When I was in college my friends were in a variety of financial situations. Some were on full scholarships and working almost full time to pay rent and eat. Others financed the entire amount and were pushing off the mounting debt for “future them.” And some were spending their parent’s money, knowing their family was […]
Just Do It
One challenge I’ve struggled with in the past is “pulling the trigger.” When I would write emails, I re-read them multiple times before sending. When I would set goals, I wouldn’t chase them right away — that was for “future me.” Of course, a certain level of certainty is needed to ensure accuracy, but for […]
What I learned from a Summer of Auditing the Government
I spent the 2018 summer interning for Openthebooks.com, the world’s largest private repository of government spending in the world. And it was eye-opening. I’ve never witnessed such utter waste and corruption in spending other people’s money, even at fraternity trips to Vegas or businesses “expensing” trips and meals. At the end of every fiscal year, […]
Why I Postponed Law School
After years of planning to jump straight into law school postgraduation, I changed my mind. First of all, I can’t enter into a situation that loads me with more than $100,000 in debt and at the end, leaves me with no guarantee of passing the BAR or finding a job. While I received scholarships, I […]
Mindset is critical
Psychology is insane in that our lives are drastically impacted by who we hang out with and what we choose to focus on. The Marshmellow experiment is simple. A child is left in a room with a marshmellow and is told he can either eat it now or wait 15 minutes, when he would be […]
Illinois $15 Minimum Wage
Illinois Governor J.B Pritzker signed today a $15 minimum wage bill to go into effect by 2025. While this could work for Chicago and its suburbs, it will crush Central and Southern Illinois — the majority of Illinois — which is mainly farmland. While Central Illinois is known for the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois […]
Lessons from a Veteran Coworker
Entering into the workforce with a college mindset is dangerous. Unlike professors, you can’t expect your supervisors to detail every part of your position, hold your hand, and answer the smallest questions. If you do poorly in college, you receive bad grades. If you do poorly at work, you get fired. But the working world […]
Steps Toward Change
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle Changing yourself is hard. When I wrote down a list of things I wanted to change about myself, I knew I would occasionally fail. But I also knew if I didn’t change my process, I wouldn’t change my results. […]
Review of The Coddling of The American Mind
You should read this book if you want to understand how the millennial generation differs from baby boomers. This book debunks three myths. What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker. Many millennials are known for lacking dependence and taking less risk for multiple reasons. Boomer parents grew up in a different time, when a college […]
Why I’m Obsessed with Innovation
Few things irritate me more than the response “Because that’s how we’ve always done it.” You might as well say “I’m not creative enough to imagine better processes.” One major part of “corporate” work that needs innovation, as anyone who’s spent up to half their day in them knows, are meetings. Don’t get me wrong; […]