What problem have you solved today?

They say life is full of problems but have you ever stopped and ask yourself that question?

Recently, I find myself wondering how I got here especially when someone texted me "J'espère que tu vas bien" (if you (the sender) read this, I might know/not who you are but I had a rough guess). I remembered when I was able to read, understand and converse in broken french. Had it not been the french pronunciation nazi, I would have been fluent. Afterall, I always got an A in my french exams 🤣. Anyhow, that simple greeting sent me into this reflection on how I got here? by here I mean the state of living I am in and if I am straying away from my grandeur life goals and plan.

I used to want to solve the world's menial problems that others might find insignificant but it's really rewarding. Think problems like low literacy, poverty, upholding meritocracy, immigration issues 😅 or just bridging cultural gaps all around. I also used to want to help people find their place in this world and motivate them to be the best version they can be. It sounds like a grandeur plan but guess what? I am actually the one that needs to be helped & that’s probably why I am still here, solving my own problem one day at a time.

I was always motivated to leave an impactful legacy behind. Money is cool but really, from what I learned, people don't talk about dead people's money more than their accomplishments or who they were when they were alive. I am sure you've heard this but this is also something I came to truly realize. When you die, what kind of legacy will you leave behind? Will people remember you for more than a generation or will you die forgotten?Will people or anyone willing to visit your grave or will it be abandoned and unkept?

Technically, you don’t need to be Elon musk or any of the greatest scientists or Pulitzer winners. I’ve had many examples in my life where my family members left their legacy. It’s really not their money but how they conduct themselves and how they contributed to someone else’s life and success. In my adoptive family, I am considered like the 4th generation. Isn’t it crazy that some random strangers still remembered my great grandfather and their family still remember him and the things he does?

Look, I know it's hard to think big or leave some legacy behind when your stomach is grumbling, when you're one step away from being homeless or when things are really just against you. In fact, it is unrealistic to think all that, it's better to find how to survive today than some grand idea of things that are even harder to grasp. But it’s all still possible.

From what I learned during my hardest year, thinking and dreaming big are possible. It's free afterall. Anyone can really do that. The hardest part was actually doing it. You can't show up to a meeting looking homeless, not when you don't have a name. You can't show up just as nobody. You gotta look the part & that’s how most people do it anyway. When you truly see the inside of so-called hotshots, you know that they could’ve been just pretending afterall. It’s not as pretty as you might think. But they do whatever it takes to solve problems that they think need to solve.

I used to have a person I consider a mentor. The one that taught me a little or two about business and people. The mentor I had isn’t in the traditional sense but I was working under someone that knows all the right words to say. She could secure million, even billion funding and people really believed in whatever she said. She knows what problem to solve and delegates it to others that know it better than she does. She was truly charismatic and people like her until they truly go to know who she is.

It felt so wrong working under that person but at the same time, she delivered. She knows that all people care about results and everything else secondary. The unique thing that I’ve learned is that she’s not the typical rich rich person. She wasn’t really motivated with money. She eats congee almost daily and is very skimpy with food. But she would show up like a hotshot whenever needed. When you hear all that advice all around, just know that it’s true, rich rich people don’t really go around looking rich, they just look regular, almost poor even.

Although for her, I was still considered lazy and fairly rebellious. So, it wasn’t really profitable to work with me as I was not the person she could boss around much. I work based on whims rather than having the need to actually do something. She prefers to work with desperate people, people that harbor a scarcity mindset and are willing to be treated no better than human beings.

But working under her has taught me a lot about life and reminds me that I might need to stop being so idealistic and start living so that I could solve more problems eventually,not just mine but others too.

Also, recently I came across this article that also still resonates with me.

If you're so smart why aren't you rich?

That question pissess of some people or sent some people into deep reflection. Why am I not rich yet? Interestingly luck plays a role too. I am not sure about you but for me, I choose to work hard for things I believe in to increase my luck and chances. I mean, when you try hard enough, something is bound to happen especially when the formulation of things gets better and narrower daily. So, that's why I asked myself a lot lately at the end of the day. " What problems have I solved? " and at the start of the day I ask myself " what problem will you solve today?"