Quote:
Originally Posted by Manomanman  |
Here's my feedback on your video:
You have a lot of passion about what you're talking about. It's clear you're excited about both music and AI. You bring a lot of energy to both subjects in your language. That's excellent.
It's also clear you've been giving your career path a lot of thought. You were able to share some specifics about what you wanted to do. Again excellent.
You started out by talking about the path that you
didn't want to take, as if there was an external expectation for you to follow it. That's a warning sign. It indicates that you still have some concern that this is where you may end up if you're not careful... or that you may be forced into it. If you're committed to your dreams, there's really no good reason to begin by talking about what you don't want.
You talked about two different potential paths -- music and AI. You described those paths in a way that makes them seem incompatible. You didn't share an idea of how to integrate both into a singular path, or to tackle them one at a time. So this suggests that you're undecided and that your focus is split between the two. That could mean you'll make little progress on either due to indecision.
I can relate to this latter part because I faced a similar tough decision after I graduated college. I was trying to decide whether I should go on to grad school and get a Ph.D in computer science (AI) or to start my own software business and go the entrepreneurial route. I was undecided for months, so I made little progress on either path. Finally I committed to starting a business and let go of the Ph.D idea, and lots of action flowed from there.
You talked about both music and AI as if they were dreams, not reality. Your body language (leaning forward, small gestures, taking up little space) suggests a dream/fantasy rather than a vision of a future reality you're in the process of making real. It suggests more hope than confidence. Watch a video of Steve Jobs talking about Apple's latest creations, and then compare it to yours. I'll bet you'll learn a lot from it.
You talked about your dreams primarily in terms of yourself and in terms of ideas that inspire you. I didn't see any mention about turning them into value for others. Who would care to listen to your music? Who would benefit from your AI pursuits? This "I want to do it because it's cool" mindset is really common in academia because students are usually insulated from real world economic realities. There's nothing wrong with doing what excites you -- by all means you should. But based on your video, I'd predict that you'll have a hard time turning your dreams into a sustainable cashflow, which may push you to settle for having your dreams as side hobbies while you take on other work (perhaps the no-nos you mentioned in the beginning of the video) to pay the bills.
You talked about wanting to do things that are new and exciting and "definitely not boring." You talked about wanting to maintain complete creative control. You're obviously very bright. I think you have the intellect to do some amazing things in either field. What I see in these videos is that you may be lacking the groundedness to turn your dreams into reality. The real key there is to focus on providing serious value for others as an integral part of your vision. That will draw a lot of help to you -- financial help, social help, etc.
Your physical appearance looks very much like a grad student.
And actually that isn't a bad look for a rockstar or an AI visionary, although for the rockstar route, you may want to spice it up a bit for performances, but obviously this wasn't a performance video. I'm not seeing too much rockstar in your mannerisms though. I see more congruency on the AI side.
When you talked about being a rockstar, your vision was more clear. You were more specific about it. The AI side was fuzzier. You didn't seem as clear on what specifically you were going to do. You talked more about what you wanted to be immersed in.
My top two suggestions would be:
1) Generate more clarity about what you're going to create. Do you want to go the music route or the AI route? Do you want to integrate both together (develop AI that composes rock music... or write hit songs about AI to prepare the world for what's coming)? Do you want one to be primary and the other secondary (AI visionary by day as primary focus, amateur musician by night as a hobby)? Write out what your typical day will look like 5 years from now. Be as specific as you can.
2) Think about how your goals can provide value to others. Why will people care about your work? How will you fund it? How will you generate cashflow from it? How will you make your dreams financially sustainable?
Incidentally, I wrote the above before reading anyone else's comments since I didn't want to be influenced by them. But it's interesting that seeker5 and I both picked up on the fact that you started out by talking about what you don't want.
I should start a side business doing YouTube readings.
