I love AI and use it a lot. But I’m also not blind to the fact that it’s a threat to our jobs.
AI is getting damn good. Terrifyingly good. If your job is just about following a set of steps, it can probably be done by a computer soon. I’m not trying to scare you, but it’s better to look at the facts with our eyes wide open rather than with rose-tinted glasses.
The old way of trusting one path or company to take care of you is now a huge risk. Honestly, the only real career insurance left is building something that belongs to you.
Don’t quit your day job yet
Back in 2023, I was in Singapore and having a bit of an existential crisis. I was unfulfilled and looking for more meaning. But I was also very aware that AI was getting smarter every day. I knew that if I didn’t start building something of my own, I’d have zero leverage.
I’m not saying you should quit your job today to follow a dream. In fact, that’s usually a terrible move. I still hold a full-time job today. Because I kept my main income locked down, I don’t have money problems. I can take my time and build from a place of strength.
Quitting before you’re ready is just reckless. Going from a steady paycheck to zero dollars overnight is the fastest way to kill your creativity. When you’re stressed about money, you can’t do your best work. You start to act out of desperation, and people can smell that. It makes you look weak and your work look cheap.
The 1-hour rule
The best way to stay relevant is to give at least one hour every day to your own project.
When I started GradSimple, I didn’t consider myself a writer. I just had a vague idea. I would come home after work, sit down, and carve out one hour to just focus on the newsletter. I started from zero. Today, over 5k people read it every week.
A project is anything you own that builds your value outside of your 9 to 5. Think of it as building a “proof of work” portfolio that stays with you forever.
You might think you’ll start when things “calm down” at work. But the truth is the “right” time is never coming. Life is always going to be a mess. You just have to find sixty minutes and protect them, no matter what’s going on. One hour a day is 365 hours a year. While most people wait for the world to give them an opportunity, you’re creating your own.
Stop being a passenger in your career
Think about it this way. If you only have a job, you have one customer. If that customer fires you, your income goes to zero. When you build your own project, you start to diversify. You’re building a network and a skill set that no single company can take away from you.
Building GradSimple didn’t just give me a side project. It actually helped me land my current full-time job. During the interview, I didn’t just talk about what I could do. I showed them what I had already done. I had proof that I could build an audience, manage a newsletter, and solve problems from scratch. I was seen as the perfect fit because I had my own leverage.
In the age of AI, the old script is being shredded. If you don’t spend time building your own leverage, you’re basically just a passenger. You’re hoping that your boss or the economy will look out for you.
Focus on curiosity to stay relevant
AI is great at following rules, but it’s not great at being curious. It can’t feel a “gut instinct” or care about a problem the way you can.
This is why you should use your one hour to follow what you’re interested in. When I started GradSimple, I was just curious about how other grads were navigating their careers. That curiosity led to unique stories that a computer could never write.
In a world where everyone has access to the same AI tools, your curiosity is what makes you different. It’s the only thing that won’t become a commodity.
How to get the work done
What matters is how you protect your focus during that hour. You have to treat this time like it’s a meeting with a boss you can’t cancel on.
- Plan the night before. Don’t sit down and wonder what to do. Pick one specific task, like drafting the outline of a newsletter, before you go to bed.
- Hide the phone. It’s a distraction machine. Put it in another room. When you only have an hour, every minute counts.
- Don’t overthink the setup. I started by just carving out time after work. You just need to show up.
It’s time to get in the game
The bar to stand out is still incredibly low. Most people are choosing to ignore the writing on the wall or are waiting for someone else to save them. They’re watching from the sidelines while the world changes.
Building your own thing for an hour a day is the most logical step you can take right now. It’s how you move from being a spectator to being in the game.
Can you find one hour today to start?
Stop guessing which industries are safe
Deciding to take the wheel is the first step. But the second step is making sure you aren’t driving full speed in the wrong direction.
If you’re going to put in the effort to build your own “career insurance,” you need to know you aren’t gambling your time on a shrinking industry or a path that AI is already replacing. Most people are just winging it, and that is a “kick in the teeth” for your bank account later.
That is why I created GradSimple Insiders.
Think of it as the radar for your career. We use real-time hiring data and professional stories to show you where the market is actually moving before it becomes a headline. Don’t leave your career to a coin flip. Get the intel you need to build a path that AI can’t take.
