Statistics
Fun. It’s everywhere. Beautiful visualizations spark joy.
Personal Projects
A recent observation of the kinds of personal projects I pursue has prompted me to ask myself this question:
If I had an infinite amount of money and time, would I still be doing what I’m doing? Would my professional pursuits be the same?
I hesitated before answering yes to this question, which alarmed me. After thinking about this, I recognize the reason for my hesitation is my impatience.
- The alternative: software, tech startups.
- The question: so, why not software?
- My primary interest lies in healthcare and the life sciences. This has been true for as long as I can remember.
Revision:
I also know there is exactly a 0% chance I will be exceptional in the area if I go for software.I will never let my self-perceived chances of being “exceptional” at something stop me from pursuing it because, to me, that goal seems a bit too black-and-white. I thought more about this statement after it was challenged. Instead of thinking about things this way, potentially perpetuating negative self-fulfilling prophecies, I’ll just focus on doing the “hell yeahs”, the things that are exciting and worth pursuing to me. Whether I have a shot at being “exceptional” at it or not is secondary—I’ll let the world decide that for me and allow outcomes, whatever they are, to unfold naturally.
Thank you, TF, for challenging this notion.
🛑 I’ve dedicated considerable thought to my purpose and motivations (“why”), whether the field I’ve chosen is right for me (“what”), and other questions about my work. Given that I feel pretty solid about my answers to those questions for now, it’s time to stop doing that for a little bit. For the next year or two, I believe it’ll be more productive to direct my time and energy towards doing that work, rather than pondering and writing extensively about its nature.
- The bottom line: I want to help build something to help people. Ideally, to help improve health outcomes.
- Source of my frustration: biotech seems to be much more regulated and slow-moving compared to software/tech startups
- What I want to do: biotech
- What I’m on the path to doing (and what matters most at the end of the day): biotech
- cool, what I want to do and what I’m on the path to doing align. that’s all i need to know.
Reminder to self:
don’t lose sight of what really drives you. it’s easy to be distracted by shiny things that seem to promise fast(er) results.