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Jun Loayza is using Brazen Careerist to share ideas. Join now to become a member and start networking with Jun Loayza and other professionals just like you. Learn more.
Yesterday I was sitting down doing some work at UCLA and a person walks up to me and says, “Hey, you’re Jun Loayza aren’t you! I’ve heard so much about you…” To tell you the least, I was extremely flattered to be randomly recognized and congratulated for all of the content that I’ve been trying to put out online. I feel a sense of pride to know that what I’ve been teaching is actually impacting people in a positive way.
The person’s name is Sharr, and he is a board member of Bruin Consulting at UCLA, the organization I founded as an undergraduate. He had a slew of extremely good questions for me that I feel many undergraduates have but are too afraid to ask.
Sharr, like most undergraduates, equate happiness to one thing - money. People preach all the time that “money isn’t everything,” but for most undergraduates, those are just empty words by people who couldn’t make it big and that are now just content with what they have. Others claim that “some of the unhappiest people that [they] have seen are also the richest.” Most undergraduates also see this as a disease that the “old” rich and the spoiled have. People who were born with middle-wage-income parents truly know how to appreciate money and NOT take things for granted.
So what is the result? You have a Y Generation that feels they will only find happiness by becoming a millionaire. I know this because I was the same way! Reaching Millionaire status was the only way I would feel accomplished in life. Now I know better. It’s not the million dollars in the bank that I chase; it’s the millionaire lifestyle.
Sharr asked me this question to prove a point. He believes that the reason I am an entrepreneur is because of the HUGE potential payoff in the end. If, for example, I knew that I would fail everytime and live with my mom till I’m 40, I would definitely not be an entrepreneur.
My Answer: This really is not a valid question. I can turn to him and ask him the same question: “If you knew that every time you joined an Investment Bank they went bankrupt and so you would always be out of a job, then you wouldn’t become an Investment Banker,” or “If you knew that every time you took the MCATs you failed with a terrible score, then you would never want to become a Doctor.” It’s the same thing. Guaranteeing failure for something proves nothing.
As an entrepreneur, you always try to shoot for the BIG company with the HUGE payoff, but in all honesty, that’s probably never going to happen. You should take the career path that you love, and NOT the career path with the biggest money potential. Remember, you DON’T want the satisfaction of having a million dollars in the bank; you want the freedom and stability that money brings.
So, I am an entrepreneur because I love starting and building companies. I love the freedom and satisfaction of watching my baby (my company) grow up, gain momentum, and hopefully become something valuable to society one day. My personality is meant for running my own company and being my own boss.
Sharr, listen to me. I have many friends who are investment bankers who hate their lives right now; I have other investment banker friends who love their lives. What is the difference? The ones who became an investment banker because they love financial analysis are the ones that love their lives; the ones who became investment bankers for the money hate their lives.
You can easily say that slaving away for 2 years is a small sacrifice. After two years, you go to Business School, get into private equity or venture capital, and you’re set.
Hahahahaha… this is honestly the funniest form of thinking I have ever heard (though I once was in the same exact mind frame). Do you really think private equity managers or VC’s work any less than investment bankers? Do you think their lives are any less stressful? No, you’re going to be a slave with a lot of money in the bank that you can’t enjoy. And then you’re going to work till your 65, the ripe old age of retirement. Woohoo! Now you can finally enjoy your life! Old, wrinkly, gray-haired you finally has a chance to relax and enjoy his money!
Is this really what you want?
I’m not saying don’t become an investment banker. I’m saying that you should completely change your mentality: if money absolutely wasn’t an issue, what would you want to do as a career? If becoming a investment banker would make you happy, even if you didn’t get paid to do it, then become an investment banker. Figure out what makes you happy.
Once you have that figured out, I will teach you how to monetize it.
Great post! Do what you love...
One other thing I was thinking while reading this - even if the company fails, you will learn a ton of stuff along the way. Failure = growth. No shame in it!
Chris
Money simply a capitalist tool to put ourselves on equal footing with those who are endowed with greater gifts than us (great height or greater conventional physical attractiveness). This desire to use money to make a statement about the type of person one is is particularly pronounced in young people.
Generally speaking, many of the people that most of us want seem unattainable because they are selective. We hope that if we can overcome our own negative self-assessment by making money and stamping society’s objective A+, then we will have the confidence to win the person we want because we will appear in their eyes to be more worthy of their attention.
The reality is that hot people are people just like anyone else. Because so many people are shy around them, they can be quite lonely. Their opportunities are few and far between not because people don’t want them, but because people are afraid to go after them for fear of rejection.
The process that I am seeing take place in my own life as I approach 30 is that the hottest people are becoming less selective when it comes to the superficial stuff and are more concerned with finding a loving, caring mate. They are beginning to realize that looks really are ephemeral and that they better take advantage of them while they can. In their eyes, settling for someone who is not their physical equal is not the end of the world so long as that person is committed to them.
If you choose to chase money and to use that as a tool to win people over you are sentencing yourself to a life of suboptimal relationships with maladapted people. Unfortunately, most money-chasing folks are not introspective enough or honest enough with themselves to confess that an obsession with money is directly reflective of their own insecurities.
Money is simply a tool. It doesn't comfort us when our spouse cheats, when a child dies, or when we've been misunderstood. In fact, it has no ability to solve problems whatever. You can be happy living in a home that costs $300,000, and miserable in one that costs $5,000,000 - and vice-versa. The happiest people I know live beneath their means, put people first and look within to solve problems. Nice post, Jun!
I agree whole with your post. And sometimes the only way you get the revelation that "working" in something your passionate about is better that working for money is by attaining that initial goal. This was my path. I wanted the six figures, wanted the title, wanted the big company. So I was strategic about getting what I wanted, worked really hard, and I got it. What I learned was that it wasn't really about money or the title for me - it was about pushing to accomplish the goal. And if I can accomplish that then there are other goals that I can reach. The million dollar question is: Do I have the right goals? This is something missed by a lot my generation(gen x), or at the very least it clicks for us once we've hit 35. But I do see a growing trend in people wanting more from their work than money, title, or perks. I want work that is aligned with my passion, talents, interest and lifestyle. With that being too much to ask from my corporate gig - I've ventured into the realms of solopreneurship.
@Chris - failure definitely equals growth. Just remember to succeed everyone once in a while.
@Anonymous - I wouldn't necessary say that money is "a capitalist tool to put ourselves on equal footing with those who are endowed with greater gifts than us." There are ways to attain power w/o money.
What really constitutes what is superficial and what is NOT superficial? What is the difference between marrying someone for their looks and marrying someone for their personality? Is it just that looks fade because you age? What if personality faded just like looks, or if looks stayed the same throughout your life? What's the difference between caring for clothes and jewelry and caring for learning and personal development? It is unfair to say that everyone who loves money is insecure.
@Marsha - There should be a poll. What % of people who make more than 1M are happy? What % of people who make less tan $30K a year are happy? I believe that everyone has their individual problems, but money definitely is a facilitator that allows you to do many things
@Career - Getting paid for your "passion" is very rare I believe. I think it's even harder because most people aren't "passionate" about anything really...
I remember what a senior manager said while I was working at McDonnell Douglas in the 80s, seeing a number of engineers and technicians who had left to start their own businesses, return to compete for their old positions:
"If you're not making money with your business, all you've got is an expensive hobby."
I like the quote jrandom.
How much money is enough? It definitely depends on the individual person...
As for how much, let's say positive numbers, and the bigger the positive number, the greater flexibility for your business.
Jun,
I was a corporate executive for many years and I earned a pretty nice salary and had a comfortable life because of it. However, there were so many days when the job was difficult and during those moments, my salary meant nothing to me. I could have been making a billion dollars but the stress of the job wasn't worth it at times. Fortunately, I did enjoy my job most of the time and in fact, stayed there for twenty-three years!
The most important thing is to find a job, and more importantly, a career, that you love. If you do, the money will come because when you're passionate about something, you will work harder at it and you will be rewarded. Ask yourself one question, "Do you love going to work every day?" If the answer is yes, then you are already rich beyond your wildest dreams.
I couldn't agree with Andy more. I remember picking up Marsha Sinetar's, Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow when I was in highschool. I haven't been able to shake that message ever since.
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