Nick Slater

About

I gave a young person’s perspective to my co-author, and argued with him when we disagreed, well-intentioned as he is.

You’ve been spared teachings from The Godfather, references to outdated movies, books, and songs, and more musings of arcane ancient philosophers. While Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates drop in on occasion, their role is limited and on point.

Consider me a kindred spirit on your journey to success in the working world. More so than our parents, or their parents, you and I had a structured upbringing with a steady stream of activities designed to ensure our development and entry into a good college.

We now find ourselves in a work environment that is increasingly unstructured and insecure. It requires and rewards a different set of skills than we were taught. Career paths aren’t as clearly defined, and simply showing up and doing what we’re told isn’t enough. Our challenge is to be creative, take initiative, and have the courage to take risks.

We also bring a different perspective to our work. Whether following a corporate path or trying to earn a living doing our own thing, we seem more determined than those who came before us to create a life first and a career second.

Many of us fight the cultural imperative to be dissatisfied with who and where we are and to always be striving for more. Without minimizing the importance of money, and while recognizing the reality of workplace competition, we bring a more balanced perspective about the role of work in our lives.

My goal, and perhaps yours, is not so much to fashion a career to boast about or to satisfy the expectations of others, but to create a life that reflects my values, contributes to the greater good, and satisfies. While work is a meaningful part of that life, we are so much more than our work. Bosses will come and go, while other people and priorities in our lives will, hopefully, remain constants.