By Bill Quain
OK, this week’s title is sure to concern some of my readers. It’s actually advice from Professor Scott Galloway, of the Stern School of Business at NYU. Besides being a professor, Galloway is a well-known multimillionaire and entrepreneur. He is also an author and speaker who is in huge demand around the world. Many of his clients are Fortune 500 companies. But of all the things he does, Galloway considers teaching his students to succeed as his most important work. I highly recommend his book, “The Algebra of Wealth.” You can also find his videos on YouTube.
We give young people bad advice.
We tell young people to “follow their passions.” We convince them to get a college degree – any college degree – even though it may not prepare them to do anything that people will pay them for.
Open the course catalog for any American college, and you’ll see courses on all kinds of subjects. Each of those courses fits into a college major, which may or may not be designed to lead students to financial success. What they are designed for is to appeal to students so they will pay the college tuition and to give professors who studied those subjects a job.
Almost everyone has the same passion!
What passions do many people share? How about sports? How about the movies? Becoming a movie star looks pretty good, right? Fame, fortune, adoring fans! But Professor Galloway points out that there are 180,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.), and almost 87% make less than $23,000 a year. That’s a lot of “starving” actors. How do they support themselves? I don’t know. When we go out to dinner next week, I’ll ask my waiter!
Your passion should be a payoff!
When I went to college and chose a major, I was looking for a payoff! I learned during my early life what work was for, and I worked hard.
For example, when I was in eighth grade, my parents told me they could pay half my tuition to a private high school if I could come up with the other half. We were not poor, but I was the oldest of seven kids. My parents knew I wanted to go to that school, and they taught me that everything has a price. What a great lesson! I went to work, first as a paperboy, then cutting grass, followed by becoming a busboy, and eventually a cook. Why did I become a cook? Because it paid more, and I needed the money to go to school.
With each job, I developed specific skills that people would pay me for. My passion wasn’t to be a cook, although I liked the work, and there was some prestige with it as well. The real reason I moved up from delivering papers to “slinging hash” was to create a better life for myself!
So, when it came time to choose a college major, I made a last-minute switch from history (which was a passion) to hotel administration at Cornell. What a great decision! I went to school in a hotel on the campus. I learned all kinds of practical things, including specialized food and beverage techniques and practices. I later became both an executive chef and a food and beverage consultant. Plus, I learned how to make money!
What’s my passion? Supporting my family!
I was really lucky. Early in life, I learned to be passionate about being something, instead of just doing something. I wanted to create a lifestyle that would enable me to provide for my family. I wanted to become a man that my family would be proud of, and who they could depend on.
In order to achieve that goal, I did my best to learn skills that other people would pay me for. It was very simple. Nothing I did at work would give me the satisfaction that I could get from building relationships, developing financial independence, and serving as a good example.
Where are those practical college courses?
In this social media-driven world, where algorithms and marketing campaigns seem to substitute for common sense, it is difficult to find a curriculum for simply becoming a successful person. In preparation for writing my book “Bankrupt U,” my co-author and I began looking at college curriculums, especially the core classes that make up the first two years of school (in four-year colleges). Do you know what we didn’t find? We didn’t see courses in becoming a responsible, independent, competent citizen – a person who takes care of him/herself and becomes financially capable of supporting a family.
We’re not done with this yet!
Stay tuned. This is a huge topic, and it is going to take a few weeks. Meanwhile, give some thought to what our passions should be. Last week, I discussed how over the course of 50 years since my college graduation, I learned just how unimportant some things are, and just what is worth searching, working and fighting for. That’s the passion we want our young people to develop.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject! Send me an email to bill@quain.com. As I say each week, “I’ll see ya’ in the papers!”
Bill is a Professor in Stockton University’s Hospitality Management Program. He is the author of 27 books, and a highly-respected speaker. Even though he is almost totally blind, Bill is a long-distance runner and runs the Ocean City Half Marathon each year. He lives in Ocean City with his wife Jeanne, and his Guide Dog Trudy. Visit www.billquain.com or email him at bill@quain.com.
