Down the Mountain

I delivered this deck in Seattle at the 2023 MozCon SEO conference. It is a deck about delivering the soft skills needed to get the most out of your career.

Transcript

1. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon
2. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
3. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky What’s your dream?
4. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky What’s your why?
5. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky What would you sacrifice to get it? 

6. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon
7. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
8. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Tom Critchlow’s Skills Maturity matrix
9. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky US salaries, for SEO roles, Tom Critchlow
10. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky The surface area of luck © 2010 Jason Roberts Doing Telling Good Better Best
11. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky 1. 2. 3. 4. Go wide Go big Give back Go deep
12. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Go wide before going deep
13. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Work in the best agency you can.
14. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Exposure is
15. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Dig your ditches.
16. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Embrace errors while learning. They open your brain to learning new skills at a cellular level. https://hubermanlab.com/ how-to-learn-skills-faster/
17. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Be curious.
18. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Do everything
19. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky But we only do…
20. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky •Do pro bono work
21. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky •Do pro bono work •Build your passion website
22. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky •Do pro bono work •Build your passion website •Friends + family
23. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Find a way.
24. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Critical thinking
25. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Use a decision making process
26. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Problem Solving 101, Ken Watanabe
27. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky The Two Octobers way: •Define the problem
28. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky https://fs.blog/first-principles/
29. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky The Two Octobers way: •Define the problem •Gather + explore data
30. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky The Two Octobers way: •Define the problem •Gather + explore data •Extract insights
31. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky The Two Octobers way: •Define the problem •Gather + explore data •Extract insights •Form hypothesis
32. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky The Two Octobers way: •Define the problem •Gather + explore data •Extract insights •Form hypothesis •Execute test
33. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky The Two Octobers way: •Define the problem •Gather + explore data •Extract insights •Form hypothesis •Execute test •Track + continuously improve
34. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Learn about + remove bias 
 
 https://thedecisionlab.com/biases-index
35. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Learn to prioritize
36. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky What should we do and when should we do it?
37. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Impact High Low Easy Hard Ease of implementation
38. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Important Very Not VERY Not Urgent Urgent + Important Not Urgent + Important Not Urgent + Not Important Urgent + Not Important DO / DECIDE IMMEDIATELY DECIDE WHEN YOU’LL DO IT DO / DECIDE LATER The Eisenhower Matrix
39. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky 1. 2. 3. 4. Go wide Go big Give back Go deep
40. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means your 'reason for being.' Iki = life and gai = value or worth.
41. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
42. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Connect with your heroes. Here’s how! 

43. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • Like
44. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • Like • Comment
45. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • Like • Comment • DM
46. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Hey Hey! When are we going to do a Zoom? I'd really dig meeting you!
47. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Yo! Just saw Greg’s tweet mentioning your “Speed to insight”. Makes me want to do a Zoom with you if you’re open to it.
48. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
49. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • Like • Comment • Dm • Zoom
50. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Seek as much wisdom and perspective as possible from others. Heather Physioc
51. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Be a spider. Build your web. 

52. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Community Join or build your own.
53. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Community exposed me to a new world of possibilities. It showed me examples and precedents of people who had achieved things I thought were impossible, giving me a north star to aim for. Chima Mmeje
54. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Christina Ehrensberger In terms of my career, I receive a lot of requests to collaborate with brands, I now have a seat at tables that I would never have gotten if it wasn’t for Latinas en SEO.
55. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
56. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
57. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
58. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky 1. 2. 3. 4. Go wide Go big Give back Go deep
59. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon Write a blog.
60. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon Host a podcast.
61. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon Learn to speak.
62. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon It doesn't matter what you want. There's always somebody who has what you want and they're almost always a better communicator than we are. Brenden Kumarasamy MasterTalk
63. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • It will make you a better thinker
64. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • It will make you a better thinker • It will open many professional doors
65. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • It will make you a better thinker • It will open many professional doors • You’ll make friends all over
66. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky • It will make you a better thinker • It will open many professional doors • You’ll make friends all over • You’ll learn the communication skills necessary to work at the highest levels
67. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Tom Critchlow’s Skills Maturity matrix
68. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Storytelling - I think now more than ever before we have to know how to take insight and communicate it to clients in a commercial way. Carrie Rose
69. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon Be bold.
70. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon Jennifer Cohen Ted Talk https://youtu.be/wM82hE6oimw 
 
 Bigger Better Bolder
71. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon You need to ask for what you want. Period.
72. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon Chase what you want and don’t settle for what you get.
73. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon •The 10% target.
74. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon •The 10% target. •Anything you want, you should try for at least 10 times.
75. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon •The 10% target. •Anything you want, you should try for at least 10 times. •You’ll get comfy failing 90% of the time.
76. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Inertia / status quo bias.
77. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Uncertainty.
78. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Loss aversion. 
 Pain of losing is 2X the pleasure of winning. Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1977). Prospect Theory. An Analysis of Decision Making Under Risk
79. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Imposter syndrome.
80. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
81. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Remember your dream? It is worth it.
82. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Therapy
83. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky We’re SEOs, we optimize things. Why wouldn’t you want to optimize your life too with therapy? Petra Kis-Herczegh
84. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Box breathing
85. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Remember your ditches.
86. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Record your wins and revisit often.
87. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky 1. 2. 3. 4. Go wide Go big Give back Go deep
88. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Hamlet Batista
89. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Be vulnerable.
90. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Mentor.
91. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky
92. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Lori, Calvin, and Dylan
93. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Max and Shadow
94. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky Our humble abode.
95. noahlearner #MozCon Sterling Sky We’re Done! Resources https://bit.ly/mozcon23
96. Sterling Sky noahlearner #MozCon