Tip 57 “We have a choice on how we want to respond to others and external events. Read Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Only human beings can do this. Use this gift.”
I first learnt about Victor Frankl in Stephen Covey’s book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” in 1990. Victor Frankl was a psychiatrist and a Jew, and he lost his entire family (except his sister) in the Holocaust.
I paraphrased the following from Covey’s book
“One day, naked and alone in a small room, Victor Frankl began to become aware of what he later called the “last of the human freedoms” – the freedom even his NAZI captors could not take away. He could decide within himself how all of his environment was going to affect him
Between stimulus and response, humankind has the freedom to choose. Within the freedom to choose are those endowments that make us uniquely human. In addition to self-awareness, we have imagination- the ability to create in our minds beyond our present reality. We have a conscience- a deep inner awareness of right and wrong. and we have an independent will – the ability to act based on I was self-awareness, free of all other influences.”
I have always remembered the diagram of the book – see picture. And the significance grows with each passing year. We are in many ways trapped in our automatic reactions – governed by our conditioning and personality. We need to find the space between the stimulus and response. That means reflection, self-awareness and walking into the Socratic thresholds to find the roots of our conscience. We need to awaken from this “sleep” or “unconsciousness”.
Viktor Frankl developed logotherapy after surviving Nazi concentration camps in the 1940s, and this was introduced in Frankl’s most famous book, “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
He argued that life can have meaning even in the most miserable of circumstances and that the motivation for living comes from finding that meaning.
Logotherapy
Logotherapy was based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find meaning in life (will to meaning). Frankl describes it as “the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy “along with Freud’s psychoanalysis (will to pleasure) and Adler’s individual psychology (will to power).
Dereflection
Dereflection is aimed at helping you focus away from yourself and toward other people allowing you to become “whole” and to spend less time feeling preoccupied with a problem or worry. It is based on the concept of self-transcendence.
Paradoxical Intention
Paradoxical intention is a technique that invites you to immerse, dwell, reframe in the thing that you fear most.
Socratic Dialogue
Socratic dialogue is a method used in self and group discovery by noticing, interpreting, reflecting and questioning words, logic and statements until one progressively reaches better or universal versions of truths, virtues, goodness and ethics.
Alex Pattakos, in his book Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl’s Principles at Work, summarised logotherapy into the following seven principles:
- We are free to choose our attitude toward everything that happens to us.
- We can realize our will to meaning by making a conscious commitment to significant values and goals.
- We can find meaning in all of life’s moments.
- We can learn to see how we work against ourselves.
- We can look at ourselves from a distance and gain insight and perspective as well as laugh at ourselves.
- We can shift our focus of attention when coping with difficult situations.
- We can reach out beyond ourselves and make a difference in the world.
61 TIPS for Young Actuaries
TIP 1 to Tip 7 - The Foundational Years
1. Congratulations on becoming an actuary. It is the beginning of life-long learning.
2. The first principle of success is constancy of purpose
3. The second principle is drive, focus and determination.
4. Imagine what is possible with your life.
5. Success is inevitable to the person with unlimited enthusiasm. Read Napoleon Hill’s “Law of Success”.
6. If you face challenges or failures, regard them as learning opportunities. Never give up.
7. Develop the art of speaking well in public. Dale Carnegie’s book on “Developing Self Confidence in Public Speaking” is still the best around.
TIP 8 to Tip 15 - Building a Career
8. Have a strategy on your career. Pursue it with passion. Passion is at the heart of excellence.
9. Take ownership of your work. Go the extra mile for the work you are given.
10. Be Responsible. As a person and in all the roles you take on.
11. Always prepare. If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
12. Be the solution to the problem. Do not be the problem.
13. Be the go-to person in your workplace. This is not difficult. Use C.A.D.I.F. – Committed, Attention to Detail and Immediate Follow Up – this is from Mark McCormack’s “What they do not teach you at Harvard Business School”.
14. Be a pioneer. Be bold. Without courage, there will be no progress.
15. Travel and work elsewhere. It will help you understand we are all different and we are all the same.
Tip 16 to Tip 21 - Building a Nest Egg
16. Have a a financial savings program. You are as rich as you save, not as you earn.
17. Acquire assets not liabilities. Learn to say no to stuff which do not matter. Simplify your life.
18. Do not time the market. It is time in the market that matters.
19. Start early, invest monthly via dollar cost or value-based averaging in a diversified portfolio.
20. Do not forget term life and health insurance for yourself and family.
21. Economically, your job is your greatest asset. Treasure it and invest in it.
Tip 22 to Tip 31 - Professional and Community Life
22. Be quick to say sorry and take responsibility. Do not cover up. Be authentic. Always.
23. Engage your colleagues. Do not avoid your bosses, and do not forget the cleaners and receptionists.
24. When investigating a subject or solving a problem, look at different angles. Always turn the page. Never assume anything. Turn every goddamned page.
25. You are an actuary. You must do your work with care and competence. Understanding the problem is more important than getting to the answer.
26. Live your actuaries code – all the time. Be a credit to your profession.
27. Volunteer to do things for others; the community, the profession or the workplace. Be helpful, kind and generous.
28. Have a sense of humour.
29. Challenge the consensus and groupthink. Do it with respect and humility.
30. Read Frank Redington’s papers, in particular, The Flock and the Sheep. Read past presidential addresses. Also, Craig Turnbull’s History of Actuarial Thought. This will give you a flavour of our profession.
31. If your workplace is not right for you, leave. It is better to act early rather than late. You are more independent than you think.
Tip 32 to Tip 39 - Lessons and Meta Advice
32. Make notes. Carry notebooks with you. Be inspired by Leonardo da Vinci.
33. Stay curious – curiosity opens up windows and make you a more interesting person. Read Steve Jobs’s “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish” commencement address.
34. Invest time in Quadrant 2 activities. Things which are important but not yet urgent. Read Steven Covey’s “7 Habits of Effective People”. It is still one of the best books on personal development and leadership.
35. Learn new skills every year. Spend at least five hours a week on learning new skills. On social media, on languages, on programming languages, on new technologies. Stay current on data science and machine learning.
36. Read widely – at last one good book a month. Any book, which gets your attention. Of relevance to our profession are those on digital and biotechnologies, social platforms, new economics, culture, behavioural finance and genetics.
37. It is not only about knowledge. The real voyage of discovery is seeing things with new eyes. Question the paradigms you operate in. Read Gillian Tett’s ‘Silo Effect”.
38. Have mentors, coaches and guides. Be guided by the stars of the night and not the lights of each passing ship.
39. Jim Collins said, “Good is the enemy of great. It is just so easy to settle for a good life.” Do not settle for a good life. Settle for a great life.
Tip 40 to Tip 50 - Taking a Sabbatical, Family and the Second Half
40. Your partner in life. This is probably your most important decision. Use your head wisely. And your heart.
41. Take a long sabbatical. You can do this in-between jobs. Take a second degree, which is very different from your first, if you can.
42. Spend time with your family. Children, siblings and parents. This is precious.
43. Make your message compelling. Never give a speech unless you have something meaningful to say.
44. Read Lynda Gratton’s “The 100 – Year Life” and Herminia Ibarra’s “Working Identity”. These will help you in designing your increasingly long life.
45. Treasure your health. Have an exercise regime. Every day. Get a gym or yoga trainer, or any other trainer.
46. Sleep well. Sleep helps us improve our concentration and productivity. And enhances our immune system.
47. Always be engaged. This means listening and paying attention.
48. Always be engaging. This means speaking to the person and not at the person.
49. Understand culture. Culture is the game in town. The rest are sideshows.
50. The internet has democratised knowledge. Curate your own digital library. But be focused! Social media is part of life – use it.
Tip 51 to Tip 61 - Spiritual Life and a Repose
51. Connect the dots across domains or paradigms. So read different types of books, talk to different groups of people and go to different places. Go to the heart of the problem by talking to people who really know the issues. Navigate the paradigms.
52. Care about is happening in our world. Make a difference. Remember Redington, who is probably the greatest actuary in the last 100 years, said, “An actuary who is only an actuary is not an actuary.”
53. Your spiritual and inner lives are paramount. Do yoga, prayer or meditation.
54. Do not lose force on distractions and irritations.
55. Your attention is your greatest resource. Use and direct your attention wisely. Understand narrow and wide attention. Read Marion Milner’s “A Life of One’s Own.” It is revelatory.
56. Most of us are mechanical and asleep most of the time. Wake up. Waking up means mindfulness and walking into a space of self-awareness.
57. We have a choice on how we want to respond to others and external events. Read Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Only human beings can do this. Use this gift.
58. Keep a journal. Journaling refreshes our purpose.
59. Sir Francis Bacon said, “I hold every man a debtor to his profession; from the which as men, of course, do seek to receive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavour themselves by way of amends to be a help and ornament thereunto.” Be a help and ornament to your profession.
60. We live in a world of uncertainty. Use judgement, not models.
61. COVID-19 is unmasking the precarity of the world. Use your influence to help create a better world.