Does Higher Education Blind You To Simple "Real World Value"?

Hi Friends,

Today’s topic is making sure to come back to Earth. I have been in this digital stuff for so long, the reason being that we have been lied to. My generation, Gen Z, we have been lied to. Our parents and authorities told us we need to study. "Study my child, and then you will be successful." "Study my child, then you will be earning the money, with a great and secure job, with lots of recognition." That was a lie. Not because they were lying, but it was collectively a lie that we have been fed from the governing authorities. They said if you study, you will earn X amount of money more.

Little did we know, that we will have even more problems to find jobs. Not only is the economic situation in the world shaky, but also the problem of hyper-specialization is pretty useless if you’re not in a highly developed city. I know that, since I moved to São Miguel 3 years ago, I was over-qualified for anything. My pride blinded me in not accepting a job that is lower than that, and that is exactly where I have been misled. The education I have been blessed with has blessed me so far as to literally blind me. It sounds so ironic, but it’s true.

After I graduated with my bachelor's in Industrial Design in the year of 2022, I was very excited to join a nice job. But I also wanted to get out of Berlin, which was a contradiction considering that I wanted to move to a rural area. I wanted Industrial Design and Island life. Now in retrospect, it didn't make sense at all.

A New Path

But I was still keen on getting a nice collection of clients through my laptop skills. I learned how to create websites, all things related to marketing, and just generally being as useful as possible. I got fascinated by performance marketing, Ieven went so far as to create my own little agency called Holistic9 (shout out to everyone reading this who was involved at that time).

I was wanting to be as useful as possible, so I could charge as much as possible. I was obsessed with strategic thinking, thinking it will enable me to earn more money than with simple execution. But I didn't have any experience. The reason I felt entitled to it, was my bachelor's study which taught me how to think, research and solve problems from a very progressive and modern approach. I deeply think I enjoyed one of the best design educations out there!

But something felt off. I was indoctrinated by my parents and elders to study, then I studied and I felt entitled to more that I had. It was strange. At the same time, I realized how useless I was in the physical world. So I learned carpentry too. Man, what the fuck did I actually not learn? I am so damn proud of myself.

Finding Balance

The last problem to solve was: "What do I have to do that I can do consistently and brings me money?" To be honest, I like laptop work and I am good at it, but it’s only so much I can do before I get completely annoyed by sitting in the embryo position for too long. It’s just not balanced in any way. I needed something to balance it out.

So, when I then applied the principles learned in my article Realizing Your Gifts and Making Sure You Stick To Them, I remembered being good at helping people achieve their health on all levels. In the spiritual, emotional as well as physical. That’s why I am doing my studies in the Chek Institute.

And now, I am announcing: I am now offering wellness massages! In a 2-day course in Rostock this last weekend, which was also the reason I couldn't send this email by the way, I learned the ways of offering a nice massage for well-being. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a humble little service needed from anyone from time to time. If you need one around Berlin, let me know! Here’s my number: +351910371999

My Key Takeaway

My key takeaway writing this article is that even though I thought we have been lied to, which is also the case, that we could earn so much more money by studying and getting a job in a quicker way, it’s not really about that at all. Studying and graduating taught me how to think better, solve problems better, and research better, for a better world. It avoided me going head on into things and doing them without thinking first. The world now needs a "WHY" more than a "DO."And we are here to deliver the question why. We may not be able to answer it, but at least the question has been asked.

Let this be an inspiration: If you want to succeed in life, you need at least 1 simple, humble skill that you can exchange for money. You need to be passionate about it too. If you don't have this, if you do things out of the necessity to do it, but have no real passion, you are competing with people who have 10x more gas tank. Rethink. Don’t be "too good" to do something like I was. I am writing these articles so you don’t have to do the same mistakes. Thank you for reading, and talk to you again my dears!

Kiss kiss,

Tarkan