3 Resources That Helped Me Customize My Dream Career – Emily Abernathy’s Blog and Portfolio

Ten years ago, if someone had told me I’d make my career off of the internet, I wouldn’t have believed them.

I would have asked this person “Can you tell that to my parents so I can finally get them off my back?”

Over a decade ago, I had to frequently defend my usage of the internet to my parents… and the word “defend” is putting it mildly. I had countless heated arguments about how much time I was spending on it, who I was talking to, and just what the heck was I doing all those hours staring into a screen? How could being on the screen for such long extended periods talking to strangers EVER be an appropriate thing to let your 12, 13, 14, or 15 year old child do? Rightfully so, my parents were constantly updating me on all the horrible news stories about the dangers of the interwebs, because obviously I wasn’t aware right? Why else would I be using the internet?

My parents arguments weren’t unwarranted. They’re awesome parents who have supported me in (almost) everything I’ve wanted to do. They never forbade me from using the internet, but they sure didn’t make it easy. I thought something was wrong with me for the longest time. Fast forward 10 years later, I enrolled for college at the University of Texas (UTD) to study Emerging Media and Communications (EMAC for short). AKA, to study the internet. I could finally justify what I’d been doing for years because EMAC professors were assigning it for homework. At first, all I had to defend myself was the information on the internet, which my parents didn’t trust. Now that I finally had REAL LIFE PEOPLE with accreditation to back me up, there was no way they could deny me any longer.

One day in class, a professor said something that gave me newfound hope (and an answer to a question that I kept getting from EVERYONE). “What do you want to do with your degree?” OMG If I had a nickel… Granted, its reasonable for any student to be hit with this question. Its an easy way to make small talk. I often gave quite vague answers like “I just want to be creative and make stuff on the internet” or “anything around technology or cameras” which were often followed up with something like “but, like, what do you want to be? A marketer? A designer?”. Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted to be.. and I eventually learned that it was okay, especially for the new media field I wanted to enter. One day in class, a classmate asked a professor “What kind of jobs come from this degree plan?” my professor responded with something to the effect of “Social Media Management, marketing, designing… but many of you may work jobs that are none of those… and may not even be created yet because media is so new and happening so fast. By the time you graduate you might know, or might not. Many of you may create your own jobs.”

Realizing I wanted a job that wasn’t created yet was beyond relieving. When people ask what I do now, I say I’m a Media Specialist. I’ve changed it up from time to time, using the word Artist or Designer instead of Specialist, which could change again. Sometimes, for ease sake I just say I’m a freelancer and that entices people to ask “what for?” and I get to talk about my awesome job.

Below I have some of the primary resources I’ve been using keep my career (and life) customized to my liking. Disclaimer, these are not anything secret or unheard of. Whether you’re young or old, you’ll probably see something on here thats like “Uh, well duh?! That ain’t new!” This is just a list of what’s worked for me and I’m sharing because I can (cause interwebz, woo, nobody can staph me! MWAHAHA) and I think some of these are misunderstood, discounted, and underutilized considering the amazing access technology gives us.

#1 Facebook Groups

Questions that couldn’t be answered by family, friends, colleagues, classmates, or professors, I found in Facebook groups. During college I became interested in working as a Brand Ambassador since it was flexible due to it being contract work. ALL of the gigs I found were from Facebook groups! If you’re interested in becoming a Brand Ambassador, search for “Brand Ambassadors of [Insert Your City]” (example, I searched for all the groups in Texas, Brand Ambassadors of Dallas, Brand Ambassadors of Austin and so on). Recently, I got stumped while researching online business, a Facebook group I found through an online course was able to help me more than anyone had in real life (at least pertaining to the question that had me stumped). Facebook groups are great for parenting, networking, collaborating, and socializing. If you don’t have at least one that you use, you’re missing out! At the time of writing this blog, I’m a member of 72 Facebook Groups, and I expect that number to keep growing.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that Facebook groups can be amazing resources, but like anything else online, be careful. Do your research. Use critical thinking. Don’t give out sensitive information. While I personally have used Facebook Groups to advance my career and business, these communities are still imperfect. Remember that being a member of this group means you can contribute just as much as anybody else (besides group admins) but almost every group has rules (and if it doesn’t it might be a group that will eventually just spam up your notifications.)

#2 Reading Actual Books

Whether physical books or digital actual books are amazing ways to gain incite in perspective (I know, this isn’t new), BUT I think people under estimate how many more books there are, and how valuable it is to have books digitized. Yeah its nice to have a physical book, I personally prefer it. I like how the pages feel on my hands, the engagement and ability to write on the page, but to only use physical books is ultimately limiting if you want to learn where ever, when ever. Sometimes you forget to bring your physical book, and sometimes you find moments where you’d want to read it, but didn’t think you’d have the time. Yeah these books are not free, but better $20 bucks than thousands on formal classes (in person or online).

Here are some books I’ve read that have helped me customize my dream career and turn it into a realty:

The 4-Hour Work Week By Timothy Ferris

Even if you are already happy with your work, this book can help you make the most of your time. Also, when you have a side passion that you want to dive into more, but payin’ them bills is

keeping you from it, this could help . Whether you want to make money from that passion or not, finding the time to do what you love is priceless. This book had information that my two decades of formal education never really covered.

How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

No matter what, you will have to interact with people. Even if you work from home or for yourself, you can’t avoid other people. You can try hiding (which I’ve tried) but ultimately you are not alone in the world… which I think is kind of relieving to think about. When I realized I wasn’t alone and that there was more good people than bad people in the world, I started to believe in people more.

Read Autobiographies Written By Successful People In Your Industry

Trevor Noah, Chelsea Handler, Amy Schumer, and Jon Stewart’s books were some of the first autobiographies I was able to binge read enjoyably. Next on my list is Lily Singh’s book “How To Be A Bawse”.

#3 Use YouTube To Learn, Sleep, and Chill Out

Tutorials

You can YouTube to learn how to speak better, learn martial arts, learn how to craft and build. I’ve used tutorials to keep me up to date with programs I use daily to create pictures or video. Ropedart. Jam Skating. Parkour. How to Photograph. Watch videos about how to make videos. One of my current favorites that’s helped me prep to speak business is Charisma On Command, he’s got a bunch of pretty helpful videos to make socializing a bit easier.

How To Learn Anything 10x Faster by Charisma On Command

Guided Meditation and Hypnosis

I was originally NOT a fan of meditating at all. It seemed ridiculous to just sit there and breathe. After failing to find other methods to cope with anxiety and depression, meditation seemed like my only affordable option. When I expressed interest in meditation to someone else for the first time they introduced me to this video. NOTICE: Disclaimer for profanity!

I used this probably a dozen times until I started to crave more. Here is a link to a YouTube playlist of my favorite mobile meditations if you’re interested in longer meditations.

Peaceful Background Music/Noise and Scenery

Whenever I need to clean, but I want something on the TV screen, this is my current go to video. It has awesome aerial shots and great graphics. Sometimes it serves as a nightlight when I got to bed. Puts positive images in the brain before bed.

Music

Some people can work with any music on. Or any music of whatever they’re a fan of. When I need to focus, I put on a live stream of lofi hip hop radio. A live radio is great for focusing because you don’t have to take the time to switch between songs. There are other live music channels of different genres, but lofi hip hop / chill hop is my personal go to.