Hello friends,
Welcome to my newsletter, working title, a platform where I write about technology, careers, business and other related categories from the lens of design. My essay today hits pretty close to home — this is about immigration and my reflection on it as well as the future.
Wrote this last year and have been feeling a mix of divisiveness & confusion about it but I’m also aware that it could be a seed to an enormous idea. I’ve learned that the best way to move forward with things like this is to release it into the wild. See what happens.
This is exactly what I’m doing —
Into this wild it goes.
Please enjoy.
One thing I’ve learned since stepping foot in America about 6 years ago that I’m mostly still surprised by is this: The promised land is not a land. It’s the internet.
Being born and raised as a Filipino, this is in complete contrast to what was taught to me—and I am sure, as did many others—at such an early age. Make no mistake, there are still a lot of advantages to being abroad. I would not go out of my way to quickly dismiss this fact, not just because it has strongly benefited me in ways I could not have imagined. But also because, there is still some truth to that belief or way of thinking.
This is bigger than generational tales though. Yes, it is true that geographically, the best opportunities really are out there and there’s leverage to being close to them, physically. But what really struck me is this idea: you don’t have to wait decades for a golden visa to start making those happen for you. At least, not anymore.
The internet, one of the best, arguably the greatest, inventions of the 20th century is making a new reality possible. You dreams, your identities, your visions of your future life can all be built under this massive and life-changing foundation. You just have to start, but more importantly, you have to play the long game. (It is terribly hard, especially if the rewards aren’t there yet.)
It took me years to realize this myself. I got here unintentionally. In retrospect, I didn’t know what I was doing, what I was betting on when I first started tinkering around with digital careers. I had no idea it could be a career even, at least not one that I can actually win at. To be honest, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I started to piece things together—of course, I wrote about the learnings I’ve gained since then.
My theory is that I’m significantly increasing the odds of my future successes just by betting and investing my time on the internet, including this platform. See, the happy accidents weren’t completely random.
It was by design.
Curiosity pays off tenfold online. Through skills and constant acquisition of knowledge and shared, open-sourced wisdom, you can make things happen for yourself. You just have to learn how to leverage the internet starting with making things and telling people about them. Nothing here is easy, only that is is possible. Unfortunately, this is such a new thing that it’s practically impossible to inherit this wisdom from our parents. In fact, one can argue that it is barely past its infancy. It has a long way to go, still and so do we as humans, optimistically speaking.
Which means one thing: for immigrants (and aspiring immigrants), specifically, there’s never been a better time to really start thinking about your future than today. It’s the best time to actually foster hope and courage and build yourself and your competitive advantage globally. This is the ticket that counts and could bear fruits into the future, with just a little bit of luck and a pretty solid work ethic.
The internet is the promised land. When people talk about borderless futures, this is what I think it means to live towards it. Go the distance, and I don’t just mean physical places—although a big yes to that, if an opportunity comes.
Thank you for reading today’s essay,
Nikki
P.S: If you have a quick second, Would love your thoughts, feedback on my platform - this would help me understand what topics to prioritize, among many other things
PPS: if you liked this, you might like my other essays on the same topic:
#56: “Build things, tell people” and other lessons from reading useful nonfiction books
What No-One Will Tell You About Career Building (Abroad And Anywhere) — this is the expanded version of point #7
#27: Landing a Job (or career!) Doing What You Love— As An Immigrant
A mix of thought-provoking design-related reads:
Dan Mall’s 10 principles for a worthy design career from Figma
Mira Murati, the young CTO of OpenAI, is building ChatGPT and shaping your future
A raw, unedited note from my private notes:
For context: I’ve been reflecting a lot on the state of design in this age of AI. Everyday, at least. I thought this particular note is worth sharing.
‘Things that will kill our craft long before AI ever will:
being ok with mediocrity
not learning anything new
saying & actually practicing this: “it’s always been done this way”
ignoring the importance of deep work
thinking writing well is optional to good design or work, in general (it isn’t)
having no reliable feedback loop
failing to see where we can improve as humans
not trying anything innovative
etc’