Talking to travellers on the tube and train is tremendous
#136 - a jazzy performance with a super soprano
Hi there,
You can definitely tell it’s Christmas - my Christmas playlist has been active, I’ve photographed 6 trees (should start an Instagram page with them all!) and performed in 2 concerts. The week ahead will be a less eventful yet exciting end to a first term worth its own book.
Highlight of the week: would have to be exploring London at Christmas with 2 friends, one who came down from Liverpool. Being mesmerised by the lights, trying to get past the flocks of people on the street whilst having some great conversations - it was a lovely evening.
Starting at university has felt like starting a new life, as I guess a new chapter would. It’s a life with its successes and flaws, but one area I think I’ve done well in is opening myself up to luck.
I’ve written before about how to increase the luck you get in your life in very broad terms. This post will double-click on a couple of those ideas, and resurface this concept which I’ve found myself referencing a lot in explaining the rationale behind certain actions in conversations.
I. Talking to people on the train
The last few weeks have offered the chance to take many more journeys on the rail lines, mostly between Birmingham and London. Travelling on my own means I don’t necessarily have anyone to yap with the entire time and does give me the chance to catch up on any work I’ve been putting off or de-prioritising.
However, I’ve been brave and gone against the British culture of keeping to oneself and “Oh I wouldn’t want to bother them”, to start speaking to the people I’m travelling next to. And these have brought about some great conversations:
A 3rd year UCL Geography student, who happened to be good friends with a 3rd year mathematician I want to meet soon (an impressive guy 😄)
A ‘Global Profit Protection Manager’ for a growing clothes brand; after hearing about his work and his advice for young people, I even got his LinkedIn (very network-y I know, but a useful person to know from a novel industry)
A recruiter for ‘Marston Holdings’, one of the biggest unheard-of companies in the UK, who took the time to review my CV - and pointed out a small but impressive edit which needed to be done.
These are all serendipitous conversations, experiences which I enjoyed in the moment and also look back on and think “Hmm, well done me for doing that”. The super exciting part about it is you never know where a conversation could take you.
As an aside, reading broadly and listening to podcasts like ‘The Intelligence’ (The Economist) meant I was able to hold my own in some of these chats, asking about topics which they would care about e.g. I asked the French lady I met about Macron, Le Pen, the Olympics and the pension age row. The takeaway here is to have a high-level knowledge of lots of things (and, it follows, a deep understanding of a few areas of specialism).
Now, who knows who I will meet on my train journey home next week?
II. Trying new things
For me, the best story has to be the muffins in the campus cafés. They have around 7 flavours and each time, I’ve tried to choose different ones.
Now, are they all winners? No. The banana and toffee muffin I grabbed (as an alternative to the best one, detailed in a bit) was too sweet and sticky (I guess it’s hinted at in the name…).
The argument here can be framed as “But what’s the upside?” What’s the potential? You discover the best flavour which can become your comfort food for the years of studying stresses to come.
It’s a similar case with me getting a Starbucks hot chocolate yesterday. I went for the Christmas-themed ‘Fudge Brownie’ flavour, and it was a nice change to the solid warmth and comfort of a hot chocolate oozing down your throat, warming your very being.
“I think it's generally human nature to over-estimate risk and under-estimate opportunity. ... The risks are probably not as big as you perceive and the opportunities may be bigger than you perceive.” Jeff Bezos
III. Taking the time to become memorable
Let me take you back to 11:20 yesterday. I’m rounding up a mock interview for a friend (good luck!) and am about to set off for a networking fair by the Investment Society, which starts at 11.
I’ve only got till 12 (I thought), because I needed to help set up for choir (didn’t know about the clash till 3 days out), and I have a choice to make - do I spend the 5 minutes to print off some copies of my CV or just make my way there?
“Print off your CVs, no one else will and it will help you stand out”, says my friend. And he was right: I didn’t see anyone else holding a piece of paper. One person gave me the validation that this iteration after multiple edits was in a really good place, whilst another said “See, you’re the person I’m going to remember after this - because you were the only one with the CV”
Other things you can do to be memorable are take that little extra time to dress smartly (I was not the best-suited there. In fact, I wasn’t even wearing a suit - because of choir), work on having a strong handshake and smile genuinely - you should be interested in talking to them, so be there like you mean it.
The common advice from career teams is to Be Yourself. I’d like to add a bit more to that - be the best version of yourself. One of our readers and a good friend Josh loves this line I’ve written before, “Impress yourself and you’ll astound others”.
This was a very self-congratulatory post but I hope it has helped spark off some ideas of things you can adopt into your lives. It provides us a reminder to do everything with intention, and to set ourselves up well, a useful point ahead of planning for 2025, which isn’t that far away now. These small steps might help send some luck your way, throwing wind into the sails as we make our way across the oceans of life.
Very poetic end - let me know what you do to increase that surface area of luck, so I can multiply mine.
Podcast of the week🎙️
The Daily Stoic: Tim Ferriss on Making Better Decisions and Solving Problems (Pt 1)
Whatever time I’ve got my headphones on these days seems to be music (Christmas music this month of course) and cricket podcasts. However, it was nice to be the old Adi for a bit whilst churning out the ironing, and a meaningful conversation which made me think was worth it.
What I’m grateful for this week 🙏
My two fellow tech helpers, Emma and Oscar, for letting me stay on for a bit more of the fair (concert sounded great 😁)
Quote of the week 💬
The future is always beginning now - Mark Strand
Last week of Term 1, and then a Christmas break to look forward to. I’m well and truly into Christmas this year, hope you are too. Until then, keep enjoying the embarrassing things your Spotify Wrapped (or equivalent) reveals about the year. Ciao!
Adi