At my core, there are a handful of values which I could say define who I am as a person. To me these values mean something and have defined who I am today. These values can change, or maybe even new values can get added but for now these are what I would consider have made an impact on me.
I grew up in an Indian household. To many, being Indian would start ringing alarm bells of them being cheap, and that thought would be exactly right. My family was indeed cheap. Or in other words, frugal. My family was never the type to spend much money on anything besides for food and for people outside of our immediate family. Growing up this meant I continued to not spend money on much of anything, this meant I found ways to save money/get things for free. It started off with emulating games, downloading movies in cam quality (absolutely disgusting quality that nobody should ever have to watch), and tv shows. Then it turned to modding Playstations, downloading games and cracked software etc. This trend continued into adulthood and probably got worse for the most part. But now I mostly just run a Plex server for my family and friends.
As an adult, I’m still frugal with money and I try to make the most out of the money I have. Do I think it’s wrong to pirate? Yes, it’s wrong but not doing so would leave me a lot worse off financially. There are plenty of bills to be paid, I’d rather not add any more to the pile. I do understand that pirating means I’m taking away money from the various industries but unfortunately, for me the pros outweigh the cons by what feels like 1000 percent. The way I was raised means you’ll have to wrestle the money away from me (not an easy task) unless the service provided is reasonable...
Fortunately, I do spend money on things that I do deem have value. Like this course for example. In conjunction with doing this course I am using as many free resources as I can to grow and develop my skills at the same time. Being frugal limits my options in this regard as not all free resources are going to be as good as a paid option. For example, I had seen there was a site that was recommended by DevAcademy in the pre-curriculum to practice JavaScript. I attempted a few levels of the game only to find out I couldn’t go any further because I was stopped by a paywall. The site may have been a great resource but due to my frugality I had to stop using it.
As you can see there are many ups and downs of being frugal. You will find being frugal means you’ll make do with whatever options cost the least amount of money, but you may also miss out on growth and some happiness due to not wanting to spend the money. This is something I’m only coming to understand after writing this blog.
Another value which is key to me is being independent. If I can, I’ll manage things by myself, this has led me down the DIY route. This once again has pros and cons. I like helping others where I can, but when it comes to getting help for myself, I struggle. I think it might be because in my head I would think that the help is not always going to be there, so it’s better to do it yourself then use it as a learning opportunity and so you don’t have to rely on anyone in the future. This is something I see that happens more so during my personal life and not in my professional life. During my professional life I do ask for some help here and there because you don’t know what you don’t know.
Being independent has allowed me to grow my skills. For example, I’m able to do basic DIY tasks including gibbing/gib stopping, basic electrical work, setting up smart home/security equipment, cutting my own hair to name the few, almost like a jack of all trades master of none type of guy. This also very much ties in with being frugal since these are all also cost saving measures.
One of the struggles I’ve had while trying to work independently was when I had to run some wires under the house from one end of the house to the other, I’m a bit scared of spiders and insects so I was quite reluctant to go under all the way. I tried using different methods to get the wire across. Nothing I did worked. I had wasted a few hours trying to find a solution. The only way the run would work was if I went all the way under the house. I had to succumb to asking a family member to come help me. They were happy to help and the task was done quickly. If there’s anything I can learn from this occasion it would be that I should ask for help sooner or risk wasting valuable time.
I have also come to notice that during the last year or two I have developed a growth value. This value is one of the most important values at this current stage, this is the value that is going to help me learn and strive to be better and greater than I am today. In the learning environment this will help me push myself to continue above and beyond.
Doing the VIA Character survey has revealed to me that my top strength could also be what they call ‘Social Intelligence’. VIA defines Social Intelligence as:
“Being aware of the motives/feelings of others and oneself; knowing what to do to fit into different social situations; knowing what makes other people tick.”
I thought about this for a while and I initially thought that it didn’t sound like one of my strengths or something I experience but the more I thought about it, it may end up actually being true. In different social situations I do adjust myself to fit in. Evidently, during my professional life I managed to get along with everyone no matter their backgrounds. I’ve even made friends with people who were double my age, two of my closest friends right now are close to 60 and 70 years old. I find it funny that this is one of the strengths that I have because I feel I’m quite reserved as a person, but maybe that goes hand in hand?
This strength will translate over quite well in my learning journey since I’ll be required to work with fellow learners and eventually fellow colleagues who come from all different backgrounds. It’s always good to keep a good working relationship.
As you can see there are a few key values which have made me who I am today, I will continue to evolve and hopefully become a better me from understanding my strengths and weaknesses from these values.