On October 7, an atheist and a Catholic will walk into a bar. I’ll be the Catholic, and my friend John Inscoe will be the atheist.
We won’t be there to crack jokes. We’ll be talking to dozens of young adult Catholics about how universal principles of personal success are at odds with the money-focused tenets of The American Dream.
The crisis for young people
In 2017, Gallup polled employees in 160 countries. Gallup CEO Jim Clifton highlighted that 85 percent of workers in most countries were disengaged from their job – just going through the motions. Americans weren’t much better – just 70 percent of workers were engaged.
Clifton wrote that employees, especially Millennial employees, want leadership. They want coaching, not year-end reviews. They want to feel valued, not like a busy bee.
Gallup’s results come as Millennials and Generation Z are piling on debt. Today’s young Americans are in a vicious circle where they work to pay off debt – not to actualize and achieve their potential.
“Work trains man in virtue, in humility, and in desire for the authentic leisure of Heaven,” Marymount University Chaplain Father Joseph Rampino told me in an e-mail which I have summarized and reworded here with permission. “St. Josemaria Escriva describes work as giving man something to offer God as an act of love in sacrifice, to sanctify his life and surroundings.”
Father Rampino continued:
Well-completed work is a holy offering of oneself to God, not an end unto itself. The fulfillment of work is growing in love of God, providing for those for whom we are responsible, and providing ourselves the opportunity for proper enjoyment of leisure.”
Change is needed
While many people blame Millennials for our challenges, it was our parents who taught us to treat work as an end instead of a means. It was Baby Boomers who pushed parents into nursing homes and left kids in daycare because the career came first.
John is a Baby Boomer who made $300,000 annually as an IT consultant. He thought making money would make him happy, so he kept increasing his income…but as his bank account got bigger, his misery didn’t change.
In his mid-forties, John wanted a change. He was searching for a feeling of accomplishing, and found that money and material things did not fill the void. He quit his job, wrote a soon-to-be-published book entitled “Three Pillars of Success,” and launched several burgeoning businesses. His philosophy on life and success starts with identifying one’s life goals, continues by building the process to succeed, and continually assessing the process to stay on course.
My own life-changing event took place when my wife was pregnant with our first child. She was temporarily out of work and my job was unexpectedly on the rocks. I was in a panic for five months until things began to stabilize. And in the process, I realized that I was so focused on what I viewed as financial “success” and “stability” that I was not grateful to have a home, savings, my wife and child, and the support of family and friends.
The solution: identify your Great Accomplishment
I took the term Great Accomplishment from John and his book because it’s exactly right. Success can only come when one knows their end goal – or Great Accomplishment – how to achieve that goal, and how to stay on course as life happens.
For Catholics, our goal is to get to Heaven. Our process for goal achievement includes, but is not limited to, a relationship with God, attending Mass, treating others as He would want us to, having a proper view of work and money, etc.
Once we know the goal and process, the hardest work is continual assessment. Applying my faith is far harder and very different as a parent of young children than it was as a single person. The foundational processes are the same, but the applications must change. Otherwise, I’m going to keep running my head into the proverbial wall and spend time frustrated and angry with God instead of better my relationship with Him.
Hear more on Oct. 7
This is the thrust of what John and I will lay out for the Young Adults of Alexandria, Virginia. Regardless of your faith – or lack thereof – some things are universal. For Catholics, our Great Accomplishment is a close relationship with God that results in the Grace of Heaven.
So how can we get there? Find out when a Catholic and an atheist walk into a bar.
