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I am thankful for the friends and family I have celebrated Thanksgiving with in the past. I am also thankful for the friends and family I have worldwide. There’s one thing that all these people in common: If I need help or someone to confide in, they’ll be there no matter what.

Thanksgiving Across the US

Here’s where I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving in the past five years: Massachusetts, Delaware, Delaware, South Dakota, Colorado. I definitely get around. Two of these were with family, my host being my mother’s brother and my father’s sister. And three of these with friends and their families. I am thankful for all my Thanksgiving days and the people I’ve been around to celebrate them with.

Gratitude is Universal

I hope everyone gets a day where thankfulness is the purpose of the holiday. In the United States we have Thanksgiving, but I’m not sure other countries/cultures. It’s nice to have a day where people come together to give thanks. Although that may not always be the case with meal prep, traveling, or political banter, I try and make sure this holiday is full of gratitude towards friends and family.

If Thanksgiving is the only time when you give thanks to others, and show gratitude, then maybe you’re doing something wrong. I try to express gratitude everyday to the people I admire most. That goes to my friends, my family, my Facebook friends, and my barista down the street. It’s universal to show gratitude, and I’ve found the more gratitude I show, the more gratitude I receive.

Make it your goal to be thankful for what you have today, but also tomorrow and the next day. Being thankful goes a long way in creating the world we all want to belong to. Instead of talking about politics over turkey, talk about things you’re thankful for, and how happy you are to have the people around you in your life.

What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when I say “accountant?” For me it’s: “boring,” “taxes,” “long-hours,” and “numbers.” All of that is mostly true. After being a prototypical accountant, I can assure you I will not go back to being a “boring” accountant. But I am staying in the field of accounting because it’s getting pretty darn cool.

Automating Accounting

I’ve previously written about machines automating our current jobs. The core components for automation are:

1. Tightly specify all activities required to generate output.
2. Highly standardize all of those activities so that they are done in exactly the same efficient way anywhere in the organization.
3. Tightly integrate all of those activities so that we remove all of those inefficient buffers that often separated activities required to yield a specific output.

These elements are near identical to what we currently have for human accounting. The world’s financial infrastructure is quickly allowing for financial data to be read by computers. That’s where the cool-ness starts.

Accounting Getting Cool

You might be thinking, “But, machines are going to take over accounting, why would that be cool?” What’s cool about it is we can say goodbye to the boring accounting duties. Migrating the duty of an accountant from number-cruncher, and financial statement creator, to being a small business advisor. It becomes the job of the accountant to take the machine-created data and turn it into actionable business plans.

We’re Already There

Now, you might also be hesitant that I’m living in a machine-enthused world and am over-hyping the future of accounting. The future is already here. There’s a company called Xero that’s already doing this.

Xero’s CEO, Rod Drury, heavily believes in the machine-learning future of accounting. Instead of being a bookkeeper’s paradise, Xero is a completely customizable software that allows you to manage anyone’s books while providing all sorts of pertinent statistics. Most of the work done in the system is done by automated processes, turning the accountant’s job from data entry, to forward-looking projections and modeling.

To most people this probably isn’t that interesting. But anyone in the accounting world, or small business world that’s worked with bad accountants, things are about to get really cool. Accountants will no longer be the glasses-wearing paper-pushers but at the front-line of an automation revolution. Get your popcorn ready.

Whether you know, or you don’t know, it’s important to act like you know. Who wants to read someone’s blog, or trust someone who says, “Uh, I don’t know, I might do this, but I’m unsure?” Nobody. Nobody wants to listen to that person. Talking the talk may be easier, but when you start with talking, it’s easier to walk the walk.

Walk the Talk

When you start treating yourself as an authority figure, you start walking your thoughts. When you passionately write a blog post, or give advice to a friend, it makes it really hard to be a hypocrite to your word. Even if you deceive your word, it will pain you to remember you’re going against what you previously said. Once you start acting as an expert, it’s much easier to live by what you said.

Expertise is Overrated

Name an expert in a field of study, or profession you like. Think about how they got their. If that person is in academics are they really more of an expert than you, or is it their tenure speaking. A lot of times it’s better for a novice to be incorporated into academic studies. The newbie sees things the experts had overlooked, they bring a new perspective to studies. Being an expert at anything isn’t that great, plus all experts began as amateurs. Expertise isn’t something to brag about, it’s knowing a lot of information and applying it to the real world.

Benefits of Acting the Expert

I see the benefits on a day-to-day basis. Every blog post I write is written as an authority. Am I an expert blogger? Hell, no. Could I give psychiatric advice for a living? Nope again. But I can write as an expert because I believe every word that I post has a meaning to it. Maybe that meaning helps me see the world. Maybe that meaning helps others see the world. But I am an authority in speaking truths about my truths. Each day I blog about truths I come closer to walking my expert talk.

It’s hard to develop answers to questions. Although professors make it look easy studying for tests. And Hollywood is great a depicting super geniuses who can solve all world-problems. Living life, and answering questions of yourself, is much easier said than done. There is no simple solution for the next step to take, how to answer certain life-questions, or how to become the person you’re striving to be.

Questions Asked in Adulthood

Here are the questions I have the hardest time answering as an adult:

1. How can I use my talents, not only to make a living, but improve the community around me?
2. If I had no financial restrictions, what would I want to do with my life?
3. How do I maintain great habits while ridding myself of the bad ones?

There are no simple answers to these questions. There are thought-leaders, authors, bloggers, and possible-mentors who could help develop solutions, but none of them are me. These answers need to be mine, and only mine. Yes, I can take input of great minds in order to arrive at an answer, but I still have to do the thinking.

How I’m Trying to Answer

My attempts to answer my three biggest questions revolve around a multi-faceted approach. For one, I try not to do stuff I hate (see Don’t Do Stuff You Hate). It’s hard to find something you’re truly passionate about, but it’s much easier to find stuff you don’t like doing. Trying a lot of stuff allows me to figure out the stuff I don’t like, and keeping the stuff I do like.

As far as what I’d do if money wasn’t an issue, I have no idea. First thing that pops into my mind is travel, but I’m not sure if that’s true. That seems to be the popular answer among millennials, but I don’t know if it would apply to me. I have no idea what I want to do. That’s okay, I’ve learned it’s okay not to know, but looking for the answer to this question eats at me every day.

Last, and my hardest struggle, is the keeping of great habits and elimination of bad habits. This is really hard. Something I haven’t been able to figure out during my four “adult” years (age 22 – present). I have no idea how to keep great habits. I like to think the answer is “when you get knocked down, get back up again,” but even that is easier said than done.

Keep On Keeping On

My best advice, and the advice that I give myself, is to shake off the bad days/weeks/experiences and look at each day as a way to improve. If I broke a good habit for a bad one, keep moving forward. Lamenting on the past will only follow into the future. The only things I can change are the actions I take today. Instead of trying to change the past, I must focus on keeping my current self moving forward.

We live in a society dedicated to rules. The founding fathers determined the rules we live by in the Constitution, and amendments. The judicial system was established to enforce the enacted rules. And the precedence’s from hundreds of years of cases dictate the legal system we today find ourselves in. We’re also taught from a young age to follow rules in the classroom, around parents, and follow the rules when it comes to employers. The greats learn the rules that don’t apply to them, and break them.

Learning the Rules

Before you break a rule, it’s best to know the rule first. How do you think bank robbers know how to pull off a heist? They study the rules of engagement. They check when the most money will be in the vaults. And they figure out the shifts of security guards looking for the banks least protected time. This is an extreme case of rule breaking, but it’s the same logic as entrepreneurs apply.

When entrepreneurs are searching for opportunities to improve the world, they are learning the rules. How do customers react to certain products? How are certain products marketed, and priced? If I were to get into the space what kind of improvements would I make? They are learning the rules. And they are looking for ways to exploit them.

Breaking the Rules

Applying this method can open you up to newfound opportunities. It doesn’t have to be in business or entrepreneurship. You can apply rule breaking to your everyday life today. Yesterday I wrote a post about an asking question education. Sometimes when I send my messages they are to hard-to-reach people. Most of the time I don’t get a response, but the ones who do are worth it.

Breaking rules can take many forms. A lot of time we believe we live in a society where it’s important to follow rules, and for good reason, our society is built on rules. But a lot of times there are opportunities to exploit which will get you better results, and faster, without weighing on your morals. Look for rules, and look to break them, there is almost always a solution that helps you, which simultaneously helps others.

Technology is eliminating the need for formal education. Any lesson you want to learn is available online. From courses, to blogs with tons of free content, to being able to communicate with anyone in the world at anytime.

Ask Questions

It has never been easier to contact people than it is today. With so many forms of communication, anyone can message anyone from anywhere. It’s also convenient. Instead of calling someone, and disturbing their day or rhythm, you can shoot them a message and wait for their response.

Learning From No Response

The hardest part for me is sending messages to random people, not knowing if I’ll get a response, or what the response will be. I’ve sent quite a few un-responded-to messages. I’ve also sent a lot of messages that I got far more knowledge-gain out of than I could’ve imagined. As Michael Jordan (or was it Wayne Gretzky?) said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The people who do respond are definitely worth the risk of those who don’t.

Knowledge Gain

Asking questions about something you’re interested in is the fastest way to gain knowledge. You can read books or research topics, but I’ve found reaching out to others is a faster way to learn. The caveat to this is reaching out to the right people. A lot of my emails are to (1) people I have met in person and have a question I know they can answer (2) people I have met online who I know are at a similar level in whatever topic I’m asking about, or (3) people I come across when researching a topic and I have a question for.

Reaching out is simple too. Either get ahold of someone’s email, become Facebook friends and shoot them a message, or try contact people through their blogs. With innovations of technology come new ways of interacting with others. It’s easier now than ever to gain knowledge, so stop waiting and start messaging

If you check out my About Me you’ll find my last line “My mindset: The more I blog, the better at blogging I will get.” That is certainly true. I’m at month three, and I can tell my blogging skills are getting better each and every day. But that’s not enough because it’s never enough. I can always challenge myself more.

Today I posted a Facebook status:

Every blog I post will at least be 300 words. And I will find activities each and every day to write at least 1,000 words. That’s my new goal.

Why 1,000+ Words/Day?

I’ve been getting into copywriting. For those of you who don’t know, copywriting is a non-sleazy way to market your product. Copywriting is marketing at it’s finest. It’s how you get people interested in your websites, ideas, and blog posts. I don’t write for copywrite-optimization on this blog, I write as if it were my daily journal, but I have uses for copywriting. Mainly personal endeavors I hope will result in profit.

Anyway, the reason I chose 1,000+ words/day is because of a post on copyblogger.com titled 20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks. I want to get better at writing, and copywriting, 1,000 words/day seems like a way to get better. Plus, since I started blogging, 1,000 words doesn’t seem daunting anymore.

How I Got on Copywriting

My favorite chapter of a book I’ve read recently is hands-down Chapter 3 of The Education of Millionaires. Honestly, buy the book for this chapter, it’ll pay dividends. In chapter 3 is an outline for learning copywriting. The people you should follow. The ideas you should take from copywrite masters. I have set up a separate email account to get tons of copywriting emails, and I’ll tell you, they’re awesome.

I am by no means a copywrite expert (or even a novice, really), but these ideas are universal. If you want to connect to your community, marketplace, or friends, these are the lessons you need to learn. Copywriters are the people who connect everyone.

There’s a song titled Juicy by The Notorius B.I.G. in which he talks about going from rough life on the streets, never amounting to anything, to blowing up on the radio and becoming a pop culture icon. Whether it’s a put-down of a high school teacher who told him he’d never be more than a janitor isn’t important. The line that sticks in my head every time I hear Juicy is “And if you don’t know, now you know.”

From Rap Lyrics to You

We can’t all be Biggie Smalls, rising from nothing to fame. But we can all learn from what he said. If you don’t know something, what’s stopping you from knowing? It doesn’t take that long to figure out what you want to know? Actually, the faster you fail forward, the faster you try to know but don’t succeed, the faster you’ll be moving in the right direction. Not knowing something, and wanting to know it, is your first step in moving in the right direction. It’s how you get to “now you know.”

From Rap Lyrics to Example

Speaking in rap lyrics is great, but let’s take a real life example. For a few weeks now I’ve been toiling with the idea of launching a small business accounting solutions company. I already have a basic outline for it, Accounting Over Coffee, but not knowing has been holding me back. How do I get to knowing, if I don’t know the first place? Well, today I took my first step. I started to look at it as a question.

Instead of looking at my idea as an obstacle to overcome, I posed it as a research question. I know there are other people out there who know how to run a freelance accounting company. There are people all over the world doing it. But “Where are they working?,” “How are they doing it?,” we’re never my question I was asking to know. I was looking for the solution internally instead of going to the market.

Upwork

Today I signed up for Upwork. It’s a freelancing website that let’s you work as a freelancer. Although on my first day I wasn’t able to snag any accounting work, I was able to complete a job. It also opened up my eyes to other freelance accountants who have a sound business model. Each of them has obviously taken time to market their brand. Today I learned the next steps I need to take to market my brand.

It’s juicy, what I didn’t know, I now know.

We’ve all heard the saying practice makes perfect. My high school basketball coach hated the phrase. “Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanent,” he’d yell from the sideline. Perfect practice, which I don’t believe to be possible, makes perfect.

Practice Makes Permanent

Day-in, day-out habit forming creates permanent habits. If we start with bad habits, and continue bad habits on a daily basis, they will soon become permanent. Same holds true with good habits. Once we devote ourselves to good habits, they become permanent in our lives. The hard part is ensuring we’re creating good habits and eliminating bad ones. We must consistently practice, both physically and mentally, building habits that we want to become permanent.

Perfect Practice Not Possible

Perfect practice, in my opinion, is impossible. There is no perfect way to do something. We also can’t perfectly practice anything because we’ll never reach perfection. There will always be another way to improve ourselves, even when we achieve close to perfection. Since we can’t practice perfectly we have to do the next best thing, practice with our best foot forward.

Using This to Our Advantage

Practice shouldn’t be shied away from. Practicing is a key element to arriving at the place we want to be. Forget the motto practice makes perfect. It’s untrue. Perfection is not something to strive for because we’ll never achieve it. Instead focus on what we’re doing today, what we plan on doing tomorrow, and make sure those actions align with good habits.

Practicing a good habit today, and tomorrow, will propel us towards a permanent good habit. At the same time we must focus on eliminating the bad habits. If we consciously eliminate the bad, we move toward permanently eliminating bad habits. Our goal shouldn’t be striving for perfection, but being acutely aware that our actions today lead to the person we will become. Our practice will become permanent.

The reason for college is the diploma. The piece of paper that signals to employers that your are competent enough to get through a few years of lectures, courses, and final exams. It’s been a signal for hundreds of years, and, up until the last few decades, was a good signal of one’s capabilities. With more and more people getting through college, the piece of paper carries less weight and it signals less about you. However, there’s still hope. We all have one thing that signals our abilities, even better than a diploma, and that signal is pride.

Pride as Habit

Highly successful people have a trait in common, they take pride in their work, and pay attention to every last detail. Steve Jobs used to require Macs to have beautiful hardware designs even though the consumer was never going to see it. He’s quirky, sure, but it’s that quirk that made Steve Jobs who he was, and made Apple what it is.

Pride as Signal

Taking pride, and paying attention to every detail, is one of the things that make successful people successful. It also signals to others that you are capable of doing solid work.

Say, for instance, you want to become a bartender at a restaurant, but you’re told they don’t have a position for bartenders. Instead of pouting and giving up, you apply for a waiting position instead. While working, you realize the trash is rarely emptied on time, which leads to complaining bartenders. On top of your other job duties you start emptying the trash for your bartending co-workers. You become known as the waiter who takes out the trash. You build the signal, by going above and beyond, and paying attention to details. Even though it supposedly wasn’t open, six months later you get hired for the bartending job.

This is a lesson in the pride signal. By taking pride in your work, you are showing others that you are capable. On top of that you are forming a successful habit. Because you can handle a small task to the best of your ability, the signal says you probably take pride in other aspects of life, like keeping a clean kitchen at home. Taking pride in your work may be the best thing you can do for yourself and your career. Not only are you developing a habit of success, but you are developing a signal to others that you’re more than capable to get each and every job done.

Further Reading

If you want further reading on the education signal then check out these thought leaders in the education community. You can check out Bryan Caplan here and Isaac Morehouse’s blog posts about signaling here,