This is my 104th consecutive letter, meaning I’ve officially written this newsletter every week for the past two years.
I remember when I started I thought I’d do it for a year and see where it goes. I had no clue what I would write about. On the side, I explored the different monetization opportunities from all the LinkedIn and Twitter bros peddling their internet writing courses. Then a year passed, I realized there were certain topics that always came back to mind. I asked people for feedback and learned the personal stories resonated.
I learned by doing but also learned something else.
Not everything has to pay you back in money.
There are certain things in life you do just because.
It has made me wonder, how do you define a rich life?
The VCH Life Design Model: A Framework for a More Meaningful Life
A lot of people don’t find meaning in their jobs.
You find meaning when you enjoy the work you do. This depends on how you design your life.
I sent out a survey to a bunch of professionals in 2019, asking about their goals around maximizing their creative outputs.
I got a few people that wanted to take dance lessons, some wanted to paint more, a lot wanted to write. The biggest challenge they expressed was finding the time to do it. On the other hand, when I asked what benefit it would bring to their life, that’s when I learned a new insight.
A lot of people said something similar to what this respondent said: “it will just help me live a more meaningful, well-rounded life.”
It’s been on my mind ever since. Most of us want to find more meaning in life but are trapped by the day-to-day bills to be paid.
I found a model that’s emerging in the way I think about life that is helping me find balance.
When you use this model, it will help you rethink how you allocate your time, gain more clarity, and provide a roadmap for how you want to lead a more meaningful life.
(Please take this as my personal experience. Take what works for you and discard everything else that doesn’t serve you.)
Here’s the VCH model.
1. Vocation
Pay those bills.
I’ve learned that real wealth is good health and peace of mind. The ability to pay your bills and take care of your responsibility will keep your worries at bay. That’s why everyone needs a vocation.
Your vocation is the job that you can get paid “the most” for.
In my case, what I can get paid the most for is business development and go-to-market strategies for industrial automation and AI companies (I’ve only recently gained this clarity). I didn’t stumble on this vocation, it took years to build.
From optimization research at Texas A&M, to working on model predictive controls at Rockwell Automation, business school at Stanford, running my business helping industrial companies expand in internal markets, it all stacks up to give me leverage that I can use to find a job or a client.
When you look at your skills, what is the easiest place to find a job, where your story would make sense? If you’ve been mixing drinks for years, maybe it’s at a bar. If you’ve been in public service and real estate development, perhaps it’s building affordable homes.
Vocation pays the bills.
Stack your skills and get paid.
Take care of the foundation.
2. Craft
Writing and storytelling is my craft.
I want to get better at it. Your vocation can suck up all your time since it pays those bills. However, it’s good to make time to work on a skill you personally want to get good at.
But don’t conflate your craft with vocation.
This is a trap that happens, especially when you start to enjoy your craft. For instance I have written 4 books now. I enjoy writing but I don’t ponder much about becoming a full-time writer. Why? First, I don’t think it would be as interesting. Secondly, my logical engineering brain can’t get past the math.
Follow my calculation:
Across 4 books, I have a total of about 250k words and my books have made about ~ $30k in sales.
That’s $0.12 per word.
Using how long it takes me to write these letters every week, I’m able to publish 300 meaningful words per hour.
Multiply that with the $/word and that puts me at $40 per hour.
I haven’t included the cost of marketing and distributing, which is more than half the work.
So let’s cut that down to $20 per hour.
Hmm, not too bad. But then, I would have to publish a book every 4 months to keep this going.
I have based these calculations on a boutique sales approach, in which I sell my books before they are published. If I revised it on Amazon sales alone, that $30k revenue drops down to $2k.
That would put me at 0.8 cents per word. My rate will be $2.4 per hour. Below minimum wage.
Yeah fam!
The math ain’t mathing.
I didn’t come to this life to suffer, abeg!
My vocation offers a lot more. For now, I’ll leave writing in the craft bucket.
This doesn’t mean it can’t become a vocation down the line. I will have to improve my craft to increase the value of my words and ideas. My hope is that, down the line, I have a portfolio of ideas in books, posts, and letters that people discover over time.
This craft also ties into my vocation. The better I get at writing, storytelling, and persuasion, the better I get at attracting opportunities and sales in my vocation.
Find a craft you want to improve at and build it over time.
3. Hobbies
Make music, not money.
When I was working as an engineer, I searched for an outlet to express my non-analytical self. I found it through music.
A lot of us put all our self-worth into a few baskets.
When things don’t pan out in our vocation or craft, we get down on ourselves. Diversify your self-worth with hobbies. Do something you enjoy just for the sake of it.
For instance, I enjoy playing basketball.
Yeah, I would like to shoot like Steph but at this point in my life, that’s not happening. There’s always room for improvement but I’m not willing to put in the effort to improve my game to the point that someone would pay me for it.
Same thing with music.
I love making it but do I want to spend the time to improve so that I can finally sell a beat to Dr. Dre? Nah. I’d rather cold call some industrial clients in Houston, Texas. I leave music as a hobby that helps with my creativity but most importantly, works as an expressive outlet.
Hobbies are important.
Use them to activate different parts of your brain and interact with people who have similar interests.
Put the VCH model into practice…
I think about this model in terms of time: short, mid, and long-term.
Put paying your bills, building your skills, growing your brand along a timeline.
Your bills are very immediate, use your vocation for that.
Your skills are both personal and professional, work on your craft and vocation for that.
Your brand is your long term essence, the combination of your vocation, your craft, and your hobbies.
Take some time today to write down a few items that fit into these three buckets.
I hope it helps.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
P.S. Reply with one word if any of this resonated with you.
