James Lim breaks down how to start anything difficult using an octopus metaphor: eight tentacles representing research, networking, experimentation, reflection, skill development, mentorship, evaluation, and commitment. The method reduces risk by letting you take incremental steps before making a full leap, like a career change.
Chapters
Have you ever felt stuck trying to explore a new path in life, like a career transition? Maybe it's due to indecision, overwhelm or fear of taking risks. Well, in this video, I'm going to share with you how an octopus can help you get unstuck and take your first steps with a totally unique and actionable strategy. And at the end, a full step by step guide to applying this for one of the most difficult life changes, a career change. So stay to the end if you want to learn how. When embarking on something new or difficult, it's really easy to get overwhelmed and freeze up. But this is normal. It's because you're venturing into unfamiliar territory. When we don't know our environment, it can cause anxious feelings. And we're built to listen to these signals because in nature, when trying to.
Survive, there's a good reason to be.
Cautious about your environment to stop being eaten, for example. The problem is this feeling can be enough to stop us right in our tracks, despite needing to move forward. Feelings of unfamiliarity breeds anxious feelings, which makes us want to avoid, which breeds inaction. We know we need to move, but the feelings you experience tend to tell you otherwise. This causes turmoil in our brains, giving us that foggy feeling, making us often do nothing. We need to find a way to move despite these feelings. What makes it worse is the instructions we have to move are often vague, not as clear and concise as they need to be. And we only find this out when we try and execute it in desperation. We'll yell at ourselves internally to get to the end, making the task feel even worse. There's no structure, no system and no process, generally a chaotic mess, leaving us feeling even more anxious and overwhelmed. So what can you do? If you've ever watched an octopus swim, at first it might appear like their tentacles are kind of all over the place, but if you watch them closely, you see how they actually move. They'll send one tentacle to explore and make progress, holding the other tentacles and their main body back, keeping it safe. Once the first tentacle has done enough, it sends the second tentacle. There's a process. Now, they're known for quickly solving puzzles, being excellent hunters, and generally curious creatures. They've evolved with ultra optimized traits to both explore and survive. And it's something we can learn from. So what exactly are they doing? They explore and advance at an incredibly efficient pace, while keeping safe, not exposing their full body to any unnecessary risk. They continue to commit more and more of themselves to work toward their goal while still keeping safe and unharmed. In the process, they understand their environment more and more, gaining new information which they can use to advance them further toward their goal. And in this case, to get free of this box. It doesn't take long. So what are the lessons we can learn from the octopus and the key takeaways? They have a system for exploration, one tentacle at a time, promoting a step by step progression where each tentacle builds upon the previous one. They don't jump nor do they linger too long on any one step.
The perfect balance.
They research as much as necessary, exploring the environment and and take action as soon as they can, looking to commit more. If they get the green light, they expose themselves a tiny bit to start their progression. Steps are incredibly small, but they're constantly moving forward. When one tentacle is not enough and it's safe, another one joins in, forcing progression. They avoid taking big risks.
You don't see all the tentacles dive forward.
There's no impulsive decisions, yet they continue to make relentless progress.
They're data gatherers.
They are constantly gathering real world data, testing the waters, experimenting and evaluating what they find. They're as well as formed as they can be at any point in time. And at any point, if a negative experience happens, they could retract and still survive. Quite literally. If a tentacle breaks off, it will regenerate given time. As a result, they gain information and learn incredibly fast. All of this adds up to a process that allows them to explore new paths and opportunities while minimizing potential risks and maximizing the chance of success, all in a short time frame. So how can we adopt this approach? Thinking of each step as a tentacle, we can build out our own system each and here's a five step approach to becoming more of an octopus. Step one. The first tentacle. What is the smallest thing that you can do toward your goal? To help you list down all of the possible actions you could take and then pick the smallest one and this can be your first tentacle. Step two. From your list, rate them easiest to hardest. Assign them as each of your tentacles. Do a sense check and your first move should be low risk and therefore not too much of a stretch and shouldn't feel too overwhelming. Step 3. Create a mini action plan. Keep it super simple. Tentacle one, tentacle two, tentacle three and so on.
This helps you just visualize the whole.
Thing and how it all fits together.
Step four.
Try tentacle one. You need to feel what it's like to experience it. Just like the octopus, you can only find out what's on the other side by throwing the tentacle over. You have to throw yours too. Step 5 See what happens and continue to throw more tentacles.
Now here's a complete eight Tentacle approach for someone looking to explore a new career. So we'll go through one by one. Tentacle 1 research. Begin by conducting research on a new career path. Learn about the new industry, job role, roles, required skills and potential employers. This will give you a solid understanding of the landscape and help you identify where your interests lie. Tentacle2 networking. Connect with people working in the design industry or job role. Look up industry events, conferences, workshops to expand your network. Reach out to people in the industry for a chat to find out what they do. Networking can lead to valuable insights, job opportunities and professional relationships and they can support you through your transition experimentation. Test the waters by volunteering, interning, shadowing or taking a freelance job in that field. This will provide you with first hand experience and help you determine whether the new career path aligns with your interests, values and skills. Tentacle 4 Reflection. Reflect on your experiences and research considering how well the new career path aligns with your personal and professional goals. Identify your strengths and weaknesses and how they relate to this new possible career. Tentacle 5 skill development. You should have a good idea of what kind of skills are needed. Articulate and identify what these skills are for your desired role and develop develop a plan to acquire them and enhance them. This may involve taking courses, attending workshops or pursuing certifications. Developing these skills will improve your chances of succeeding in that new career and getting the job you really want. Tentacle 6 mentorship or coaching. Seek guidance from a mentor or coach with experience in that new area. This can be someone you've reached out to earlier. Potentially they can provide valuable advice, support and encouragement as you navigate this transition. Tentacle 7 evaluation so now we need to weigh up the potential risks and rewards associated with this new career. Consider factors like the potential job security, the stability, income potential and the kind of work life balance you actually want. This evaluation will help you make a more informed decision about whether or not to pursue this new career and you can do that with real world information. Tentacle 8 commitment. If you decide the new career path.
Is right for you, make a commitment.
To it, Create a timeline and set goals for your transition. Now's the time to really think about updating your resume or cv, start looking at applying for jobs or finally starting a business in that field. So to round up, by following the Ollie the Octopus metaphor, you can create a safe, structured but progressive strategy to explore any transition in your life. Each tentacle will help you gather information, gain experience, and make more informed decisions, minimizing risk and maximizing the chances you'll succeed. If you found this video helpful, consider subscribing.
