This is the second part in the continuation of a series. You can find the first part here: https://medium.com/@futureofschool/lessons-from-the-start-up-of-you-part-1-50c25313049a

8. Your asset mix is not fixed. You can strengthen it by investing in yourself. If you think you lack certain assets that will make you more competitive, don’t use it as an excuse; start developing them.

9. Aspirations and values are both important piece of your career competitive advantage quite simply because when you’re doing work you care about, you are able to work harder and better. The person passionate about what he or she is doing will outwork and outlast the guy motivated solely by making money.
Note: Though your aspirations shape what you do, but your aspirations are themselves shaped by your actions and experiences. You remake yourself as you grow and as the world changes. Your identity does not get found, it emerges.

10. Smart entrepreneurs know a product won’t make money if customers don’t want or need it, regardless of how slick its form and function unless it meets the need of a paying market. Always keep in mind that the “market” is not an abstract thing. It consists of the people who make decisions that affect you and whose needs you must serve: your boss, your coworkers, your clients, your direst reports and others. How badly do they need what you have to offer, and if they need it, do you offer value that’s better than the competition? It’s often said that entrepreneurs are dreamers. True. But good entrepreneurs are also firmly grounded in what’s available and possible right now. Specifically, entrepreneurs spend vast amount of energy trying to figure out what customers will pay for. Market that don’t exist don’t care how smart you are. Similarly, it doesn’t matter how hard you’ve worked or how passionate you are about an aspiration: if someone won’t pay you for your services in the career marketplace, it’s going to be a very hard slog. Remember: You are not entitled to anything.

11. The most obvious way to improve your competitive advantage is to strengthen and diversify your set mix-for example, learn new skills. That’s certainly smart. But it’s equally effective to place yourself in a market niche where your existing assets shine brighter than the competitions. You can carve out a professional niche in the job market by making choices that make you different from the smart people around you. It’s important to understand, though, that while entrepreneur companies and people are always evolving, the choices they’re making are disciplined, not random.

12. ABZ Planning. Always have a plan A, plan B and plan Z. plan A is what you’re doing right now. It’s your current implementation of your competitive advantage. Within a plan A you make minor adjustments as you learn; you iterate regularly. Plan B is what you pivot to when you need to change either your goal or the route for getting there. Plan B tends to be in the same general ballpark as plan A. sometimes you pivot because you’re discovered a new opportunity that’s just better than what you’re doing now. Plan Z is the fallback position: your lifeboat. In business and life, you always want to keep playing the game. If failure means you end up on the street, that’s an unacceptable failure. So, what’s your certain, reliable, stable plan if all your career plans go to hell or if you want to do a major life change? That’s plan Z. The certainty of plan Z is what allows you to take on uncertainty and risk in your plans A and B.

13. learn by Doing. Any entrepreneur (and any expert on cognition/learning) will tell you that practical knowledge is best developed by doing, not just thinking or planning. Whatever the situation, actions, not plans, generate lessons that help you discover where you want to go and how to get there.

14. How to Pivot: Start it on the side. Start learning a skill during the evenings and weekends. Start building relationships with people who work in adjacent industry. Apply for a part-time internship. Start a side consulting practice.