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| Client:
Tom Crawford, President & CEO, Prudential Property & Casualty Company |
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| Project:
Commencement Speech, June 1998, “Smart Investments for Life” |
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| My
Role: I spent an hour or two interviewing Mr. Crawford and then ordered his thoughts into this speech. |
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| ...I
want to talk to you today about investments. The investments you've made
that have gotten you here today and the ones you'll choose to make as
you go on with your lives. I'm not so interested in talking about investments in the traditional sense, the financial sense. You can find lots of information out there in the world about smart financial investments. Yards of books, stacks of magazines get published on the subject every day. In fact, probably the surest way to get rich quick is to publish a book about how to get rich quick. No, I want to talk to you today about something that you probably won't hear enough of out there. I want to talk to you about the emotional investments we are all asked to make, every day. I want to talk to you about how to get a rich life -- not "quick," but lasting. It's a lot easier to focus on financial investments. They're easier to quantify, for one thing. And they tend to be insistent. That student loan bill is going to start arriving in a couple of months. And it's going to keep arriving like clockwork, every four weeks until it's paid. But money is not the only thing you've invested in your education. You invested your time -- four years of your life, or maybe more. And you've made mental and emotional investments in your studies. Episcopalians have come up with a nifty phrase to describe these investments. They call them "Time, Talent, and Treasure." And notice, please, which one comes last. You've invested more than money in getting this degree, so the payoff you get should be much more than financial. And if you focus only on the financial payoff, you're going to miss out on some rich spiritual and emotional rewards. A good education helps us find ways to feed the mind and spirit, not just the bankbook. And school isn't the only thing you'll encounter that asks you to invest your time, talent, and treasure. In fact, just about every one of the defining moments in our lives requires us to invest a balance of all three. What do I mean by "defining moments"? I'm talking about the big things everyone thinks of when they think of the great passages of life -- establishing a committed relationship with someone you love; having a child; watching your child graduate from college and embark on his or her own passages. And I'm talking about the little things, too -- going on your first date, buying your first car, getting your first job. Let's think about one of these moments that probably all of us here have gone through: the first date. What do you remember about going on your first date? I'm willing to bet your memories are pretty clear about how you chose what to wear; how sweaty your palms felt; how hard your heart was pounding. (Actually, I still feel that way -- every time I start I new job.) These are the kinds of memories that last. Who remembers how much the date cost? Who cares? The emotional investment is far more important than the financial and its rewards are far more lasting. So as you make the decisions that will take you through your life's defining moments, think of the emotional and spiritual investments and rewards, not just the financial. Too many people make the mistake of thinking that no matter how soul-deadening their job is, satisfaction will come someday -- when the paycheck is high enough. It doesn't. And it won't.... |
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ELAINE
BENNETT Box
213 Maplewood, NJ 07040 |