Ryan
Rodrigs
.
Internal Resume
The biggest failure period in my life was during the creation of an app I engineered called the Yunal Covid-19 app. The difference that my creation made was negligible at best and the process ruined me as a person. The average day consisted of around 10+ hours spent at my desk behind my computer. I did not interact with anyone, did not exercise, ate poorly, and slept very irregularly. As a result, after 6 months of these terrible habits, I gained 50 pounds, found myself extremely tired and unmotivated, and most importantly, was extremely unhappy. Upon returning to school, I felt exhausted and burnt out which resulted in one of my worst academic years ever. Due to my negative mental and physical health, I was unable to participate in things that I valued such as leadership positions, clubs, and sports teams.
My rebound from this dark time came through the form of exercise. I knew that to perform at my best, my health was a top priority. Every night, I started by going on a one-mile run. Although this may not seem like much, at the time it was a colossal undertaking. On every run, I would listen to motivational speeches, and my favorite was one by Usain Bolt where he says that it has to get worse before it gets better. Every single time I heard that part of the speech, it didn’t matter how tired or in pain I was, I knew that I had to keep pushing. It was also through exercise that I built relationships and community. I would see other people running and trying to better themselves just like me. A quick wave and nod of acknowledgment as we passed each other made me feel noticed and as a part of something bigger than just myself.
I have not had my “big” success yet. I am working on many things with many different goals and hope that this moment will come in the future. As of right now, I can only stay diligent, hungry, and patient. Looking back, however, I think that the creation of Yunal is my biggest success if you alter the confines of the definition of success. Despite not attaining some of the numerical goals that I set out for myself, it is still comforting to know that something I created had a tangible positive impact on the lives of those in my community. The highlights of this project were reading emails and Facebook messages from people using the app and just telling me about their life experiences during the dark times of the pandemic. As an entrepreneur, it is important to make a difference and I think that looking past the rudimentary business side of the venture, it was a social success.
My blueprint for success is making large goals and then breaking them down into smaller actions that I can perform daily. To track my success, I mark each successful day with an “X” in my calendar and try not to break the chain. The longer the chain, the more I have shown up for myself and my dreams, and thus, the more successful I am becoming.
As an avid runner, I constantly find myself picking up a variety of lower body injuries that prevent me from training consistently. Although resistance and weight training is not my preferred method of exercise, it is an area that I will have to improve upon for the longevity of my health.
My most important relationship is with my appa (dad). He is a serial entrepreneur that has started many ventures of his own. Since birth, my appa has been training me to be an entrepreneur. My brother and I were allowed to draw all over the white walls of our house because he did not believe in stifling our creative expression. He never let me play with LEGO because he believed that following instructions was too easy and instead gave me cardboard and tape to make my own creations. Growing up, I hated school and when faking being sick or hurt he would always come to pick me up and take me to whatever pitch or meeting he had going on no questions asked. He always instilled an entrepreneurial mindset in me from as far back as I can remember.
I was born to be an entrepreneur. When it is all said and done, both my biggest regret and failure in life would be not pursuing my entrepreneurial inklings to their fullest. I want to take risks, innovate, and create in my lifetime. Not fulfilling that obligation would be my biggest regret.