I’m a senior software engineer at a fortune 1000 company. After accepting the job offer I was required to submit my highest degree of education. I frantically called my mom and told her to send me a picture of my high school diploma.
A fuckup, the black sheep, nobody. These are the thoughts which would run through my mind. My parents divorce weighed heavily on my mind. I hated school, I didn’t take the SAT or apply to any colleges. I hit the bare minimum to graduate high school: 2.0 GPA -- 220 credits. Before graduation I had a 1.9 GPA. In order to receive my high school diploma, I had to beg my english teacher to raise my grade from an F to a D minus. Begging a teacher for a higher grade, sounds like the beginning to a great romantic comedy movie.
After high school, without any inkling to go to college. I was recruited to a pyramid scheme sales company. I sold car wax to people while they were pumping their gas. To get more sales we would smoke weed before hitting the field. I worked myself to the bone. My friend asked me, “Do you want to do this for the rest of your life?” I quit, vowing to never do something just for money again.
I was 22 years old and living with my mom. My days consisted of playing video games for 8+ hours, smoking weed, drinking beers and eating chicken nuggets. No friends, no family, no driver’s licence and unable to hold a conversation for over 30 seconds due to crippling social anxiety. Just me and the computer. One day I ran out of weed and had no way to get anymore, every time I would see a knife on the kitchen counter I would think about stabbing myself, and how good it would feel to be free from existence. I called a suicide hotline and told the lady all my problems, she said “Is this a prank call? What’s with the echo? I’m hanging up” I threw my phone on the couch, then laid down. Looking at the ceiling, flabbergasted. Seriously? From that moment I decided to make a better life for myself.
6 years later I transformed myself into someone who loves their job, who loves their hobbies, who has a sense of purpose. And now I’m a senior software engineer with healthy prospects of becoming an engineering manager. I know how to architect a highly scalable solution to any software problem. I’m able to discover and solve teamwide process issues. I can foster creativity and collaboration on any type of project.
I want to share with you my story and what worked for me. How to develop lifelong skills that you love doing without going to college. Income was never the goal, building a valuable skill I love doing was always the goal. If you become undeniably good at a skill, someone will pay you, so focus on improving your skills. My sales job after high school was based fully on commision, some days I would make less than minimum wage. What yearly income means to me is proof of the value I'm providing through my specialized skills.
The schooling system sucks, it doesn’t give us the tools to succeed in real life. I believe there are foundational skills every human should learn. By acquiring these foundational skills one will be set up to learn any other skill or tackle any challenge life throws at them.
Do you know how to learn a new skill effectively? Learning how to learn
What do you love or hate doing? Knowing thyself
Can you effectively learn from the best? Researching
Do you live in the past, present or future? Presence in the moment
How well can you convey your ideas or interpret others? Communication
How well and quickly can you recover from a rut? Mental wellbeing
How effective are you in producing results? Time management
Do you fit into a stereotype of a person? Emotional creativity and logic
Improving any of these skills will positively affect anything you choose to do in your life. My objective is to explain why these skills are important, how they worked for me and provide some resources about the given skill.