What is your plan Z?

I’ve been spending a lot of time online (not recommended) reading about the shrinking job market and the wider economic reality.

I’ve seen countless comments on how frustrated young people are with the current situation and how many are feeling hopeless about the future. The books I’ve chosen to cover also don’t paint a pretty picture of how our hyper-capitalistic society is treating us.

This has made me think about the importance of having a fallback plan, which we will discuss below. Apologies if this edition is a bit of a downer, I’ll make it up to you by sharing a great free AI image generator at the end!

🚨 What is your Plan Z? 😱

In his book The Start-up of You, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman presents his ABZ plan to career planning. It consists of 3 parts:

• Plan A - your current career trajectory

• Plan B - where you can pivot and grow - if Plan A fails or you want a change, this is where you will aim

• Plan Z - your lifeboat - if everything fails, this is what you will fall back on.

As recent data shows that the job market in the US is smaller than predicted, I’ve started thinking about my hypothetical Plan Z, if the economy suddenly explodes and we all lose our jobs.

Of course, there is little indication that such a catastrophic scenario is coming - despite what the media would like us to believe - but having a plan for the worst-case scenarios can help us be more prepared - even for smaller challenges!

Research has also shown that thinking about stressful situations can help us feel more prepared and have better coping strategies.

But I believe the best benefit of a solid Plan Z is that it will encourage you to take more risks with your career, which can lead to much better Plan As and Bs. (Or just become a goose farmer!)

📚 Shelf Shocks 💥

1. Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World by Will Cockrell

Climbing Everest is the symbol of ultimate achievement. So how come hundreds of people conquer it every year?

Climbing Everest has become a lucrative industry, in which the wealthy exploit the locals - and many technological shortcuts - to reach the top and get an Instagram pic. Once being deemed as “suicidal“, today’s Everest experience is closer to a guided recreational park than a remote, man-versus-nature type of experience. Learn more about how this change happened in this great book.

🎧 Summary

2. Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy by Quinn Slobodian

Can the power of money and capitalism dethrone governments? With the creation of free ports, tax havens and special economic zones, ultra-capitalists have already started rewriting the rules of business and trade, and those pesky regulators are being left out.

Places like Singapore and Hong Kong have purposefully increased the freedom of capital while turning into small dystopias for their citizens. History professor Quinn Slobodian explores the history - and bleak future - of these economic zones and how they affect our democracies.

3. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

Why does the USA - the richest country in the world - have so much poverty? Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond has spent decades pondering that question and researching poverty. In this vital book, he not only gives a brilliant explanation but also shares how we all can do a little bit more to eradicate the problem.

Explore how society perpetuates poverty by limiting the opportunities for lower-income individuals and steering wealth towards those who need it the least, and learn how we all share responsibility for poverty, even if we are not American.

🎧 Summary

Fun Links ⏰ ❗️

1. Another great AI image generator

Have you ever wanted an AI image generator that can change a specific part of an image? Now you have it - Playground.com. It is an innovative AI image generator that allows you to not only create images from prompts, but to edit specific parts of them.

It offers a great free plan which includes up to 50 images per day - start getting creative here!

You've reached the end of my newsletter. Hooray! If you’d like to see more of my work, you can GET MY BOOK Write Better: A Simple Guide to Better Business Writing or connect with me on LinkedIn for more fun and educational content.

If you have any comments or would like to share what you enjoyed the most, feel free to get in touch! See you in two weeks!