In our first bonus episode, I reconnect with Veronica Bianchini, our first guest on Lucky to Be Here.
Since then, Veronica has now completed her first year in her Master’s in Cognitive Science and AI at Birbeck College. During our discussion, she shares how she has taken a look at the bigger picture, partly motivated by our initial discussion, to take steps that aligned her with the vision she had for herself. From there, she has expanded her writing and speaking on her own ideas, including her Medium account, and she enrolled and started her graduate program.
We also discussed AI, which as I shared with her, I have mixed feelings about but I’m always open to learning more about. Part of our conversation explores how Veronica has experimented with how to best use AI tools in a way that speaks to her, rather than just for the sake of following a trend and optimizing. We also talk about the rapid pace of change for the technology itself, and for our perspectives on it. Like she mentions in our conversation, some of these discussions are not new, but require us to be intentional about the steps we take.
You can follow Veronica’s journey and her writings on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicabianchini/ and on Medium at https://medium.com/@VerBianchini
Two parts of this conversation stayed with me over time, both related to life and career transitions. The first one is related to what Veronica shared about pivots after reading Jenny Blake’s book, Pivot (affiliate link). She mentions the importance of feeling safe and secure to propel yourself into the unknown of the pivot. I agree with the premise: a sense of safety and security can make it easier to connect with yourself and who you are so you can dare to what is next.
Here is the catch: we are often not afforded to feel safe and secure. I know this very well. A lot of my pivots were in the midst of a lot of uncertainty and ground-shifting circumstances. That is why I often talk about “building castles in the air.” This is also true for many of us, especially in times like this one. Whether you are feeling safe and secure enough to take a leap, or you feel metaphorically free falling into one, here is a question to ask yourself:
What is one thing about myself that it is true in every single stage of my life so far?
Mine? I am persistent (to a fault), so even if things do not go my way, I continue to get up and put in the work if I believe in something.
The second part of our conversation that stood out for me was our discussion about finding our voice. I was particularly interested in the distinction that Veronica made between finding your voice through other people’s templates and assignments, and finding your own voice from what you have to say. That distinction is not always evident, and yet it becomes increasingly important when we want to craft a path of our own.
This spoke to me, too. The moment I stepped away from all environments where I was “representing” someone or something else, a lot of the self-doubt and fear started to creep in because the reference point you have is no longer a boss, a mentor, or a loved one. It is who you want to become, and that is a work in progress. To be completely truthful, this is something I find myself pondering about often, especially when writing and speaking are so important to me.
Finding our voice is an ongoing process, but here is another question for you to explore on this topic, one that I ask myself often:
If I were to use my voice for something I deeply care about, what would that be?
I hope you enjoy our episode with Veronica, and this reflection, as much I did. Let me know your thoughts by replying to this email or sharing with us on Patreon. What stayed with you from it? What would you like to hear more about in the upcoming season?
See you on Patreon to continue our discussion,