Coming from the french middle-lower class, I believed in the degree myth. Here is my story (and hi, btw!).

[PiCo]

Hi everyone!

I'm brand new and as per protocol, this post is my introduction to the community and the reason I'm joining the forum.

Born in 1988, I grew up in a single-parent family with a small income in the suburbs of a big French city surrounded by sidewalker mentalities. Spoiler alert: english is not my first language, I apologize in advance for any grammar inconsistencies below

My specificity was to be very good at school without ever making any particular effort. This ease in studies - especially in "STEM" subjects where I constantly got top grades - led me naturally to an engineering degree. It made my parents proud and, therefore, myself too.

"You'll have a fulfilling job with a great salary! Yay!"

Sounds familiar, right?... And I tell you, this is a particularly trusted belief in France, where the sacredness of the diploma is high (the country having for a long time created its greatest minds through public institutions managed by a strong State).

Getting a degree from a renowned school was already a major social elevation for where I am from. However, I always felt that something was wrong. I have an interesting job, I speak 4 languages, I travel a lot and I earn a decent living, but I also feel like I am wasting my most precious resources:

My time and my freedom.

You see, my luck has been to develop a sharp taste for reading. Since I am 23 years old (i.e. the end of my student life), I freely read and study about 30 books a year, on all possible topics. My sidewalker environment has never been a conducive context for self-improvment, yet I have had many mentors in my life. Mentors I have never met in person, but whose books I have devoured. This has allowed me to continually expand and practice my personal and interpersonal skills.

The accumulation of these readings has taught me much more than my studies. In five years of university I learned to diagonalize orthogonal matrices and to deconvolute Fourier transforms, and yet this has never been as useful and meaningful as Marcus Aurelius' meditations, the work of D.Kahneman, or the teachings of Montaigne.

And one day (I can't remember why/how, perhaps was it after reading "The Go-Giver"?) I just happened to order TMF with a bunch of other books online - like I often do. I am not gonna lie, I was very skeptical at first when seeing the cover and reading the first pages, and even found it a little bit ridiculous. But then I found myself totally absorbed by the relevance of the entire rest of the book, which had a profound impact on me for two reasons:

1. I recognized myself in the values of @MJ DeMarco
2. It totally challenged my perception of entrepreneurship

First, I am also a process evangelist: I strongly believe that any great change can only come from a commitment to a daily effort over the long term. I have been practicing this principle by reading and exercising every day for more than 10 years and pay attention to what I drink, eat and breathe. Then I don't watch TV, I don't listen to the radio, and I stay as far away as possible from any form of mind-numbing distraction (although not easy these days!). And more than anything, I value my time. I use it to do what I like and what is meaningful.

Now you see it coming: I say I value my time, but I spend most of it working for someone else!

I never believed that starting a business to free up my time was possible. My education and my environment had engraved a belief in my head that could be added to the "bullshit and biases" chapters of UNSCRIPTED : I was convinced that money was a scarce resource, that creating a business capable of generating enough profit was reserved only for a small elite already having financial and human means, and that any personal attempt at a bold move would be immediately crushed by the competition of a big fish already established in the field.

Therefore, it's been 10 years I am selling my time for a salary and a company car, driving it from Monday to Friday (sometimes even on the weekend...) on the slowlane, not even realizing that pushing the accelerator is possible.

My presence here does indicating that I have just quit my job and that I am throwing everything away today. But it means I am now looking at the world with a new pair of glasses, and with this new vision I will do everything possible to achieve my goal: to liberate my time.

Thanks MJ and thank to all who read this for... your time!

PiCo

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

4 mephaehit ij? Xux!

Ximduni ecuesf epf vjeplt gus vji opvsu.

 

[lowtek]

Ximduni !