Photo by Sierra NiCole Narvaeth on Unsplash
Savvy Idea: By intersecting what you value, what youāre good, and what you do that provides value, you can position yourself to find purpose, be effective and potentially become the best at what you do.
Recently, an entrepreneur shared to me the Hedgehog concept (similar to Ikigai), and I found it intriguing.
The idea is to think like a hedgehogāknow what youāre good at, and stick with it.
A hedgehog is not good at many things when it comes to warding off predators.
They would not succeed if they tried to run away like a gazelle.
They would not succeed if they tried to taunt the predator.
They would definitely not succeed if they attempted to try and fight back.
But one thing they are very good at is protecting themselves by rolling into a ball and using their spiny backs as protection.
By knowing how theyāre made, and sticking to the strategy by what theyāre made, they are effective at what they do.
In that same manner, we also can find purpose and be effective like the hedgehog.
The Hedgehog concept involves figuring out three important components:
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What are you deeply passionate about (what you love to do, and reflects your values)
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What are you genetically encoded for (what you feel made to doāa genetic or God-given talent or gift)
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What are you engaged in that is of social/economic value (what funds your goals, objectives, and things youāre trying to get done)
Itās interesting because most people are only able to intersect 2 of the qualities in the diagram, leading to poor outcomes:
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People who connect passion with what theyāre made for, but donāt provide value will run out of capital quickly.
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People who connect what theyāre made for with tangible value, but donāt find passion in the work will dread waking up every day.
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People who connect passion with providing value, but isnāt made for the work will find it hard to stand out and advance their career.
By taking time to know and find something that intersects all three of these things, you are able to enjoy your work, create impact, and be able to sustain yourself for all that you aim to do.
Questions to ponder:Ā š¤
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What are you deeply passionate about? What gets your heart pumping? What do you believe in?
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What are you genetically encoded for? What technical or soft skills are you gifted with?
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What can you do to get social/economic value? What earns the moolah?
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Weekly Collections
A collection of resources for you to enjoyā¦Ā š° š¬ šļø
Iron Chef Dad's Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe
Cool video from a channel Iāve been following, giving a glimpse of what an Iron Chef considers when cooking. (Very insightful!)
Canāt Unsee Design Game
Discovered a cool design game that tests your corporate design taste.
You can get a score and see how you rank compared to the general public! (as you can see, Iām above average, but not exceptional)
Try it out, and let me know what score you get or how you rank!
More Unsolicited Quality Social Tips (from a random FB post)
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Respect different shades of opinions. Remember whatās 6 to you will appear 9 to someone facing you. Besides, a second opinion is good for an alternative.
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Praise publicly. Criticize privately;
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Thereās almost never a reason to comment on someoneās weight. Just say, āYou look fantastic.ā If they want to talk about losing weight, they will.
Weekly Tidbits
Learnings, verses, & quotes to chew onā¦Ā š§
Verse of the Week
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
ā1 Corinthians 11:1
Challenging Quote
āThe true mark of a man is one who knows his limitations.ā
āAnonymous
Weekly Update
Personal life stuffā¦Ā š
Hello friends,
Greetings from Austin!Ā šĀ Letās jump right in!
First off, I got interviewed for a podcast and talk about founding this newsletter as well as share a bit of my entrepreneurial story!
It was super fun to participate on it, and it definitely makes me want to build my own podcast some day in the future.
Unfortunately the podcast is not launched yet, but once it does, yāall will be the first to hear on it!
Another update, is that Iām currently working on a side project, called everythingissoldout.com.
The vision is to create a meme website where everything on the website is sold out, showcasing wild, funny, not-on-the-market products with interesting stories and pictures. (Things like 24 karat gold poop, or unicorn hair particles)
For now, I put up a placeholder store for the website, but Iām hoping to flesh it out as time goes on.
Iāve also rebranded my personal website with a new logo & this newsletter with a new banner. I wanted to go for a more bubbly look, with more style and elegance to it.
Let me know any thoughts you have on it! Iām open to feedback.
Finally, Iām still trying to learn and get into product management from engineering, so if you happen to know anyone in product or opportunities in that space, please let me know!
Anyways, here are several pictures from this past week: š·
Enjoying Asian drinks after catching up with a bro. 10/10 (cya in 6 months lol)
Did an online Muay Thai class by @YartyKim
From virtual to real life meetups with a cool Product guy over Crumbl Cookie (a hidden Austin gem)
Blessing to have an ad hoc lunch and hangout with a couple friends I hadnāt seen in several years
Thanks for checking in on this weekās newsletter! Always blessed by yāall taking the time to check in on this.
With that, stay safe š·, enjoy yāalls Memorial weekend š, and Iāll see yāall in the next update š
Eric
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