A combination being that of many things, both in the sense that I want to do many things in my life, but also this particular blog post is literally the culmination of a couple dozen Google Docs I had. Some were essays, some were Curriculum Vitae, and more. Given the connection between the documents, and the premise of this original idea of what My Dream Life entails. It felt right to find a way to put them all together into one interesting post.

"Hi everyone my name is Dustin Miller, I’m a proto-polymath and omnichannel content creator
for PolyInnovator."

To be honest I'm not sure how worthwhile it is for me to post this blog today, but I wanted to share my past with you all. Perhaps something here that inspired the twinkle in my eye when I was young, or my responses at my current age below. One of those might help motivate you to aspire to work towards your own dream life.

Dream Life Writing Prompt: Before you do anything, do this: Open a page and start writing about your dream life. Include every detail of where you live, where do you work, what do you drive, who do you spend time with. The more specific, the better. This is an excellent exercise to re-focus where you will eventually be.

My goal is to create a career based in the synergy of three main areas: Global Sustainability Development, Innovation/Project Management, and Social Entrepreneurship. Each of them have their own unique path of learning, but I will state that I actually created a D.I.Y. Degree as a continuous attempt to learn what I need to know about in these three areas, as well as a method to build/leverage a personal brand. This endeavor has many moving parts, as well as the need for constant discipline.

I felt like I got a college level of philosophy education on my own. That self-studying mentality grew into what I call the Modular Degree. A self-education framework geared towards helping people organize their learning.

That is the spark of motivation for me to work up the mountain of life. I actually created it mainly because at the time I could not find a Smart Cities degree. I focused on business, innovation, marketing, sustainability, and most of all social entrepreneurship.

While I don't necessarily follow these topics as much anymore, at least not as of late, they still are around in the back of my head.

It is not so much that I changed my mind, and don't want to do them anymore. It is more of I lost some of the drive to figure out how to make them happen. Maybe I need to recover that determination.

What have I done in life?

This section is taken from my 2018 application essay for a brand new college out in San Francisco, Foundry College, and I felt it described my mindset well.

Exuberance, ambitious, and autodidactic are the three most apt descriptive words I can say about myself. The true nature of a person doesn’t always present itself until later in life, however I truly believe I have found my calling. My pitch that I use when describing is as follows “I will be a globally recognized Innovation Polymath; Driven to innovate technology and ideology”. 

I’ve struggled in my life with the idea of going to school because although I am a scholar at heart I have never been much of an academic. I found myself bored and disengaged with the activity in school. I always felt like I have a north star in the light of the career areas, with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. I created my own company when I was ten selling temporary tattoos, then as I grew up I would always state that I would be a “CEO of an international company driven to innovate technology and ideology”. This ideal grew into the elevator pitch I now have, and stood as a foundation for my recent endeavors. Taking up most of the 2017 year I spent my time working two jobs, as well as created a company brand. This was called the “United Living Construct”.

Over my life thus far I have worked for half a dozen employers, and had over a dozen different positions. All while working my “main” job at a recreation facility, as an Aquatics Fitness Instructor. I’ve spent my time dabbling in many different areas to discover my tastes, and create an identity unique to me. Originating the initial thought processes behind the U.L.C. began. I’ve strived to create a substantial change in the world, and I felt that I could create a platform to exponentially #makeachange. 

Despite my efforts thus far in creating a personal brand, a company brand, working many jobs, studying every day with my D.I.Y. Degree; I have felt that I can’t seem to find my next true step. I aim to move mountains figuratively speaking, so my thought is that I can’t stay where I am in this state. I found Foundry College to be a unique opportunity to expand my horizons. Not only that I could become one of the first alumni of the school, and if I were to achieve even a fraction of my goals I could be a shining example of what could come out of the bleeding edge of technology. As smart city development is a blossoming field, even to this day.

Since then:

I have been creating for most of my life, and so it was only fitting that I would evolve that into podcasts. I started making them in 2017, and have been creating content based around making a change in education.

Growing up I found myself pressured in a bad way with school. I never felt like I could learn in that environment, and I always struggled to get passing grades.

Motivation is a mountain that everyone must climb, and is a peculiar aspect of our lives. It forms from some of the deepest parts of our life experiences, from intrinsic desires to the plethora of influences in our daily lives.

Despite the spark that shines in me I have struggled greatly in my years, but even with that setback from a young age I have never let that define who I am. I am who I create myself to be, and in fact most people would define me as quite cheerful. Growing up I would define myself as a “businessman” or as I got older a “CEO”, but it wasn’t the titles that drew me in.

What inspired me was the potential to do good, and create a massive change in the world. Nowadays it has evolved “To become a global innovation polymath, driven to innovate technology and ideology!”

Learning to Network and Meet People

Top priority is to network and ask anyone and everyone if they know of someone who is hiring. You never know where your next job may come from. This is something you should always be doing from now until you land a job.  

I had to write a motivation letter to Zigurat university. Zigurat is based in a country known for smart city development, and is helping cultivate that way of life for citizens of Spain. I spent quite a long time researching what areas or cities I would enjoy living in, and Barcelona is one of the most advanced cities in the world. 

I will use my passion and understanding of technology, along with my systematic thinking processes to help innovate across disciplines and groups of people.

Out of all of this I believe that my knowledge and way of thinking will greatly impact the lives of others. I have always been gregarious and eager to meet new people, and with the advent of digital meetings being so popular in the last five years. There is practically no one in the world that is completely out of reach.

Understanding WHAT jobs you want to do in Life

Look for jobs that you are eligible for and could see yourself doing. Entry level, in an industry that will help you learn. Once you land, you can conquer. Use Indeed, LinkedIn, and start searching companies or organizations for which you are interested. See what you can learn and whether or not they are hiring.  

My life goal to become an Innovation Polymath turned into a personal brand to share my story with the world. It is called PolyInnovator, and it originated from my Self-Education pursuits.

I love orchestrating a bunch of data, and organizing complex content ecosystems. It is something I'm very passionate about, and given the size of the TED library of content. I figured this was prudent to mention first. Additionally, I have been a content creator myself for over a decade. Starting with blogging, and adding in YouTube and podcasting later on.

At this point I have made a mountain of content, and I am only getting started. I think that no matter what job or career I do, that I will always be making some sort of content in the long run.

Constantly finding new jobs to learn new skills from, all while working at my original employer. I worked up to eight positions at once. Since I started I have worked for over half a dozen employers all while working my first job. The dynamic aspect behind working a dozen jobs has cultivated my polymath way of life. I reveled in the interdisciplinary lifestyle, and craved for new experiences to expand my horizons.

In addition to my organizational skills, in my natural thought process I recognize patterns of development. Meaning that when certain variables come into play I’ve repeatedly recognized that an event would likely occur. Taking into account various kinesiology principles I could tell that someone’s item off the counter would fall, or how someone’s micro-expressions would lead them being satisfied or conversely dissatisfied. Then being able to act upon those readings before anyone even knew they were apparent.

This systematic thinking has garnered me to be able to magnificent work at my jobs in the past. Combining that with my soft skills, I can use it to be empathetic to the team around me. Helping the group move forward.

Working on your Resume or really your Personal Brand

 Work on your cover letter and resume. Make it as close to excellent as possible, and adjust based on the role for which you are applying.

While the writing prompt goes for a more resume focus, the truth is nowadays it is your personal brand that is your real resume. Here are a few sections pulled from one of my earlier resumes in my young adult life. I feel like it gives a perspective of where I was coming from mentally.

INTRODUCTION

I intend on becoming a global innovation polymath, and cultivating bleeding edge technology applications. I pursue this through my self-education endeavors, and my personal brand PolyInnovator. I created a Modular Degree in pursuit of learning more about innovation, social entrepreneurship, and smart city development.

I create online content based around innovation in various areas, and taking into consideration my autodidactic tendencies I created YouTube videos and blog posts on those knowledge pools. In any case this will help me establish credibility on top of the Smart City Manager Degree.

OBJECTIVE

For years I searched for a pathway to the ideal career for me. Mainly so that I could make a strong change in the world one city at a time. This CV is meant to illuminate the inner workings of my life, and shine on what I think I could bring to the other students: a unique perspective of an innovative systematic thinker. I’ve spent the past better half of a decade teaching others, and I find myself doing just that while in a classroom setting.

SKILLS KNOWLEDGE 

Innovation: In a very basic sense innovation is the key to human ingenuity, and the process of taking two knowledge pools and combining them. That combination must have some sort of relationship, and a catalyst bringing them together. It is the job of the innovator to find that relationship.

Entrepreneurship: The willing capacity of creating a new business or endeavor, despite all challenges to overcome risks and make a profit.

Leadership: As a naturally born teacher I feel that it is necessary to inspire others to learn what steps need to be taken next. That is what qualifies someone to be a good leader; showing someone their potential for greatness.

Urban Planning: Taking into account decades of urban sprawl, and 

Energy Grid: Understanding the fact that the grid is one of humanity’s greatest works of technology is the first step. Beyond that there is a desperate need for an overhaul with digital systems and microgrids. I believe I can facilitate that with an understanding of how electricity flows, and how the systems interact with the city.

From Organizing Life to Content Planning

Stay positive. This could be a long journey, and continue to take care of yourself. It doesn't matter how long it takes, only that you get the outcome you want.

Plenty of experience with content management systems, and something I wanted to point out was the "ability to shift between contexts" part of the application. As a polymathic person, my content is even about being a polymath and transcontextual thinking, then I think I'd make a great fit.

With content it allowed me to think in a more grandiose way, and that lead me down a path of wanting to help others. I started learning more about content technology like CMS's by creating more and more content. That helped me find so many amazing organizations too.