I recently read a thread that completely shifted my approach to life and business...

(read it after you finish reading this email)

du @thedulab How to know what you're meant to do in life: April 5th 2023 247 Retweets 1,606 Likes

TL;DR

• Stop trying random business models that everyone around you is doing or money twitter guru's are teaching
• Instead, look within to find your natural talents
• Everyone has traits, skills, qualities that are valuable to the world which come naturally to them
• Cut the noise and go full in on developing these natural "unfair advantages"
• You'll not only excel everyone around you doing the same thing, but you'll also enjoy the process way more

I found this so transformative because I've felt a lot of friction with some projects that I've been working on recently...

But I gain a lot of energy with other projects.

This got me thinking a lot.

What are my natural talents?

It's tough to identify what it is without a deep level of self awareness.

I asked myself:

• What gives me energy?
• What are my strengths?
• What do I naturally find easy to do?
• What do people usually come to me for?

And conversely, I identified the answer to the opposite of those questions.

If you want to start an online business, the advice of one guru might work for them but not for you.

You must realise that everyone speaks in absolutes to establish "credibility" and sell you their products and services...

But in reality there's so much nuance.

If you have a natural ability to:

• Build trust and rapport with people quickly, you would close so many sales calls.
• See ways to systemize things, you can kill it as a head of operations.
• Explain complex concepts simply, you'll get so much demand from people wanting you to coach/consult them.

Yes, you may be able to do all of the above to a high level, but to excel to the top, you need to have a combination of natural talent and hard work honing that set of skills.

The point is, there is an online business model/job role out there that when you do it, it'll feel frictionless but to others it looks like you're grinding hard.

You're shooting yourself in the foot by not realising your full potential.

Following the crowd too much will drown out the internal voice.

It's the internal voice that knows your unfair advantages.

You'll notice it if you pay close attention to the things you do well effortlessly compared to others.

Once you find this out, your progression will be lightning fast.

This is a massive trap that I've fallen for - looking externally for the right answer.

Trying out business models which gave me so much resistance to do...

And neglecting the things that came naturally for me.

Just because I followed the money instead of my natural talents.

After reflecting on my natural inclinations, I noticed that I get A LOT of energy from social interactions with like minded people.

Whether that's:

• Coaching calls
• Sales calls
• Client calls
• Podcasts
• Catch ups with friends
• Meeting new people

My energy skyrockets.

I think this is because I have a natural sense to feel what others feel when I talk to them (which in turn makes us more connected).

So I get satisfaction from helping others and building genuine connections.

I also have a ton of fun writing personal story threads and sharing experiences (written or spoken) like this:

Fernando Cao Zheng @thefernandocz 8 years ago, I had crippling social anxiety. Today, I can talk to anyone. Here's how I built bulletproof confidence: pic.twitter.com/YDQpeQy8H8 February 21st 2023 156 Retweets 979 Likes

and this:

Fernando Cao Zheng @thefernandocz On May 2022, I travelled alone to Thailand with just a backpack. It was a life changing decision. Here's why you should too: pic.twitter.com/bSJY1iYX1l February 28th 2023 40 Retweets 399 Likes

So in a business setting, this would mean focus on:

• Sales
• Teaching
• Managerial
• Psychologist
• Client relationship
• Business development

Type roles.

My challenge to you this week would be to find your unfair advantage. A great place to start would be to take a Myers Briggs​ personality test.

Before I sign off, here's a cool photo I took when I went to Girona, Spain in April to visit some Twitter friends.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this as always.

See ya next week.
- Fernando

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