Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash

I was talking with a friend of mine who works in International Management and he said something that perfectly summarized several thoughts I’ve had recently. “Today’s Darwinism is survival of the richest.” It’s a sad reality, in some ways, but important to recognize. This “New Darwinism” gives us new parameters for focusing our energy.

In the words of Tim Gunn, “Make it Work”

Why work against the rules when you can work with the rules? Acceptance of the rules of school, work, life, etc. isn’t a sign of weakness. It simply satisfies the, “work smart not hard” mind set. It shows that you are adaptable and can succeed no matter what the circumstances are.

I’ve always enjoyed learning, but felt quite a bit of resentment towards school early on. Obviously, I realized that a grade is based on whether or not the final product meets the expectations of the assignment. However, I eventually noticed that these expectations are often created from the unique and personal perspective of the instructor. Every teacher has his or her own style, this style helps to create the parameter for success in the course.

Satisfying another person’s expectations based on his or her own experiences can be frustrating and seemingly unfair at times, but this is life. Life isn’t always fair. Fortunately for me, I eventually chose to work with the expectations of my instructors, no matter how irrelevant I sometimes thought they were. I accepted that these were the rules and if I followed the rules, I would pass. My pride took a hit, but once I started working with the system rather than fighting the system, success was quick to follow.

Finding work has proven to be a bit more challenging for me than school, in terms of finding work in my degree field. The parameter for success is a bit different in that it involves experience and connections. However, I am not above doing the work that needs to be done in order to survive. Life costs money. Its plain and simple. This isn’t a world of butterflies and rainbows where you can trade this for that and never exchange money and live happily ever after. Why do you think Burning Man only lasts a couple weeks out of the year? I digress.

Two of the golden rules for finding work are 1) experience and 2) connections, as I stated above. Sometimes connections can replace experience and vice versa, but having both is always better. So what do you do when you don’t have experience or connections in the field you want to work? You OFFER your services. Sometimes this means no pay. Sometimes this means a temporary contract with no benefits. Sometimes this means doing work you don’t like before you can do the work you do like. It’s not fair, but we already know that.

Offering my help has always proven to be invaluable for my future goals. I’ve been able to open doors that I never thought could possibly be opened by volunteering. I can’t stress enough the importance of volunteering! For people that don’t already have the money, experience, and connections needed to be successful, volunteering might be your only hope. Remember, they don’t call it “climbing the ladder” for no reason. Starting at the bottom and moving up is not easy.

Trust me, I know how exhausting it is to work multiple jobs, go to school, study, eat, sleep?….no time for sleep, friends?…..no time for friends. It doesn’t seem possible to spare even a minute to volunteer yourself. It always helped me to consider the volunteering as a part of school. As a way of studying. I could apply what I was learning in my classes to my volunteer work and I tricked my brain into thinking that I needed to do this, because I did need to do it. If I wanted connections and experience, this was what I had to do.

Finally, getting to the point

With this background information of the parameters of school and work, we can finally discuss this New Darwinism idea. The rule for being successful in life is largely economical. The rule for life is “survival of the richest.”

Many things, including surviving, cannot be done without money. They just cannot be done! I know there are still people out there fighting this, so I ask to them, how and where do you get your food? Water? Shelter? Fire (warmth)? These are basic survival needs. Since 2008, 50% of the global population lives in urban areas, and this percentage will grow to 68% by 2050 (United Nations, 2007). I’m willing to bet that 99.9% of the people that will read this post live in an urban area.

It is time to start evolving, by shifting our mindset from “survival of the fittest” to “survival of the richest”. To be clear, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be fit, being fit is good for your health and will cost you less money in medical expenses over time. Exhibit A, “being fit, saves money”. I’m simply suggesting that working with the idea that success will happen via “survival of the richest” mindset will open doors.

The parameter for life is not fair. It isn’t fair that we need money to be successful. But it is what it is. The moment I stopped fighting the idea that I needed money to accomplish my goals was the best moment of my life. I stopped hating those little pieces of green paper so much and started looking at them as a way of following the rules.

My rule is to have enough money in the bank to pay my bills and pay for survival. When this rule is satisfied my stress is reduced. When my stress is reduced my brain can be focused on important things AND I am pleasant to be around. When my brain is focused I enjoy learning more and talking to people, aka building connections. When I learn more and build relevant connections, I can find opportunities to become specialized in a field that I am passionate about. When I become specialized in this field I can find a job that is fun for me. Finally, making money is fun! Work is fun! Life is fun! Yay!

Working with the hand we are dealt is all we can do. Money causes pain for some people because it can be hard to come by. It is a constant reminder that we will never have enough. Don’t let a piece of paper create negativity in your life. Just accept that it has to be obtained and it has to be spent in order to satisfy the parameter for a successful life.

For me, money has no emotional value. If someone needs money from me, I dish it out, even if it chips away at my savings, and I move on. Since I am willing to do what needs to be done to get money, I know that I will find a way to make up for what was lost. I can be emotionally detached from money because I have finally accepted that having money is a golden rule for life, just like having connections and experience are the golden rules for finding work, and just like meeting the personal expectations of teachers is the golden rule for passing classes.

Don’t fight the New Darwinism, make it work.

Source: United Nations. 2007. Human Population: Urbanization. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision. Retrieved from http://auth.prb.org/Publications/Lesson-Plans/HumanPopulation/Urbanization.aspx