Author Topic: What single tool has helped you get ahead?  (Read 5380 times)

BlueHouse

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What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« on: November 08, 2021, 09:03:11 AM »
What single tool did more for your career or life goals than any other? 

For me, it was a software product.  Microsoft Excel. 

Sure, I made a career change and learned a highly in-demand skill, which got me a bunch of rungs up on the ladder, but knowing Excel and being willing to help others solve their problems using a tool that was available to them (so they trusted it and could check the work themselves) made me spring to the top and also opened up countless other doors.  Knowing Excel in my industry is hugely important. 


GuitarStv

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2021, 09:10:22 AM »
Definitely a guitar.

I wouldn't have been able to make it this far in engineering without a completely unrelated creative outlet.

bmjohnson35

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2021, 09:33:06 AM »
When I was in my early twenties, I used to create a list of annual objectives for the year.  Most goals were measurable, but some were more subjective.  It included personal goals, professional goals, financial goals and family goals.  I posted it near our bathroom vanity mirror.  I would read the list every morning and reflect on my progress ytd.  At the end of each year, I would create a new list.  Some objectives would carry over to the following year and simply be adjusted accordingly.  I did this for around 10 yrs.  Looking back now, I would have probably retired earlier if I had continued the practice.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2021, 11:25:05 AM by bmjohnson35 »

Watchmaker

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2021, 10:12:02 AM »
Google.

Zikoris

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2021, 10:20:09 AM »
I don't really have goals other than FIRE and lots of epic trips. I would say Mint was pretty crucial to me in the FIRE department for figuring stuff out because I do not have the patience to do any of that manually, and Seat 61 has been pretty instrumental in helping me plan/route the most epic trips I've done yet.

boarder42

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2021, 10:21:16 AM »
This forum and blog.  Having not found this I wouldn't be done with work in 31 more working days.

I've found myself more and more gracious to the power more of this forum than of any other thing I've used on my path to FI.


Metalcat

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2021, 10:31:17 AM »
Really, really good therapy.

What you think you want and who you think you are won't serve you if your mental health is poor.

So you can set and reach all the goals your little heart can fathom, but if they're driven from an unhealthy place, they're highly likely to just reinforce toxic patterns, not resolve them.

This is why there are so many miserable retired people.

I personally would be an absolutely miserable person had I simply followed through on my dreams instead of prioritizing my mental health.

Nutty

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2021, 10:55:04 AM »
Learning how to be happy.  Happy for yourself and happy for other people in their accomplishments and life.

Being able to celebrate someone's happiness with them is a powerful tool.

Gronnie

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2021, 11:40:48 AM »
Google.

Single most important tool to being a successful Software Engineer!

vand

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2021, 12:00:12 PM »
Probably SQL server for me.. although not sure if I qualify as "ahead" as I'm just someone who's fought and clawed all the way to middle income.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2021, 12:01:54 PM by vand »

Anon-E-Mouze

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2021, 12:37:54 PM »
Intense curiosity:

1) Curiosity, combined with my analytical skills and intelligence, made it possible for me to finish at the top of my country's #1 law school, power through the "slogging career years" of a newly minted law school graduate with a good attitude and strong performance reviews, and continue performing in various organizations throughout my career. I've NEVER encountered a task or project in my career that I didn't find interesting, and my curiosity has given me the resilience as well as the motivation to find answers, and produce work product, that people found helpful.

2) Curiosity enabled me to get off the standard "up and out" career track of a lawyer and led me to pursue interesting career alternatives that made it possible for me to travel the world while building up knowledge and skills that future employers valued.

3) Later in my career, curiosity led me to become involved in non-profit work and to pursue an education in photography, which ultimately led me to shift my attitude about the life I want to lead, which led me to explore FIRE.

4) Curiosity has led me to develop a personal financial plan (and stay on top of our investments), so that we can retire earlier than I once expected.  (Also, curiosity led me to study for and pass Level 1 of the CFA exam, which has been helpful in my career and also relevant to the evaluation of our investments.)

5) Curiosity will continue leading me to learn more about subjects that I can either leverage for my current work gig or turn into a part-time side gig when I decide to retire from full-time work.

seemsright

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2021, 12:47:36 PM »
Growing up in a household that could not adult. We are talking about could not hold a job, food stamps and yet could not keep food in the house, moving every 6 months to skip out on rent.

I learned what not to do. I learned money in the bank meant choice.

Hubby had a similar childhood.

We started below zero, started to invest early, and built our life. I am damn thankful for my childhood.


iluvzbeach

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2021, 12:59:03 PM »
@seemsright - DH & I both have experiences almost like what you describe. We both learned what not to do and have been damn successful because of it. Although it was painful growing up, I would not change a thing, because it taught me so much.

Hash Brown

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2021, 01:27:59 PM »
Zero interest in gambling, drugs, alcohol, reckless behavior, junk food.  Very strong b.s. detector, both for people and silly ideas.  Have not watched more than 10 hours of TV in any individual year since 1996.       


RedmondStash

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #14 on: November 08, 2021, 01:59:59 PM »
This forum and blog.  Having not found this I wouldn't be done with work in 31 more working days.

I've found myself more and more gracious to the power more of this forum than of any other thing I've used on my path to FI.

^^

This forum & blog have been instrumental in my honing my financial acumen and putting theory into practice.

HPstache

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2021, 03:02:05 PM »
Dave Ramsey's baby steps.  Way beyond his target audience these days, but I would be nowhere close to where I am now without his imperfect advice giving the kick in the butt my wife and I needed to pay attention to finances, kill debt and start saving 8 years ago...
« Last Edit: November 08, 2021, 03:07:49 PM by v8rx7guy »

darknight

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #16 on: November 08, 2021, 04:36:27 PM »
MMM blog. It literally changed our financial lives 180 degrees. Set us on an entirely different course of life from both my wife and my family's traditional "ways".

Second was this motivational video.. Sure I know they can be cheesy, but they helped me. I was trying some personal business stuff and it didn't really shake out too well. 3 years of business and it barely paid itself off. I did learn a load about myself and what to/not to do. I was $50k in bad business debt (direct loans, credit card, work vehicle) and listened to this one day while working: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEwlcvd4zU&list=LL&index=309&t=4497s

The concept of "stop worrying about 'getting out of debt' and start focusing on 'making money'" was life changing. From the time I listened to it, it was 1 yr later and we were entirely debt free and actually saving. I don't agree with the whole video but it's one that inspired me. 

JoePublic3.14

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #17 on: November 08, 2021, 05:27:06 PM »
My mouth that moves at about 3x the speed of my brain. Not a positive impact, but certainly the largest.

Oh, and another negative is my strange inability to do situps. Several things in the army would have gone better if I could more situps faster. It’s strange I know, but not being able to 'max out' on the APFT held me back in three instances I can remember. Go figure…

Positive is a insatiable interest in math. Helped propel me along and set things up decently over the years, which has allowed me to no longer give a shit about my automatic mouth…

frizzywhiskers

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #18 on: November 08, 2021, 05:41:38 PM »
This forum and blog.  Having not found this I wouldn't be done with work in 31 more working days.

I've found myself more and more gracious to the power more of this forum than of any other thing I've used on my path to FI.

+1 to this! I discovered MMM in 2012 when I didn’t know retiring early was even a thing.  Retiring at age 50 in 78 more work days!   I’m forever grateful to him and this blog!

lutorm

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #19 on: November 08, 2021, 07:04:12 PM »
The stock options I was awarded when I was hired, followed by the MMM blog/forums as a close second (so to not piss all that money away! ;-)

Sandi_k

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #20 on: November 08, 2021, 07:50:35 PM »
Consistency - in budgeting, in working hard, in being willing to take on new projects at work, in staying with my spouse, living below our means, having a plan to work towards, staying with the employer that HAS A PENSION, and overseeing housing that is at or below 25% of our take-home pay.

If I had to offer advice? Always be the employee who asks "How can I help?" - you'll get training, connections, a good reputation, and promotions. And yes - save half of every raise, starting from Year 2 of FT employment. That long time horizon really matters.

jinga nation

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #21 on: November 08, 2021, 08:15:39 PM »
Google Search. It gave me the ability to search for keywords, the results lead to excellent technical websites, which I read and learned new technologies, thus shifting industries and companies twice, leading to two large pay boosts, getting me closer to FI.

And it also lead me to FatWallet Finance Forum > Bogleheads > MMM.

use2betrix

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #22 on: November 08, 2021, 08:20:33 PM »
Non Professional - healthy diet & intense regular exercise. Couldn’t imagine being where I am today without it.

Financial - Dave Ramsey when I was late teens early 20’s, then early 20’s to now (33) the MMM blog.

Professional - flexibility to move all over the country to advance my career. Started as a welder 12 years ago making $19/hr. I now make over 6x that in a high level technical position. Also general work ethic.

Side note* - FU money and ability to take risk, and be always ready for a sabbatical. This is landed me many jobs/raises I may not have pushed so hard for otherwise. Also makes me not afraid to quit if I had to. Recently voiced this displeasure to my boss and a week or two later he offered me a $10k retention bonus to stay on through 2021 and another $10k to stay through 6/2022. If I didn’t have my FU money, I’d be far more cautious about needing my job. It also allows me to be more diligent to stick up for myself not caring if I were to get fired. That actually seems to work positively.

2sk22

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #23 on: November 09, 2021, 03:24:14 AM »
I was walking along  Broadway on the upper west side of NY City in 1994 not far from Tom’s Restaurant - famous for being used as an external shot in Seinfeld. I randomly bought a copy of “The Wall Street Journal’s guide to understanding personal finance” from a guy selling books on the sidewalk.

I had been working for a couple of years at that point and was wondering what to do with the money sitting in our savings account. I came home read the book. As luck would have it, I saw an interview with Jack Bogle on TV the next day. We opened our Fidelity account soon after. Definitely a life changing moment and I still have that book.

Omy

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #24 on: November 09, 2021, 06:45:48 AM »
A pass book savings account at age 6 changed my life. I was thrilled that my money could make money just sitting in this magic account. According to my dad, I was the only 3 year old he knew who preferred money to candy, so the pass book savings account (and teaching me about the magic of compounding) was his way to nurture that tendency.

The other tool my parents used was a weekly chore "spread sheet". Chores along one axis and payment per chore along the other axis. I analyzed that sucker and each week I would put my name in all the boxes that would maximize my allowance (so I could put it all in my savings account). I specifically avoided chores that didn't pay well (dust the entire house for a quarter...no way!).

terran

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #25 on: November 09, 2021, 06:58:52 AM »

Ron Scott

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #26 on: November 09, 2021, 06:59:38 AM »
No single tool can explain level of success.

My personal success determinants, in order:

Race (white) 51%
Luck 19%
Raised in a strong economic area of the US (NY metro) 15%
Education (PhD) 7.5%
Hard work (50-60 hour weeks) 7.5% 

Watchmaker

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #27 on: November 09, 2021, 07:28:09 AM »
Google.

Lemme guess. Programmer?

No, but not that far off: scientist. I can't imagine doing my job without search engines-- everything would take so much longer. If I need to find existing research on a subject, an internet search is 100 times faster than going to the library. If I'm looking for a supplier or development partner, an internet search is 1000 times faster than going to a bunch of conferences. 

Dicey

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #28 on: November 09, 2021, 07:31:19 AM »
Love this thread! So many good answers. I'm not sure I can name a single tool, because there were many. For ongoing motivation, this forum ranks high on the list. Mostly posting to follow.

Dicey

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #29 on: November 09, 2021, 07:38:57 AM »
No single tool can explain level of success.

My personal success determinants, in order:

Race (white) 51%
Luck 19%
Raised in a strong economic area of the US (NY metro) 15%
Education (PhD) 7.5%
Hard work (50-60 hour weeks) 7.5%
Erm, which one of those do you consider a "single tool"? It's nice that you own your priviledge, but this answer doesn't really speak to the OP's question.

boarder42

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #30 on: November 09, 2021, 08:46:59 AM »
No single tool can explain level of success.

My personal success determinants, in order:

Race (white) 51%
Luck 19%
Raised in a strong economic area of the US (NY metro) 15%
Education (PhD) 7.5%
Hard work (50-60 hour weeks) 7.5%
Erm, which one of those do you consider a "single tool"? It's nice that you own your priviledge, but this answer doesn't really speak to the OP's question.

white male privilege and location of birth are probably the 2 biggest tools for someone in life.  Its decreasing in younger generations but for someone like this poster who's in their 60s one could argue thats the only tool you might need.

Dicey

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #31 on: November 09, 2021, 09:11:00 AM »
No single tool can explain level of success.

My personal success determinants, in order:

Race (white) 51%
Luck 19%
Raised in a strong economic area of the US (NY metro) 15%
Education (PhD) 7.5%
Hard work (50-60 hour weeks) 7.5%
Erm, which one of those do you consider a "single tool"? It's nice that you own your priviledge, but this answer doesn't really speak to the OP's question.

white male privilege and location of birth are probably the 2 biggest tools for someone in life.  Its decreasing in younger generations but for someone like this poster who's in their 60s one could argue thats the only tool you might need.
Those are accidents of birth, so not tools. I thought it was interesting that gender wasn't on the list. As to the thought that being white and male are all you need, has anybody read "Hillbilly Elegy"? That's just one example, but there is plenty of other material illustrating that while  being white (and male) are, undeniably huge gifts, they are not absolute guarantees of success. Either way, they're still not a "single tool", IMO.

joe189man

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #32 on: November 09, 2021, 10:57:54 AM »
Serendipity? i have randomly found more good luck and situations than bad ones through out most of my life

Excel helped me track and project progress and is really indispensable.

Picking the right partner? DW is a rockstar (not literally)

Buying homes at lucky times? (not really a tool)

boarder42

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #33 on: November 09, 2021, 11:09:08 AM »
Serendipity? i have randomly found more good luck and situations than bad ones through out most of my life

Excel helped me track and project progress and is really indispensable.

Picking the right partner? DW is a rockstar (not literally)

Buying homes at lucky times? (not really a tool)

and entering the market place at a lucky time.  Most of us older millenials got to come into a housing crisis and market crash to start our careers.  the oldest may have had it rougher since they came out prior to the housing crisis.  But if you were able to get a job fresh out of school in 09/10 you were buying really cheap stocks and really cheap homes.  we also got lucky/knew the market and upgraded right at the end of the crisis in our area in 2015. 

DadJokes

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #34 on: November 09, 2021, 11:14:15 AM »
A good support network

Both in the case of family who has helped tremendously with childcare, assistance with projects, tools, and much more, and in the case of co-workers who have really helped me in with my job.

thewizard

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #35 on: November 09, 2021, 11:35:44 AM »
smart phone

boarder42

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #36 on: November 09, 2021, 11:44:31 AM »
smart phone

feel like we should start a poll on if this tool was helpful or harmful to someones life at this point.  i can see cases for both.  It definitely get too much of my attention.

HPstache

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #37 on: November 09, 2021, 11:59:17 AM »
Serendipity? i have randomly found more good luck and situations than bad ones through out most of my life

Excel helped me track and project progress and is really indispensable.

Picking the right partner? DW is a rockstar (not literally)

Buying homes at lucky times? (not really a tool)

and entering the market place at a lucky time.  Most of us older millenials got to come into a housing crisis and market crash to start our careers.  the oldest may have had it rougher since they came out prior to the housing crisis.  But if you were able to get a job fresh out of school in 09/10 you were buying really cheap stocks and really cheap homes.  we also got lucky/knew the market and upgraded right at the end of the crisis in our area in 2015.

This is so true.  I've been contemplating a lot lately about how the first time you buy a house kind of locks you into that market for the rest of your life.  I got so lucky buying my first house for $265K whereas my neighbor (about the same age as me) bought the equivalent house right next door for almost double.  Now when we both go to sell someday in the future, regardless of whether the housing price has gone up or down from where it is right now we will be both buying and selling into the same market making it hard to better or worsen our positions.  Of course, there are ways of trying to get out by renting the house or selling and renting for a while... but generally speaking, the average person locks themselves in with when they purchase their first real estate.  I am so lucky to have bought my duplex rental in 2008 (lived in for 6 years) and my primary home in 2013... both bottoms of the market-ish.

thewizard

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #38 on: November 09, 2021, 12:03:12 PM »
smart phone

feel like we should start a poll on if this tool was helpful or harmful to someones life at this point.  i can see cases for both.  It definitely get too much of my attention.

Agreed. It depends on context. I sort of took the question as if everyone else had this tool and you didn't. Access to a phone/internet/computer as an adult is critical to most people.

PDXTabs

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #39 on: November 09, 2021, 12:21:54 PM »
Probably the Internet, if that counts. I used it to find GNU/Linux (Debian 2.0 to be specific) and a bunch of RFCs and turned it into a whole career.

SachaFiscal

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #40 on: November 09, 2021, 01:16:19 PM »
Google.

Single most important tool to being a successful Software Engineer!

Yes!!! I would go further to thanks specifically stackexchange.com… I get by with a little help from my friends…

Hash Brown

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #41 on: November 09, 2021, 01:20:02 PM »
feel like we should start a poll on if this tool was helpful or harmful to someones life at this point.

The smart phone destroyed my career and the careers of many others in "traditional" industries that no longer exist. 
« Last Edit: November 09, 2021, 08:21:31 PM by jmecklenborg »

Askel

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #42 on: November 09, 2021, 01:35:27 PM »
What single tool did more for your career or life goals than any other? 

Bikes.

But my life goals are to ride bikes and drink beer so I wasn't going to get real far without that one.   

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #43 on: November 09, 2021, 01:43:34 PM »
Google.

Single most important tool to being a successful Software Engineer!

Yes!!! I would go further to thanks specifically stackexchange.com… I get by with a little help from my friends…

All enterprise software is just cobbled together from code examples found on Stack Overflow.

effigy98

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #44 on: November 09, 2021, 06:58:00 PM »
C#

lemanfan

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #45 on: November 09, 2021, 11:39:36 PM »
Probably the Internet, if that counts. I used it to find GNU/Linux (Debian 2.0 to be specific) and a bunch of RFCs and turned it into a whole career.

I was about to say the same thing, either "The networked computer" or "The internet".

Back in my high school days in rural Sweden, information was pretty local.  When starting university 30 years ago, I got a "bigger local", but the internet - first Usenet and bulletin boards  / forums, and from around 1993 or so, the World Wide Web. 

The people and entrepreneurship lessons found through the web  was instrumental in getting me started and successful in my own entrepreneurship journey, finally leading to FI.  I have a hard time believing that this would have happened 20 years earlier, then I'd probably just had gotten a regular job at a big company.

soccerluvof4

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #46 on: November 10, 2021, 05:52:13 AM »
MMM for sure. Still learning new things. I found MMM and read everything and then the first thing I did was start a budget and went from there.

BussoV6

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #47 on: November 10, 2021, 05:52:35 AM »
I had 2 mentors who gave me some excellent advice from early on in my professional career. This definitely helped me make some smarter decisions than I might have made, left to my own devices.

Dicey

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #48 on: November 10, 2021, 06:08:02 AM »
feel like we should start a poll on if this tool was helpful or harmful to someones life at this point.

The smart phone destroyed my career and the careers of many others in "traditional" industries that no longer exist.
Ooh, I'm very curious now. What kinds of careers were destroyed by smart phones?

LaineyAZ

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Re: What single tool has helped you get ahead?
« Reply #49 on: November 10, 2021, 07:05:49 AM »
A good support network

Both in the case of family who has helped tremendously with childcare, assistance with projects, tools, and much more, and in the case of co-workers who have really helped me in with my job.

This is so true.  I've seen this in my own family and know of others where family members are gifted used cars, down payments for houses, help with university or other post-high school education, household repair and maintenance, free childcare, etc.  A huge stress reliever and a big boost to everyday stability.

If you're not lucky enough to have a supportive family, it's a game-changer to find your tribe as an adult and establish a mutual aid group with even just a few generous and reliable people. 

Again, I'm not saying people should simply expect handouts, I'm saying when it's a mutual effort then life overall is so much easier.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!