
It’s not just about salary.
It’s about where you stand in society.
It’s about how you see yourself.
It’s about whether you feel useful.
So imagine thousands or millions of people suddenly finding themselves with no job, no work and no contribution.
That could become an epidemic of purposelessness.
And no amount of government spending or free entertainment is going to fix that.
Many people say they want early retirement.
But there is a difference between choosing not to work and being unable to contribute.
A lack of work and service to society can become a curse of uselessness.
Your Next Career Is More Than Economic Security
So, if you’ve made it this far, whether you are an employee, business owner or professional, I want you to consider something.
If you build a new career from here onwards, this isn’t just about economic security.
It’s about anchoring your purpose in society.
It’s about finding a way to remain useful.
It’s about discovering what you can contribute.
And then building a career around it.
The world of work is changing.
And I don’t think the answer is simply to find another conventional job and hope that it lasts.
We need to rethink what a career actually is.
We need to rethink what skills are.
We need to rethink what “status” means.
We need to rethink how we make money.
And most importantly, we need to rethink what it means to have a purposeful life.
If you’d like my help in building the blueprint for your new career moving forward, you can contact the team to learn more about my career profiling and consultation work.
And if you’d like to hear me explain all of this in more detail, watch the full video.
There’s a lot more to unpack.
If you build a new career from here onwards, this isn’t just about economic security.
It’s about anchoring your purpose in society.
It’s about finding a way to remain useful.
It’s about discovering what you can contribute.
And then building a career around it.
The world of work is changing.
And I don’t think the answer is simply to find another conventional job and hope that it lasts.
We need to rethink what a career actually is.
We need to rethink what skills are.
We need to rethink what “status” means.
We need to rethink how we make money.
And most importantly, we need to rethink what it means to have a purposeful life.
If you’d like my help in building the blueprint for your new career moving forward, you can contact the team to learn more about my career profiling and consultation work.
And if you’d like to hear me explain all of this in more detail, watch the full video.
There’s a lot more to unpack.