Undeniably Usefully Unique

I just read Jason Toney's "Do the Hard Things" where he talks about how his work mantra is not serving him in this season of life. I have my own version of this story. My work motto is "Be undeniably usefully unique". (A mouthfull, but I like the alliteration.) A few years ago I hit a ceiling as a marketer. My early lead in understanding the technology and culture of publishing for the web had faded. To be undeniably usefully unique I decided to learn to code and build projects in public. (Plot twist - Jason's wife was one of my generous mentors) So I rented a co-working space in downtown Greensboro, and twice on weekdays and once on the weekend I went there to code. https://twitter.com/hashim_warren/status/1111420278481944578?t=2YCP0JSnoShmdIQ3aLWZeg&s=19 It was hard on my young family, but I prioritized having dinner together, and worked out a deal where my wife put my kids to bed on those nights. I became a "Marketer who Codes", a unicorn, and that led to a string of 3 jobs and double my salary. Tech layoffs struck last year, and I've been freelancing. I got my first AWS certification and I'm slowly working on the architect badge. Why slowly? Because my kids are older, my wife is busier , and my interests are wider . I don't want to live a lopsided life to upgrade my unicornity. I still believe in the value of being undeniably usefully unique. But I want to be that for my family and community first. Original URL: https://newnegro.com/?p=252