I did write this tweet about ‘people’ but it’s a position that I’ve been in so many times. As young people, it feels like we’re always at the edge of something grand but shrouded in mystery – we don’t know what to do, we don’t know how to know what to do, and we don’t even know what we don’t know.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve been in that same position and through many, many trials and errors, I have a personal system for solving at least one of those problems (how to know what to do next). I wish these were things I knew earlier and not stumbled over and I hope it can make your life any bit simpler:
1. Understand what you want and why
Imagine a person AB who is passionate about data science and wants to be at the forefront of building the AI revolution in Africa, therefore she plans to do her Masters in AI at Oxford University. After her Masters, she’ll come back to her home country and launch a research company accelerating the transition of Africa into a sustainable economy powered by AI.
Take it apart and the roadmap looks like this:
AI Masters at Oxford – Launch Research company – AI Leader in Africa
Cut it down:
AI Masters at Oxford – AI Leader in Africa
Cut it down again:
AI Leader in Africa
AB doesn’t want a Masters, and she doesn’t want to launch a research company. What she wants is to be an AI Leader in Africa. That is the starting point. To know what to do next, find your starting point.
Your starting point is that one thing that matters above all else and (consciously or subconsciously) drives every other action you’ll take. How do you know what that starting point is? A good indicator is to ask yourself ‘if this one thing happens and every other thing fails, will I still consider myself successful?’.
In AB’s example, if she fails to get a Masters at Oxford, fails to launch a company, but succeeds at becoming an AI leader (maybe through some other path), she’ll still consider her journey successful. But if she gets an AI Masters, starts a company, but still never rises to become a senior/leader in her field, none of the other accomplishments will quite make up for that within her. That’s the starting point. That’s what she really wants.
Know what you want and why. It doesn’t matter what the ‘what’ or ‘why’ is. It could be as lofty as wanting to start a free hospital to save sick children in your village, it could be as banal as wanting to be a billionaire to prove a point to the classmates who once shunned. What matters more is that you know your ‘what’ and your ‘why’, or else you risk defaulting to mindlessly imitating others around you when you lack a clear concept of what you really want.
How do you know what you want? A good start is to know what you don’t want. In your life and experiences, what have been the things you dreaded and never want to experience again? In what situations did you not do well or did not fit in?
Another good way to know what you want is simply by talking to people close to you about what you want for yourself in a judgment-free space. It helps me to set a timer and just write or speak as a voice note. Also, give it time. These things tend to reveal themselves to you over time and experience, not by willing it into existence.
2. Find people who have done that thing
When you know what you want to do, you need to test your hypothesis against reality as soon as you can.
Look around and ask:
‘What are the closest comparables to what I want to do, done by people with similar starting points/background as me, and how did they get to do that thing?’
The closer you can get to your intended goal and the closer in similarity the people who did them are to you, the better your test. The best way to find these people? One, ask people in real life or on social media. Two, LinkedIn. It’s incredible that we have this resource where you can search for and track the careers of most active professionals in every field, that most people just never really use. Observing someone similar to you that has already done what you want is a shortcut: you get to see the most likely outcomes of those actions for yourself in future from the safety of the present.
When you find them, examine their journeys closely and ask yourself objective, dispassionate questions. Think of yourself as a scientist conducting an experiment.
Back to AB’s example, as she examines the career paths of African Oxford AI Masters alumni, she should ask herself: Do people from this program tend to start companies afterwards or do they go to academia instead? Is it more or less likely that i can be funded to launch a research company without a foreign degree? is it likely that i won’t be funded even with a degree? Someone once said, ‘argue with yourself and win’.
3. Talk to these people and observe patterns
Take it a step forward and talk to these people. Ask them what helped them and what were their setbacks. This will help separate the useful things from the shiny, unnecessary fluff.
How do you talk to such people? Again, LinkedIn. Message 15 people and at least 3 will respond if you have a decent, promising profile.
Talk to 2-5 people at least. Soon you’ll start to notice common patterns among them: Did they tend to study a particular course? Work at a particular company? Receive funding from a particular investor?
More interestingly, you’ll also notice some differences. When I wanted to get a first class in law school, I’d read one interview a day from a first class law school graduate and jot down their advice and routines. Over time I noticed they mostly had some general commonalities: attend every class, go through the syllabus at least once, practice MCQs. Beyond that though, they had very different habits; some read for hours a day, while some only read when it was closer to the exam date. I started to get a sense of what was ‘non-negotiable’ if I wanted a first class (going to class) and what was discretionary or based on personal aptitude (having a study group for example, was not for me). To know what to do, you want to focus on the non-negotiables and nail them down, while tailoring the ‘discretionary’ to fit your unique background and self.
I realize that this sounds far less straightforward, and may not be as easy an answer to the question that is the title of this essay. But the most important things we want to do – go to grad school, start a business, etc – are real investments in time, effort, and capital. You deserve to be sure that it’s not just right, but that it’s right for you.
I compiled templates, advice, and scholarships lists for anyone preparing to apply to graduate school. This is more geared towards people who already know they’re applying (not for people trying to decide) and need more structure around their application process.
You can check it out here.
Imade. 