5 years of engineering taught me this skill

At 17, I went to engineering school, and fast-forward 5 years.

I graduated. Entered the workforce. And started doing my Master’s in engineering.

So you can say that I’ve been through the trenches when it comes to engineering.

All the things you hear about engineering school:

• A 47% on your midterm means an A

• Studying 24/7 and still falling behind in your classes

• Learning about concepts and theories that don’t make sense

All of them are true.

But one valuable skill studying engineering taught me is:

The ability to perform when you’re under stress.

But unlike most people, I don’t see stress as something bad. Because stress is the key to achieving a flow state.

The state where you finish 2 months of work in 2 days.

Because of that, I picked up a bad habit:

Avoiding work for weeks (and sometimes months) to build up enough stress to finish the task at hand.

Maybe you’ve experienced the same?

A project that’s due in 2 months, but you wait till the last week to start working.

So now you’re complaining to your friends about how much work you have to finish. Pulling all-nighters, chugging 4 Red Bulls, and making 7 cups of coffee.

How did I know you did that?

Because that’s what I’m doing right now.

During this summer break, I got a part-time job at university.

I had 2 research projects. 1 I finished it in the first 3 weeks, the second? Well… that’s a whole different story.

I procrastinated the entire summer and didn’t write a single word.

Now, my professor is asking me to show him what I worked on during the entire summer.

“Why did you procrastinate the entire summer?”

Good question, I’d love to answer you, but I’ll do that after I:

• Run 100 km

• Do 1,000 pull-ups

• Finish cleaning my room

Just kidding :)

I didn’t have a motive to finish it and there was no consequence of not doing the work.

This is a common problem with free and paid products.

With free products, you don’t have an incentive to go and do the work.

But paid products?

You get the same information, but the difference is you paid hundreds of digital dollars to get access to and if you don’t act, you’re burning your money.

And you’ll find the paid product to be more valuable because you took action.

EVEN THOUGH IT HAD THE SAME INFORMATION.

This is why I love the quote “Burn the boats”.

You’re putting yourself in a position where you HAVE to make it work (which induces stress).

So, what’s the lesson of this email?

Stress isn’t a disease you should be avoiding like a plaque. Stress is the missing piece that you’ve been searching for for years.

So… in the next 10 hours, I have to finish 2 months of work (research and writing).

Hussain

===========

Stress isn’t a disease that you should avoid, it’s the key to achieving your goals.

The reason you feel stressed is because you’re scared to fail (which then forces you to focus).

And if you picked up all the different below-average giveaways that are on X, and didn’t find value from it might be because you didn’t have enough stress to force you to act on it.

Find a reason to act on the information that’s available.

What is the best way to do it?

Putting your money on the line.

If you’re interested in discovering how to make the most out of your writing (building an audience and trust) without breaking the bank, but paying just enough to give yourself a reason to act, give this a read:

https://themoderncreator.carrd.co/