What do you want to do with your life?
I was homeschooled until my Freshman year of high school.
I left my private school halfway through my Junior year of high school.
I graduated online high school early, while working full-time, exactly one year later.
I worked full-time for two years before considering any form of post-secondary education.
That brings us to this past Autumn, August of 2023. I entered a business program called Praxis with very few objectives besides “figuring out what I want to do with my life.” Today, I’m going to show you what I did instead. Because I’m not certain anyone ever truly figures that out?
My favorite things I’ve made:
I went through three phases. The first was quite intense, with tons of content to be consumed and produced. This phase is where I feel that I learned the bulk of that fundamental business knowledge. Here is a recap I wrote about the initial eight weeks, as well as a few of my favorite writing pieces from that time.
The second phase was significantly more personalized, based on my goals for the program and my future career! I chose a creative marketing path, and completed the following courses:
Launch a Business (I already had a business, so this was more like entrepreneurship 101)
I went into this module with the goal of designing a framework for my photography business to run as efficiently (and hands-free) as possible. This was such a fun module for me, really honing in on my goals and aspirations for the business. I truly don’t think I’d be in the place I am now without the time I designated to admin in the Fall. Here’s the recap I wrote for this module.
Copywriting
This module heavily consisted of observation and studying. I studied and analyzed countless renowned advertisements and successful copy from around the world. Here is my recap, which includes my analyses and projects.
Content Marketing
Content Marketing was such a challenging and stimulating module for me! This is very much up my alley as far as work I enjoy, but this was a heavy production module. I felt like I was always brainstorming and creating something. Looking back, this was the most fulfilling module I completed outside of the entrepreneurship module. Here is my very long and very detailed recap from this month, including a full digital marketing suite I created for my dad’s business.
Intro to Growth Marketing & Analytics
This was probably my least favorite module, but I still enjoyed it, as it was quite note-heavy, and I didn’t have to create much. Coming off of Content Marketing, this was a welcomed change of pace. I still had a lot of fun creating this recap that now lives in my portfolio.
Lastly, but not least, is the third phase: the Capstone Phase. This is Praxis’s most self-driven area of the program; 12 weeks of “assignments” that are entirely created by and for each individual. I just wrote a blog post detailing what this phase looked like for me, so you can check that out, here.
Books
One of the major facets of life during Praxis is the monthly book assignment. Some of these I read cover to cover, and some I skimmed only directly before our weekly cohort meetings. But I’ve distilled valuable truths from every single one. I love that about books. You could disagree–hate, even– 99% of a book, and still be impacted by a small section of wisdom on any given page. I won’t go into my thoughts and opinions about every single book, but here are the ones we were assigned. I’ve starred the ones I think everyone should read:
The Concise Mastery by Robert Greene *
Atomic Habits by James Clear
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie *
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Your Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel *
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin *
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen
My Initial Takeaways
Praxis is a hub for alternative thinkers and lifelong learners, and their curriculum reflects such characteristics. Now, nearly being Praxis alum myself, here are my top 3 simple takeaways from the program:
No one knows what they’re doing. Everyone has to figure life out, and it’s not embarrassing to not know everything.
You don’t have to be an expert to say yes to an opportunity. You just have to be an expert at learning quickly. Say yes, and then figure out the rest.
Business and entrepreneurship have almost nothing to do with what you know, and everything to do with who you know. Leave your house and shake people’s hands.
I will likely publish a newsletter later on that details more thoughts and feelings I have toward this program and all that I have taken away from it. But for now, this is what stands out to me– that, in essence, you should never take yourself too seriously, and you should meet as many people as you possibly can.
Exponential Growth. (But also, what’s next?)
So, yeah. That’s a super condensed version of my journey with Praxis this year. I’ve got under a year of coursework under my belt, but with a robust body of work to show for it. It’s a lot, right? But the area of my life I am most proud of is the way I have grown as a human this year. I’ve walked through countless scenarios throughout the past 9 months and beyond that have stretched me in ways I thought I’d never recover from. Illness, confusion, serious financial loss, overwhelm, and oftentimes, crippling anxiety. But never in my life have I experienced such transformation; such exponential growth. Life has come at me fast the past two years, and I’m beyond grateful for the structure and support the Praxis network has provided me in recent months.
What’s next, you may ask? For me, it’s solidifying a few opportunities. One, being a marketing position at a local nonprofit. Two, being a digital magazine I’ve been given a shot to pitch a culture piece for (think Vogue, but like, not Vogue). I’m at such an interesting crosspoint in my career, where my opportunities are not quite cohesive, but each one truly speaks to and fulfills each avenue of my professional desires. I’m absolutely in limbo right now, but I’ve never had more peace.
All I know for sure is that I’m spending this summer booking as many weddings and random sessions as I can possibly (sanely) take, and living the dream as an artist, sister, daughter, writer, entrepreneur, storyteller, coffee snob, and all the other descriptive titles you wanna tack on there.
No, I did not narrow down what I want to do with my life. And I kind of hope I never do.
