What changes have you noticed in the workplace over the past 5-10 years? What do you think the future of work will be like in the next 5 or 10 years? Is it your dream to work remotely?
In this episode we talk about the future of work, how to find a remote job, how to stand out in today’s economy, how to discover your purpose and so much more. This is probably one of our favorite episodes because we really talked about so many different things, and we hope you enjoy it as well!
Homework:
Reflect on the following questions:
- What skills do you have?
- What skills would you like to have that you can start investing your time and energy in?
- What can you do to stand out/to be so good they can’t ignore you?
- How would you describe your perfect day?
- What aspects of “your perfect day” can you include in your daily life now?
TRANSCRIPT WITH HIGHLIGHTS
Hello. Hello. Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of Improve Your English, Improve Your Life. My name is Foster. I am an English teacher, a podcaster, obviously. And as always, I am here with –
Jackie! Hi, guys. I’m Jackie. So excited to be back with you guys today. Again, I’m also an English teacher and now I’m beginning a new journey in podcasting with Foster. Very exciting.
She’s still a young podcaster, but I think has a very promising future ahead of her.
I love… I love that you described me as being young, too! I’ll take it!
I’ll take it = expressão que significa “vou levar”, dizemos isso quando vamos comprar algo, mas também de maneira idiomática para expressar que aceitamos algo que alguém nos diz
– I thought it was a little strange when my teacher said I’m a great student, but I’ll take it!
First of all, Jackie, how are you doing?
I’m doing great. How about you?
I’m pretty good. Kind of raining here in Portugal and my back kind of hurts, but apart from that, I can’t complain.
kind of/sort of = “mais ou menos” para adjetivos e verbos, e quando é usado antes deles, tem o sentido de “meio” ou “um pouco” (ex. This is kind of cute = isto é meio bonitinho/isto é um pouco bonitinho; “I kind of work here = eu meio que trabalho aqui/eu trabalho um pouco aqui”); (Do you like chocolate? Ah, kind of).
– “I think we should have our picnic today!” “I don’t know, it’s kind of cloudy today, I’m afraid it might rain later.”
complain = reclamar
– It’s so difficult to cook for the children! They always complain about the food I make!
That’s… Yeah, the back pain…. That’s… that’s tough. But… you gotta make the best of it, right? Lots of yoga, lots of pilates.
tough (soa como tâf) = duro, difícil, não-mole
– Rachel said that her new job is tough, but I’m sure she will get used to it.
gotta = maneira bem informal de dizer “you’ve got to”, que é o mesmo que dizer “you have to”, que significa “você tem que”
– Hmmm! You’ve got to try this cake, it’s delicious!
make the best of it = fazer o melhor de uma situação difícil ou longe do ideal
– The Christmas cake fell on the floor and we forgot to buy the wine for the party, but we’ll just have to make the best of it.
Lots of yoga, lots of pilates. I’m just really trying to… when people ask, like, the… the normal questions of “How are you? How you… how are you doing?” One of my friends told me, “Give the answer, like: Hmmm, I’m like, a… six and a half out of ten”.
Right. Right.
And if you just say something weird, people are, like…
They’re like, “Oh!”
“Uh, why not a seven?” I’m trying to be more honest with my “How-are-you’s”.
I appreciate that. That… that’s a… that’s actually a really good idea. We should all be more honest and people won’t feel so, so bad when they’re telling everyone they’re amazing, but they’re really “a six and a half out of ten”.
Yeah. Speaking of honesty, Jackie, I don’t know exactly what we’re going to talk about today. What are we talking about today?
Well, yeah, that’s… that’s a good question, Foster. We’re still trying to figure this out. I think this will be one of those episodes that we’ll know what we’re talking about when we reach the end of the episode. But we do have a general idea, which is “How to work remotely or work in this digital world”, which is kind of a new world for a lot of people. For some people it’s very new and how different it is, like, how different things are now compared to even just five years ago when it comes to looking for work, and how to stand out virtually.
to stand out = se destacar
– “Which of the projects do you like the best?” “I don’t know, none of them really stand out to me.”
I mean if you consider every aspect of the job market – the way we work, like, who we work with, all of that has completely changed dramatically even in the last two years.
job market = mercado de trabalho
– The job market is always competitive. It’s really tough!
Yeah.
And we were kind of fortunate, I guess, that we have been working remotely for a really long time already.
remotely = remotamente
– My company has employees from many different parts of the world, so we have to have our meetings remotely.
Right.
But I imagine most of our listeners are pretty new to remote work and probably don’t really understand, like, how the job market works on the Internet nowadays in 2022.
Yeah, it’s very different. Very different. I’m… I’m even, like, right now, I’m, like, looking back to probably five years ago when we were looking for teachers to work at our school in Brazil, you know, posting on the job sites, like Indeed, and I don’t remember what other job sites and getting the résumés.
résumé = um falso cognato que significa “currículo”
– Can you help me? I need to update my résumé.
And Monster.com.
Monster.com, calling people in for interviews and just… now, it’s… it would be different. Now I don’t even really look at résumés much anymore. It’s… I guess it depends on what type of work you’re doing. But I want to see a person’s work. I want to see their Instagram profile or their YouTube channel or Facebook, whatever that showcases their actual work or their podcast –
to showcase = por à mostra de uma maneira positiva
– The club showcases all of their best projects.
I don’t have any of those!
You don’t have – but you have a podcast, that’s equally as good!
I think that’s an excellent place to start. Is… Okay, Jackie, true or false? Imagine this is like a debate. CV’S – or résumés – the traditional CV on paper where you write all your… your experience and extracurricular activities. That’s dead forever. With the exception of, like, huge companies that are still doing stuff the way they should not do them.
CV = Curriculum Vitae, outra maneira de dizer “currículo”
– Do you need any help with your CV? It’s good to keep it updated.
Yeah, I say it’s… it’s alive. For example, if you’re looking for a job at another company, even at another school or even at a hospital or something like that, if you’re looking for…
alive = vivo, não morto
– Language is alive; it is always changing and adapting.
A hospital, I didn’t think about that!
Yeah, I even think of, like, my sister and other people I know that are looking for jobs at… could be anywhere. I think it is good, I guess, to have a résumé and a CV if you’re looking to be employed. But even so, I think it’s very helpful to showcase your work somehow. That’s just not, like, written on paper to… it could be through social media, it could be through a website, just some way to show people who you are through video or pictures or something, besides just a written list of your skills. I think that helps you stand out a lot more.
to be employed = ser/estar empregado
– Becoming employed can be easy or difficult depending on a lot of things.
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. I would just… I feel like I have kind of strong, probably slightly misguided opinions on this. But in general, I think that most people, at least most people listening to this podcast, most people in Brazil, should at least have the opportunity to work remotely and have the skill set to do so. Because, number one, if you can work remotely, you can work from anywhere. That’s awesome. A lot more flexibility – location, time, flexibility. And you get to do, like, financial arbitrage so you can make money in dollars or euros.
slightly = um pouquinho, levemente
– This cake is slightly sweeter than the other one you made.
misguided = lit. “guiado errado”, expressa algo como “baseado no erro” ou “baseado em concepções erradas”
– She was trying to help me, but her misguided attempts just made things worse.
skill set = conjunto de habilidades
– My job needs a very specific skill set.
arbitrage = no contexto financeiro, significa “a compra de algo, como moeda, em um mercado para revender em outro para aproveitar diferenças entre as taxas de câmbio”
– The financial advisor is looking for arbitrage opportunities abroad.
Yeah.
So a lot of benefits to remote work. And I totally understand that… that doesn’t apply to everyone – like, if you own a physical restaurant. But for most people, I think at least having the… the option, like, if your restaurant fails, there’s always going to be work online. There is no shortage of work and job opportunities online.
shortage = uma falta de algo por um período de tempo
– The politician was talking about a possible water shortage this year due to a shortage of rain.
Yes.
So I think it’s a skill set that almost everyone needs to have.
So, Foster, Let me ask you; so, like, let’s say I, I want to work online, but I don’t even know where to start. What advice would you give me?
So, for me, the first step would be a little bit of kind of introspection and thinking, “What are my skills? What do I like to do? What have I accomplished so far in my life? What can I provide to others that would be valuable?”
accomplished = forma past participle to verbo “to accomplish”, que significa “cumprir algo com sucesso”
– I need to accomplish many things this month. I hope I have enough time and energy!
Yeah. And I think a common mistake that people make – and actually, this was mentioned in the book “So Good, They Can’t Ignore You”, which is a fantastic book.
By Cal Newport, who’s written several excellent books.
Yeah. And… and the idea is, is really, it’s… it’s very simple and it makes a lot of sense, but it’s basically “Go the extra mile, go above and beyond what everybody else is doing and you will stand out”. And he gave an example; I think it was with, like, screenwriters – like, people writing scripts for TV shows and movies. And he talked about how, you know, I think he worked in that industry or knew someone who did, but they would receive, like, thousands and thousands and thousands of scripts. And a lot of them were just more or less the same thing. But the very few people who really went above and beyond and did something very creative or very different were those that stood out and… What… the mistake a lot of people make and I… and I do see this with a lot of friends and family is, they have the résumé, they have it updated. It’s fine, normal, and they send it out to, like, hundreds or thousands of people and then they’re upset that they don’t get a callback. Whereas I feel like if you just maybe focused on… on making that résumé or making your application, like, stand out in some way and even sending it out to fewer places, just being more selective but going above and beyond, like, trying to think of a way that you can really showcase who you are and what you do in a way that’s different than everybody else. Chances are you’ll… you’ll be seen and they’ll be interested to call you in. And in today’s world, the best way to do that is by some type of virtual presence, whether it be audio or video, whatever. But if someone can go to a website or go to a podcast or go to a channel or Instagram page or whatever, and just see you doing what you do best or hear you doing what you do best – in the case of, like, podcasts – like, that is more impactful than just reading a list of degrees and accomplishments on a piece of paper.
go the extra mile = lit. “ir a milha extra”, expressão idiomática que significa “ir além do esperado” ou “fazer mais que o esperado”
– My mom is the kind of person who always goes the extra mile when someone asks her for help.
to go above and beyond = expressão parecida com “go the extra mile”, significa literalmente “ir acima e além”, significa “fazer bem além do que se espera”
– If you really want to achieve this goal, you have to go above and beyond with your financial planning.
screenwriter = roteirista
– Marcos wants to become a screenwriter, so he’s researching on the internet what he needs to get into the industry.
stood out = forma passada do phrasal verb “to stand out”, que significa “se destacar (de outros/outras coisas da mesma categoria)”
– It’s hard to decide which of these pictures is better; nothing really stood out to me.
a callback = literalmente “uma ligada de volta”, quando alguém recebe uma ligação para retornar
– I’m so happy I got a callback to that job opportunity!
Whereas = “onde”, no sentido de coisas como “enquanto ao mesmo tempo”, ou “enquanto em contraste”, usado de maneira formal
– One person volunteered immediately, whereas the others stayed quiet.
Yeah. Yeah. Really the idea of showing your work.
Yeah.
Yeah, showing your work. And I love… I will admit I haven’t finished the book “So Good, They Can’t Ignore You”. But I love the idea of just kind of doubling down and being weird and different.
to double down = expressão idiomática que significa “aumentar significamente o esforço para conseguir alguma meta ou objetivo”
– If we want to pay all of our debts, we’ll have to double down on our financial planning.
Yeah.
Because the two most common responses I get to… kind of my opinions about this entire subject, number one is, “Oh, but so many people are already doing that. Like, there’s literally millions of podcasts. No one’s going to want to listen to my podcast.”
But that’s not true.
That’s not true.
Because I – and I actually saw an Instagram post yesterday, that I thought was perfect, and she was talking about the… the supply and demand. So there’s a big demand for people who want to listen to podcasts, right? But there’s only one you! So, you may think, “Oh, but look at all these other podcasts”. Or I could say the same thing, like, “Look at all these English courses, how do I compete?” But there’s just you, you know; like, there’s only one of you. And I think if you focus just on being the best version of yourself possible, you will stand out. You’re not copyable… like, no one can copy you, they can’t be you. And that creates, like, that scarcity in the… the supply, because there’s just one of you. And this… that…. the fact that there’s a lot of competition is typically a good sign. That means that there’s a big demand out there and there’s room for everybody. But I think what most people – many people make the mistake in just trying to be something that’s easily copyable, or they look at somebody else and try to do what that other person is doing rather than taking it a little bit further and saying, like, “Well, what, what can I offer? Like, who am I?” And just go a little bit deeper into that and, and just really explore that. Show people who you are, what you can do and be very creative, think outside the box, and that way you will definitely stand out.
supply and demand = “oferta e demanda”
– Supply and demand always affects prices.
– there’s room = “tem espaço”; “room” aqui não significa “quarto, cômodo”, significa “espaço”
– Hey, Mike, is there any room for me in your car? My dad won’t answer his phone.
Precisely. It’s just flipping the script of… the traditional approach is, “Okay, there is this job opening at this company”. So let’s say a podcast producer; I could think about, “Okay, what are all the qualifications I need to be a podcast producer? Okay, first I need to get a degree in journalism and then get an internship and then work as a junior producer for two years. Or I could record, like, thousands of podcasts” – which is what I did.
flipping the script = lit. “virar o roteiro”, expressão idiomática que significa “fazer algo que é o oposto do esperado”
– This movie really flipped the script on what we thought the ending would be. It was very surprising!
Exactly. I agree. I’m with you. I have no business experience. I never studied anything in business, and I have had quite a few very successful businesses just by doing it and learning along the way. So I’m not saying that those degrees are worthless. They’re definitely helpful, I’m sure. But the action is… is even more important. And just learning through experience is more important. You don’t have to wait until you get this specific degree or the specific certificate.
I have two degrees. I have an MBA. If you said, “Foster, you have to choose: do you want your MBA or do you want to listen to podcasts?” I have learned so much more from podcasts –
I agree!
– than I ever did in business school.
Yeah. And you know what’s interesting – and I think a lot of people get frustrated – I myself was frustrated – when you’re starting out, for example, I wanted to start a YouTube channel, I wanted to have an online course. And at the time I did not know anybody who had any presence online. I knew no one. And it was very frustrating because I just… I remember thinking, like, “Oh, I really wish I was friends with this person on the Internet because then they can help me or they can show me the way”. Or “I really wish I had a friend that knew how to make thumbnails for YouTube or whatever it was”. But I didn’t. And I ended up going to YouTube, going to books, going to podcasts, going to the internet. And I learned from all these different people that were sharing their experience and sharing their… their knowledge for free, pretty much. I did buy a couple of courses as well, but you don’t have to buy courses. You can learn anything you want for free. And it was crazy. I… to this day I feel like I’m friends with these people, but they have no clue who I am. But – and I’ve heard the same thing from other people. Like, when I started, I didn’t know anybody. And then I followed this channel and this person and… and we learn so much from people that we don’t even know. And like you said, I learned way more from… from YouTube and Google and podcasts than I ever did in college. So it’s… nowadays, education is accessible to anybody who wants it, and we just have to get out of our own way and start looking for it.
Yeah, well, okay; the paradigm of education and if universities are still a good option is an entirely… don’t get me going down that rabbit hole because I will talk about it for a long time. But Jackie, the second kind of response that I get from people, the first being “I can’t do that because, like, tons of other people are already doing that. It’s very competitive”. And the second thing is, people say, like, “I’m… I don’t have any skills. I’m not good at anything. People – why are people going to pay me?” Do you have any thoughts about that?
to go down the rabbit hole = lit. “descer o buraco do coelho”, expressão idiomática que significa “falar de um assunto muito envolvente, mas que demanda muito tempo”
– I don’t like to discuss politics with my family; when you start to go down the rabbit hole, it’s very difficult for everyone to stop.
– kind of = aqui tem o mesmo sentido de “type of”, ou “tipo de”
– What kind of pizza do you like?
Well, I… First (of all), I’m sure they do have some skills. And if they don’t, we can learn skills. You know, we all start out pretty bad at just about anything when we’re… when we’re learning it for the first time. And skills are acquired over time, through experience and through learning. So I know even for myself, when I first started teaching English – like, I obviously knew the language, but I didn’t know how to teach it at all. I didn’t know anything about grammar… or, I remember a student asked me, “What’s the difference between the past perfect and the present perfect?” I was, like, “I have no clue what those verb tenses are”. Or, like, “What’s a phrasal verb?” I was, like, “I have no idea what a phrasal verb is”. And most native speakers do not know anything about grammar.
My first…at least two years of English teaching was just me just guessing. “I think that’s the way we say it”.
Yeah, yeah. And… And that’s okay, because you’re just starting out and we’re learning. But I learned – you know, I learned a lot. Now I know a ton about phrasal verbs and the past perfect and the present perfect. And when someone asks me a question and I don’t know the answer, I am going to find out. I’m going to study – and I get excited about it! I’m like, “Ooh, that’s a really good one! I’m not sure!” And I’m going to go to blogs, I’m going to research on the Internet. And that oftentimes leads to video ideas and ideas for other posts, stuff like that. But we have to… we have to really want to learn and we have to want to improve our skills. And then eventually over time, you will be tremendously skilled in that specific area, and people will pay you because they want your knowledge, they want your experience, they want your expertise. But you can’t get there, you can’t get to that point without actually going through the work and through the process.
Precisely. Yeah. I think your example is a perfect case study. I mean, think about… I had the same kind of thing happen to me where at first I wasn’t super interested in teaching English as a foreign language. It was just a way for me to make money in Brazil. But the more I did it, the more I started getting interested in it and the more I enjoyed it. And then, like, I started specializing in pronunciation and when people ask me questions, I wanted to get better. So skills and interest and passion kind of compound all… there’s, like, a confluence of… they just keep growing together.
I mean = expressão que significa “quer dizer”
– I think I work a lot. I mean, I work less than before, but it’s still more than I would like.
Yes. Yeah. And I think we become really good at what we’re very passionate about and what we’re very interested in because it becomes, like, an obsession. Like, “I really want to learn this!” And, um…
Ooh! Okay!
Yeah, I’m trying…. I was going to say something else and now it just slipped out of my head. I can’t remember what.
it just slipped out of my head = lit. “só escorregou (pra) fora da minha cabeça”, expressão que significa “me fugiu da cabeça”
– Hi, Mister…oh, your name just slipped out of my head, I’m so sorry!
Well, I can ask you to… Okay, one comment and then one tough, tough question.
Okay.
First, responding to “I don’t have any skills. I’m not good at things”. That’s just false. That’s untrue. Every human being has value. Most people listening to this podcast, I imagine, are native Portuguese speakers. There are millions of people in the world that want to learn Portuguese. They don’t even want to learn, they just want to talk to a Brazilian. So, that’s a skill right there. And also, if you’ve already had a previous job, you were probably doing something at that job. You don’t have to start completely from zero.
Yes. Yeah. And I think focusing on yourself and just exploring what you’re capable of is so much better than looking to see what everybody else is doing. Because we tend to compare ourselves with people who are much further along on their journey, and it just makes us feel bad and inferior and it kind of blocks us from moving forward. But if you just get excited about the process and where you’re going and focus on your growth, not this final result, you’ll, you’ll learn, you’ll grow, you will evolve, and it’ll be amazing. And you’ll end up somewhere far better than you ever imagined. And if we just want the result, like, “Oh, I want people coming to me because I want to be the expert”. Or “I want the money” or “I want the, the fame and the recognition” – that comes as a – that’s a consequence of going through the process. But you have to really fall in love with that process of going deep and learning and exploring and seeing what you’re capable of. Just one little step by step by step.
Absolutely. And at the end of the day, fame, money, recognition, probably will not make you any happier. But I think… I think in pretty much every episode of the podcast so far we have said some version of “Trust the process. Don’t focus on the results. Trust the process.”
Yeah. It’s funny. I heard something, like, a couple of weeks ago that has literally, like… I can’t get it out of my mind. It was so mind blowing, even though it’s so simple. But basically it was talking about, like, our purpose in life and in creating goals and stuff like that. And we have our ego, we have these ego-driven goals and we also have like our, our soul-centered goals. And what the ego wants typically is this material stuff, which is fine. Like, we all need a house, we all want to be financially independent, but sometimes the ego gets a little bit, a little bit greedy, wanting the next thing, the next thing, the next thing. And then you’re on this like… like a gerbil on a wheel, like just chasing after the next, like, material conquest.
gerbil = bichinho parecido com um porquinho-da-índia
– I love gerbils! They’re so cute!
a gerbil on a wheel = lit. “um gerbil numa roda”, expressa algo como “correr sem sair do lugar, igual um gerbil correndo na rodinha dele”
– I’ve been feeling like a gerbil on a wheel lately. I need to do something to change my life.
I believe they call it… There’s, like, a psychological term of the “hedonistic treadmill”, where we just never stop. We just keep on wanting more and more and more.
treadmill = esteira (de exercício, onde se corre ou anda sem sair do lugar)
– Walking on a treadmill is my favorite kind of exercise.
Yeah. And I think it’s okay to want more. I do think that keeps us… keeps us moving and growing. However, what your soul wants is just growth. Evolution. Movement. That’s it. It doesn’t care about, like, the end result – that end result, there’s no, like, emotional attachment to it. As long as you can say, “I am learning, I am growing, I’m testing myself and proving to myself that I’m capable of more than I ever thought. I’m doing good things in this world”. Like, that’s…. that’s it. That’s… I mean, you’re successful if you can say yes to those things in life. And… and just focus on that, let’s focus on any little baby step you can take towards personal growth and… and forget about the… the numbers and the distractions and all that other stuff; that will come as a result. But to me, it was just – made so much sense; and like, yeah, if we’re just worried about this end result, we’re not in the process. We’re projecting our happiness on some future result. But if we’re in flow, if we’re present, if we’re in the moment doing everything that we possibly can do and just enjoying it and learning from it and growing and dealing with problems and obstacles and overcoming them and learning lessons along the way, that’s… that’s everything. That’s all we need to do. It’s very simple, too.
Honestly, I don’t think I can follow up. I think that was… that was perfect. I mean, we started essentially talking about how to get a job in 2022 and ended with a beautiful soliloquy, with a beautiful monologue from Jackie about personal growth.
to follow up = seguir uma ação ou evento com outra ação ou evento
– We followed up the class with a trip to the grocery store to buy ice cream.
soliloquy = no teatro, um discurso que alguém faz, geralmente para si mesmo, expressando seus pensamentos e sentimentos sobre um determinado assunto
– The main character’s soliloquy about his love life was very interesting.
Yeah, but it’s – it is related in some ways. I think a lot of it comes with just, you know, again, like, choosing again, like, what your perspective is, what your focus is, and, and you will stand out in the market when you become “so good they can’t ignore you” because you are in love with the process. You are investing in yourself and… and you’re doing it for the right reasons. You’re doing it just to simply learn, grow, evolve; not to compete with whoever else is out there or to get the praise from somebody else that doesn’t even matter. It’s very simple.
So I think we’ve… I love how simple you make it… you make it seem. But honestly, I do think it is quite simple. It doesn’t mean it’s easy. So you brought up a few points that I think we should come back to in a future episode. Just so I don’t forget, you said something about, like, the more passionate about something – and I believe you said the phrase “follow your passion”. And if I’m not mistaken, like, one of the core parts of Cal Newport’s argument, the author of “So Good, They Can’t Ignore You” is “don’t follow your passion”. So…
core = a parte central de algo, o “coração” de algo
– Our core beliefs are what guide us in life.
Okay, I’ll have to read the…
We’ll save that for another episode, because I think it’s fascinating.
Yeah! I get it – I think I know what he means by that because I think people, like, wait to discover what they’re passionate about and they, like, say no to everything along the way. Like, “Nah, I’m not so passionate about this”. And they expect for something to come and be like, “Ooh, this is it! I’m going to be so happy because I’m working with my passion!” But again, to me, it’s a choice; like, we choose to be passionate about…. Like, I could cook with anger and resentment, or I could cook a meal with love and passion.
what he means by that = o que ele quer dizer com isso
– He told me that he likes me, but that he isn’t looking for a relationship. What do you think he means by that?
resentment = ressentimento
– Camilla didn’t have any resentment when she quit her job. She only quit because she received a better opportunity.
Disgusting breakfast.
Like, “Oh, Jesus, no one is helping me around the house! This is the worst day ever!” And… or I could be in it, you know, in love with the process and just present and in flow and having a good time about it. So again, I get what he says, but I do –
in flow = literalmente “no fluir”, significa “estar totalmente imerso em uma atividade”
– Marisol is usually in flow when she’s doing her job.
I totally get it.
– think it’s like your… your perspective, it’s your choice. I mean, you can clean toilets with passion if you want to. It’s just, you know, however you decide to look at it!
And you will have a better capacity to discover what you’re passionate about by doing things in the world, doing good work.
Yes, absolutely.
Okay, Jackie.
Right. Foster, I’m going to do… you have… what would you say would be a good homework assignment for this episode that went in a million different directions?
I would suggest to our listeners… So this is actually a suggestion that my mentor gave me the first day I met him, which is like, “What is your perfect day? Like, what does an ideal day look like to you?” And I think people get so caught up in their careers and professional growth and… life is busy and complicated and scary. But I think most people can attain some version of, like, their dream reality. And a good first step is to sit down and think about, “Okay, if I did not have to worry about jobs, money or anything like that, what would a perfect day be?” And then, you can think about what’s the first step to… “What’s one thing I can change to get a little bit closer?”
Exactly. I was just going to say that. And don’t wait for that perfect day to happen. Like… start making it happen, you know. Like, “What things does this perfect day have that I can incorporate in my day today?” And once we start doing that, we can… we can create that perfect day every day. We just have to make the little tiny changes. And things do eventually kind of… It’s like what you embody in some ways. Like, you know, this idea, for example, of being very wealthy; like, okay, so let’s say you were a billionaire, a millionaire. Like, who would you be? How would you dress? Who would you hang out with? What would you eat? What would you watch? What car would you drive? You know, and it doesn’t mean you have to have a private jet and drive a fancy car. Sometimes it might mean like, “Oh, I would probably still be in the same house and drive an eco-friendly bicycle. Ride a bicycle because I care about the environment and I would do… you know, eat organic, locally grown food” – whatever; you decide. But you can start doing some of those things in the present moment. You don’t need to wait for that future moment to happen.
a private jet = um jatinho particular
– She’s so rich that she thinks it’s very normal for people to have a private jet.
fancy = chique
– My husband took me to a fancy restaurant for our wedding anniversary.
eco-friendly = “amigável ecologicamente”, equivalente a dizer algo como “ecologicamente correto”
– I would love to live in a more eco-friendly city, but I think it would probably be even more expensive thank normal.
Yeah, another maybe a better way to phrase the question is, “What would you do if money was not an issue? Like, what would you do with your time? How would you spend your days?”
Right.
And I think some people might jump to the conclusion of, like, “Sit on a beach on a private island all day”. But I don’t think that’s what most of us actually really want. Every day we actually do want to do good work and create and connect with people in the world.
Right. Absolutely.
And if you want to live on a private island, you can probably do that tomorrow if you want.
Right. It’s probably pretty cheap!
Yeah.
Exactly. And again, it kind of goes back to, you know, the ego. What does the ego want versus what does your… what does your soul want? And usually what your soul wants is just to grow and evolve and be better and to just be present; again, just be present and enjoy the moment while we can do it.
That’s beautiful, Jackie We have been searching for something to say at the end of the episodes, and I’m thinking maybe something like “Trust the process”. Like, I don’t know if that’s perfect, but something about the process or the practice.
I like that, though. “Trust the process”. Yeah. And that, you know, with that trust comes a little bit of surrender. Like, don’t resist, learn when there’s obstacles along the way, don’t be easily defeated. Trust that whatever happens is happening for you and it’s all part of your… your growth. That will make you better each and every day.
Yeah. Trust the process. We had to in this episode.
I know! “Trust the process! Bye!”
Okay. Thank you, everyone, for listening to Jackie and I talk about God-knows-what. Trust the process. We’ll see you in the next episode.
Thanks, guys. Bye, Foster!
