By Hailey Andrews
TAMPA – A personal finance expert told USF students to “find your ikegai” during a presentation on professionalism and career growth on Oct. 12 at the Muma College of Business.
Jeffrey Acheson, CEO of the Advanced Strategies Group, spoke to MNY Mu Nu Upsilon Professional Co-Ed Fraternity and talked about the importance of finding their passion in life, using a Japanese word, ikegai, meaning a reason to wake up, purpose or reason for living.
Acheson, who has more than 45 years experience in financial services and retirement planning, talked about what works and what doesn’t in the financial world.
“So, what you start with in this big picture of things is, what do you love to do? What does the world need? What can you get paid for? And what are you good at?” Acheson said.
Acheson also talked to MNY members about the power of hard work. When MNY’s graduates enter the workforce with only a couple years of experience, work ethic will be the distinguishing factor, Acheson said.
“‘So, how can I get as experienced as people older than me?’ Outwork,” Acheson said. “The great equalizer is how much time and effort you put in.”
Acheson told his audience that career development happens one step at a time. He said they should narrow their focus and set short-term goals, so they don’t get too overwhelmed thinking about the big picture.
“You’ve got a long way to go, you can’t imagine a whole career. If you’ve tried to imagine your whole career, you will hold yourself back.” Acheson said, “bring it down to your level. ‘What am I going to get done this year?’, which will lead to next year, which will lead you to next year.”
Acheson told students that their careers should follow a J-curve. After the students start their careers, they will reach a comfort zone and will “stop or stall out,” because they’ve stopped learning. This is the point in which they need to challenge themselves by getting out of their comfort zones, he told students.
At this point, Acheson said, they’ll enter the “learning zone” and then the “growth zone.” He encouraged MNY members not to be intimidated by the potential of failure as they pursue this path in their careers.
Acheson talked to the MNY members about the business concepts of kaizen and kaikaku, both also Japanese terms. He told students to strive after kaizen, “continuous, incremental improvements,” daily. He said that he asks himself every night what he learned that day, “and if I can’t answer the question, I get up and go learn something before I go to bed.”
Acheson said that kaikaku describes a big, radical change that has to be made because what was done in the past wasn’t working.
“What the hell does this have to do with financial planning?” Acheson asked his audience, then answered, “a lot of that is how to help people get wealthy slowly over a long period of time.”
Acheson told MNY that continuing education is essential to financial planning, because “if you’re not into learning, you’re going to get left behind.” He also told them to utilize tools available to them.
“Fintech is gonna make you faster, smarter to get to the real thing, the people business,” Acheson said, “because at the end of the day, you’re not in the financial planning business, you’re in the people management business.”
Jenna Mccafferty, a student who is pledging to MNY, said that she’s attended a lot of speaker events this semester, and this one has been her favorite. “he was really funny and relatable and engaging,” she said, “it was also inspiring.”
Mu Nu Upsilon is a co-ed fraternity for those who study personal financial planning (or other similar majors). It’s a group that encourages networking and financial education in the hopes of improving financial wellness in local communities.
The former president of MNY’s chapter at USF, Alex Healy, shared his favorite takeaways from Acheson’s presentation too. “I think that he really hit it home with personalization of this industry. The ikegai was really important, having a purpose for why you want to do this industry is important,” said Healy, “I think that’s something that a lot of students tend to miss.”
To Jeffrey Acheson, what students can’t afford to miss is choosing not to be intimidated by setbacks throughout their journey.
“Don’t be afraid of failure,” Acheson said. “Give the world the best you have and at times you will still get kicked right in the teeth. Grin and bear it with one tooth missing.”