Finding Success in the Land of Inequality
Impact Summit
I’m beyond excited to share the stage with John C. Maxwell, the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, speaker, and dear friend of mine!
Together with Graham Cochrane, Katie Quesada, and Jake Thompson, we will explore how to become more influential leaders, better lead our teams, align employees with their authentic purpose, and master the skills to compete with ourselves every day.?
Don't miss this transformative 2-day retreat that will force you out of your comfort zone and surround yourself with powerful leaders committed to leading well in their businesses and organizations.
Finding Success in the Land of Inequality
Quote: Change requires you to change your fundamental paradigm. And people fear the vulnerability that comes with doing and saying things outside of the expected norm.?
- Dr. Paul Rivera ; Economist, Strategic Planning Expert, and 1st Generation American
I've made many changes in my life.? Some of the most difficult changes I’ve made were changes that affected my identity.
It takes courage and vulnerability to make a change and embrace the next steps.
Just a couple of days ago, as I was leaving the bank after making a transaction, my son, who was riding with me, asked if I thought it was a good investment.
My response is, ‘Well, I think you always go into a transaction with the thought that it's a good investment, but you never know. If I didn’t think it was, I wouldn’t make it. And at the same time, I’ve made some bad investments. Those have mostly had four legs!
A few of the changes I have made have been life-altering.
Not all of the changes that I made were well supported.
When I left Ohio to go to school in New York, some people tried to tear me down, mocking and judging me for leaving.
In 2009, when we moved to Washington from California, and I took a job in addition to running my own business, my competitors attacked and ridiculed me, using this to discredit me.
When I left two careers where I was earning six figures in each to pursue a career where I could make more and create a bigger impact, people again judged and ridiculed me.
As I recount those changes, the negative thoughts weren't the bothersome parts; I was trying to figure out who I was and what my identity was!
Each time I entered a new environment, I was forced to find out how I fit and what I had to offer others.
What value did I have to offer? What problem did I solve? What paradigm was I going to fit into or be different from?
The American Dream: the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
I was born in the United States.
My parents were both born in the US.
My four grandparents were all born in the US.
As far as I know, my eight great-grandparents were born in the US.
Beyond that, I'm not sure, but I’m guessing that most, if not all, of my great-great-grandparents were born in the US.
领英推荐
This gets us back to the mid-19th century or so.
My family history does not include recent stories of people venturing to the US to pursue the American Dream.
The closest relative I can attest lived this was my step-grandfather on my mom's side.? Elmer Andersen.
He emigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1908 as an 8-year-old.
From what I know, his life drastically differed from the rest of my family.
He and his siblings loved to travel. They lived and traveled throughout the US, where travel consisted of cars and motels.
On my dad's side of the family, a family steeped in generations of being Ohio residents, still reside a stone's throw from the Professional Football Hall of Fame as they have for over 200 years.
My step-grandfather was an entrepreneur chasing a bigger, bolder life in the US.? My dad's family and much of my mom's Germanic heritage relatives stayed close to home and farmed.
Besides my step-grandfather, I knew very few first or second-generation immigrants, if any, growing up.
It wasn't until I moved to California at the start of my nutrition career that I got to know, understand, and admire the hard-working, dedicated people who came to the US in pursuit of the American dream.
Yet I didn't honestly know their hardships.
I can imagine my step-grandfather struggling to come to a new country. Even the boat ride across the Atlantic Ocean was a challenge.
The Big Idea
Immigration is a hot topic, so I've addressed the elephant in the room.
What I have experienced and learned is the farther we are removed from making wholesale moves to pursue the opportunity for something better, the less we appreciate the courage it takes to change.
There is a place right now in your life where the courage to step outside the comfort of social or cultural expected norms looks like scaling El Capitan Free-Solo style .
It could be like IDL community member Tyler, who is fighting the expectations of past leadership of being visible and burning the candles at both ends to change his current schedule to be more present for his wife, kids, and staff.?
Maybe it's making lifestyle changes to focus on your health and stop putting it off, justifying your current state by saying, “I'm way healthier than most people my age.”
Or is it investing in yourself?
The investments I've never regretted are investments I've made in myself!
Every person who emigrated to the US did that; they invested in themselves. We’ll always succeed in a land of inequality when we make the only investment that never turns bad.
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