Purpose Like a Hedgehog - (Bonus Topics: Iron Chef Fried Chicken Sandwich Video, Test Your Design Intuition Game, etc...)
Savvy Saturdays (5/29/21)
Savvy Idea: By intersecting what you value, what you’re 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 hedgehog—know what you’re 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 they’re made, and sticking to the strategy by what they’re 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:
What are you deeply passionate about (what you love to do, and reflects your values)
What are you genetically encoded for (what you feel made to do—a genetic or God-given talent or gift)
What are you engaged in that is of social/economic value (what funds your goals, objectives, and things you’re trying to get done)
It’s interesting because most people are only able to intersect 2 of the qualities in the diagram, leading to poor outcomes:
People who connect passion with what they’re made for, but don’t provide value will run out of capital quickly.
People who connect what they’re made for with tangible value, but don’t find passion in the work will dread waking up every day.
People who connect passion with providing value, but isn’t 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: 🤔
What are you deeply passionate about? What gets your heart pumping? What do you believe in?
What are you genetically encoded for? What technical or soft skills are you gifted with?
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 enjoy… 📰 🎬 🎙️
Iron Chef Dad's Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe
Cool video from a channel I’ve been following, giving a glimpse of what an Iron Chef considers when cooking. (Very insightful!)
Can’t 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, I’m 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)
Respect different shades of opinions. Remember what’s 6 to you will appear 9 to someone facing you. Besides, a second opinion is good for an alternative.
Praise publicly. Criticize privately;
There’s almost never a reason to comment on someone’s weight. Just say, “You look fantastic.” If they want to talk about losing weight, they will.
Weekly Tidbits
Learnings, verses, & quotes to chew on… 🧐
Verse of the Week
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
—1 Corinthians 11:1
Challenging Quote
“The true mark of a man is one who knows his limitations.“
—Anonymous
Weekly Update
Personal life stuff… 🔔
Hello friends,
Greetings from Austin! 👋 Let’s 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, y’all will be the first to hear on it!
Another update, is that I’m 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 I’m hoping to flesh it out as time goes on.
I’ve 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! I’m open to feedback.
Finally, I’m 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: 📷
Thanks for checking in on this week’s newsletter! Always blessed by y’all taking the time to check in on this.
With that, stay safe 😷, enjoy y’alls Memorial weekend 😎, and I’ll see y’all in the next update 😊
Eric
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