JEREMYCWILSON.COM

Moving on

One of my old Kellogg classmates who is finishing up their last year at Kellogg recently emailed. She wanted to catch up and see what I’m up to these days. To answer her question, I’m working (and blogging and working on education things as usual).  A far cry from my time at Kellogg.  As much as I wanted to stay in business school, today most of us are in the next phase of my life.

From graduation to CFA and Bar Exams to starting work, many of us couldn’t be further away from Evanston, both literally and figuratively.  Not that we didn’t love our time – we definitely did. But now we have other things in front of us. Figuring out how to succeed at work, exploring new cities, and trying to make a difference not just in our roles but also in our new communities.

And this holds true in every context not just school. When you land a big account at work, when you pass a tough exam, when you get a new job, when your friends move or when you find a new significant other.  Again and again, we have to answer the same question no matter how good or how bad things are: “What’s next?” How do I keep moving forward, and now how do I get started.

It’s a skill that is very difficult but worth getting better at.

The 2013 VIVA Event #EducationMatters

Every year hundreds of people attend Cristo Rey high school’s annual VIVA! scholarship fundraiser at Millennium Park. I recently got an invite for me and a guest again this year’s event.

VIVA  is a day of inspiration to reflect on how well the school has done. A day of celebration for the school’s former students and employees. And a day of participation, not only for volunteers wanting to get more involved but also for people in Chicago.

The event will be filled with food, fun, friends and networking. There will be a great raffle, music and announcements. There will also be high profile speakers and news coverage. I look forward to the event.

To learn more about VIVA click here.

To purchase tickets to VIVA click here.

To see my posts about the event the last two years, see below.

2011 Event: http://www.jeremycwilson.com/2011/05/cristo-rey-high-school-viva-and-the-education-industry/

2012 Event: http://www.jeremycwilson.com/2012/05/cristo-reys-2012-viva-fundraiser/

Tags: Cristo Rey, education

#AskJeremy: How has law school and business school helped? Should I consider?

In a recent question, a reader in Los Angeles asked me asked a question about law school and business school.

As usual, I did this during my first take. If anyone has any follow up questions, feel free to send them my way. See below for the question and below that for my response.

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for connecting. We have never met in person. We share connections with MS and EP.  MSl was a classmate of mine from USC, and I met EP at the LOFT Institute’s Finance Boot at USC and his campaign for mayor. EP has become more and more of a mentor for me.

Why I was interested in connecting with you is because I follow your blog, as I am interested in pursing a JD/MBA in the future, but I also want to know what it is truly like to work at your firm in the finance and transactions group and how your degrees help you in your work.

Thank you very much!

JM

Here is my video response.

High level summary:

1.  You don’t need grad school to be successful. We see examples everywhere.

2. In today’s knowledge-based economy there is correlation between education and how much people earn and can contribute.

3. Take a values based approach and think about what you want to

4.  Pick a program that fits with those value, which could be law, business or otherwise.

5.  Then pick a school that has that program.

6.  Then think again about values as you go through the process and make sure your choice lines up.

The right things …

… are what we should all try to work on.  It’s the real secret sauce.  The wildly successful ones don’t always win because they’re smarter or work harder.  But sometimes because they work on the things that really matter.

Here’s the good news.

You don’t have to get it right the first time.  Instead, you can iterate. Try your hand at a few things until you figure it out.  Get advice from other people.  And look at see what people you trust and admire are doing.  As long as you find the right thing sooner than later.

But there’s also a downside.

Who of us really knows what the right things are? And even if you do, how do you know they’ll be the same tomorrow, let alone next month or next year? Further, the right things in Chicago won’t always be the right things in New York or California, let alone in China.

One the other hand, if you do find it, then there’s one thing that you still have to do.  You have to ignore everything else. If difficult today, living in a world of endless distraction, where people spend half their time writing 140 characters about things that don’t even matter at all.

FOMO

Somewhere at this very moment, someone is doing something you aren’t doing.

They like their job more than you do.  Have better plans for tonight. Make more money than you. And found new friends to battle in a game of Angry Birds or Words with Friends.

I bet you feel like you are missing out.

When you realize this, you can’t help but wish you had more things to do.  That your job paid more or that you didn’t have to study for an exam.  You think about it, worry about it, maybe even stress out about it.

This is commonly known as FOMO: The Fear of Missing Out.

We’ve all come face to face with it, especially MBAs and lawyers.  In the business world,  everyone always seems like they are doing more.  They travel more frequently, get more miles for flights, and have more time off to have more fun than you. And in the legal world, you’re often stuck in the office while your friends leave early. Facebook makes it seem worse, since people now brag about how much they do, even though Facebook is largely a tool for exaggeration.

But FOMO is not new. It has been here forever. FOMO existed in high school. Our parents had FOMO.

The best way to stop having FOMO is to work on things where you won’t get distracted.  Focus on the things that matter.  Devote your attention to worthy causes.  Work on art that you care about you.  Find your Wildly Important Goals.

Easier said than done of course. Especially if you are in job you aren’t passionate about.

But if you focus on those things today, right now, the distractions won’t bother you. In fact, you probably won’t even know they are there.

Just a thought.

#AskJeremy: Ask me anything at Northwestern Law Diversity & Careers Info Sessions on April 8 & 11, 2013

This week, I’ll be joining Northwestern Law for two events. First for a careers and recruiting lunch event – Diversity Dos and Don’ts. And second, the Career the school fair representing my law firm Vedder Price.  Given official law school recruiting will be taking place just a few months from now, I hope you law students will consider coming.

The first event will be held at Northwestern Law school, downtown Chicago at 375 West Chicago, on Monday, April 8, 2013 at noon. I’ll be sitting on a panel taking questions from the audience.

Diversity Dos and Don’ts
Monday April 8th, 12pm
Northwestern Law School

The second event will be held at the same address on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 from 5pm to 7pm. This event is limited to current NU Law Students.

Law School Careers Fair
Thursday April 11th, 5pm
Northwestern Law School Atrium

Feel free to contact me personally if you’ll be attending, or if you miss the event.

#AskJeremy