💌 IL # 29: It's a big, small world
You're one in 8 billion, but you're not as unique as you'd think and that's great!
Welcome to this week’s issue!
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“Small world!”
I say that statement at least once a week to people I just met AND people I’ve been talking to for a long time. The common denominators were either friends, relatives, industries, institutions, or interests.
I first noticed this when I was 6 and found out my best friend’s sister was friends with my aunt. Last week, I discovered my scuba diving instructor is a cousin of a college friend. We also got to talk about non-life insurance because he used to own an agency.
It’s said that we’re all linked together and only separated by six degrees.
This was first observed by social psychologist Stanley Milgram. Mathematicians started making models out of this concept. There’s even a parlor game inspired by this.
Social media and online communities show us new acquaintances and mutual friends. It gives us the ability to interact with once out-of-reach celebrities through communities.
A lot of people say that to succeed in anything, your network matters. The truth is, even at birth some people already got a leg up because of where they were born or who their parents know. Where you go to school will give you a headstart in your career path.
Yes, having the appropriate network will help your career and/or business. What matters more is what you have brought out to the world and if it solves a problem within your network (right fit). When you have something to show, people will notice.
It matters who you know but what’s more important is that you’re ready to share what you have created. Being great at communicating what you want to happen will only get you so far.
Two things to take away from this:
First, hopefully being aware of this will make you less of a jerk when it comes to overpromising and not delivering. When you become known for the wrong reasons is reversible but as much as possible work with integrity.
Second, this paradox: The more our network expands, the more we realize how humongous the world is. This is a reminder to not be in an echo chamber. Consider looking at the opposite of your beliefs and perspectives. There are more than 8 billion humans in the world, see where you fit in here (There are 758,200 people like me!).
Do you have a small world moment to share?
Other links that will compound the way you learn and do things:
God of War Ragnarok started as an Excel spreadsheet
You don’t need fancy tools to start something big.
The impact of decentralization goes beyond cryptocurrency. This is a long read but it covers a lot of ground on what will happen in the next few years.
A 30-day online course on how to build your wealth based on your values. I’m part of the Bonus Bag mini-courses where I talk about leveraging your learnings to earn from them faster.
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‘til next week!
Bituin 💫