This current work + money series culminates with an in-person event next week. I’m so excited for, “American Dream? Rethinking Race, Gender, and Financial Success,” on Wednesday, May 28th because the evening is all about you and your dreams – the ones you’ve fulfilled as well as those you’ve abandoned by choice or circumstance.
If what you’re doing today is totally unlike what you dreamed of doing as a child and you feel something is missing, you should join us.
If you’re one of the many that was RIFd (the new term for being downsized) and your period of unemployment has led you to the conclusion that working for yourself is a better, more secure option, you should join us.
If you’re working but have found yourself in the new-classic situation of being over-qualified but under-employed, you should join us.
If you’re just plan curious about what more you can do to live the American Dream in your signature way, you should join us.
If you’re looking to refresh your tool-kit and add to it ideas, tools, and strategies that will help you more effectively manage your career and your money, you should join us.
With my guest, Dr. Atira Charles, we’re talking about you, your work and your wealth, and sharing tools and strategies to help you redefine and recalibrate your reality to match your American Dream.
Dreams begin with…
What do you remember about what you wanted to be when you were a child?
Are you doing that work today?
When I was about four or five years old, I remember wanting to be a nurse.
By eight or nine, that shifted: I wanted to be an oceanographer and work with Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
In high school, I decided I wanted to be a shoe designer. The inspiration: my part-time job at the mall.
In terms of “work type,” I obviously am not doing any of these things today. But I am living out the essence of each of these professions by:
- helping people have a healthy relationship with their money;
- connecting with people by way of my fascination with human behavior, zeal for life, and natural state of wonder and curiosity; and
- using the principles of design as a discipline (or tool) to help people find viable solutions to fulfill their desires and solve their problems and challenges.
Do you see what you wanted to see?
In large measure, the American Dream is about who you are and what you do? It’s about how you see yourself; it is about your identity. This matters to you as the dreamer and affects those whom you love and who love you.
So, when someone asks – “What do you do? or “What have you been up to lately?” or “How’s business?” – it can trigger a range of emotions about where you are relative to your expecatations. Because deeply embedded in how you feel about your reply is how you see yourself and how you want others to see you.
Therefore, these questions can take you on an existential journey and prompt you to wonder: “What am I doing with my life?” or “What does it all mean?” Especially at this time in our cultural, economic, and employment history when so much about how you and I live and work has shifted. Today’s framework is much different than our parents!
As I said last week, personal finance is a career issue. Given stats like 4.4 years, 42 million, and 83%, it’s hard to imagine that you haven’t had to redefine your identity and/or reconcile the reality of your life with the “dream” you thought it would (or could) be.
With my guest, Dr. Atira Charles, our goal is to help you answer these questions so you can live the American Dream on your terms. Think of the evening as an opportunity to learn more about yourself, and turn that insight into an enhanced sense of personal power and fulfillment. After all, self-awareness is a critical key to maximum effectiveness.
I hope to see you next week if you are in the New York City area. The session will be held at my alma mater, Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business (at Lincoln Center), on Wednesday, May 28th at 6pm. The event is free, but you must register to attend. Click here to register.
Don’t live in the NY tri-state area…then, I’d appreciate you sharing this post with a friend, colleague, or family member who does.
And if you read this far but didn’t watch the above video, what are you waiting for? 🙂 Check it out to get a glimpse of what you’ll experience during this in-person event to explore how emotional intelligence + financial intimacy affect your life and lifestyle.
