The Branding Exercise That Felt Like Free Therapy

10 Jul 2025 #misc

I didn’t know a branding exercise would make me reflect on my life.

I’m taking a branding/writing course online. One of the exercises was to identify our main achievements, mistakes, and lessons to build our online presence around that.

Here are some of my answers for the career-related questions.

What were the most notable things that happened during your young adulthood (20-30 years)?

• I was fired from my first job. It was at a top company in my city. It taught me there’s no truly safe place to work. Not sure if that’s a win or a loss.
• I became a Senior SWE in one of the most well-known companies in the tech sector in my city.
• For the first time in my life, I worked with a multinational company in the tech sector. It doubled my previous salary and it burned me out, too. In that order.
• I overcame my burnout by myself and took a mini-sabbatical for my mental health.

What were the most notable things that happened in your career?

• I learned English to land high-paying jobs. But I found out I like learning languages. So I learned another two. French and quite a bit of Brazilian Portuguese.
• I found out I’m a lifelong learner.
• By accident, I started writing online and made my first dollars online.
• I doubled my salary and took one year off.

What have been some of the hardest or painful moments in your life?

• I hit rock-bottom. Got burned out, depressed, and stomach sick. In that order. All of that because I decided to keep a “good” job with a decent salary.

What have been the most valuable lessons you learned in life and how did you learn them?

• We’re just a cog in a machine if we keep a “safe” job. I learned this when I got fired and laid off multiple times.
• If I don’t come up with my own life plan, somebody else will give me one. I had to overcome my burnout to learn this.
• I’m not my job and my job title. I should diversify my joy. It shouldn’t come from a single place. Thanks, burnout for teaching me this.

What have been your biggest mistakes and how did it change you?

• I stayed too long at stagnant jobs, expecting things to change without taking any action. It cost me years and thousands of dollars. One of the few things I regret. It made me take control of my career and life.

What transformations have you gone through in life (physical/financial/emotional/spiritual/etc.)?

• After months of waking stressed and anxious, I recovered from burnout by working on my health and writing again. Finally, after almost a year, I could wake up feeling fulfilled and accomplished.
• I lost about 5 kg in the last year, thanks to reordering how I eat. It turned out to be the best productivity hack I’ve discovered.

What are your most significant achievements?

• I paid with my own money for a fancy family dinner.
• I made my first internet money with coding courses and writing online.
• After a layoff, I survived one year without a job, living off my savings and investments. It was a tough time, but I remember it as the season where I grew the most.