With so many violent news stories populating today’s headlines, constant changes in foreign affairs and a world that seems more interconnected than ever before, there's one underlying message that often makes me wonder how exactly I fit into the world today.
Being a young, mid-20s professional, living in London has its pros and cons. I moved back to the city I was born in just over a year and half ago after I grew up in the United States for most of my life.
I have to admit, being able to skip the "All Non-Residents" queues both at London Heathrow and New York JFK being a dual national is pretty awesome.
I’m fortunate enough to have traveled to some of the most interesting and unique destinations in the world while still being so young.
With both my multicultural upbringing and background in international relations, I am slowly understanding how I want to leave a legacy on this planet. I solely believe the experiences we all attain as young adults drastically shapes the future of our successes.
Success is obviously a subjective term that takes on so many diversified contexts, from different points of view and cultures.
For me, success falls more in line with looking into how the world continues to evolve and how we can better position ourselves to adapt and stay relevant for life’s journey.
Life isn't easy and it’s often very much unfair, but I truly feel that there are key principles that one can utilize today that can cultivate ways to approach life differently.
Much like anyone else my age today, I want my life to be extremely successful. I want to be able to live in certain ways and stay relevant in both my professional and personal life.
Generation-Y is consistently labeled as the "me, me" generation, always wanting more. But, to get more, I am a firm believer that you must put in more.
Much like any global city, London is a thriving cosmopolitan hub of culture, language, diversity and energetic attitude. It’s a place where I can grow and feed my curiosities in life.
It’s both challenging and humbling to live in a new environment that consistently shapes your thoughts and forces you to think outside the box.
Being more than 3,000 miles away from my parents was daunting at first, but now, I can view my departure from living in United States and starting a new life here in London as one of the best things I ever did in my life.
Living on my own and being solely responsible for my actions and for myself teaches me daily that it’s not only competitive in London, but all over the world, too. London brings in some of the biggest and brightest young talent from not only Europe, but from overseas, as well.
I am surrounded by different nationalities and perspectives from the minute I get on the tube every morning to go to work. And now, I have realized the secret that makes young people more successful in today’s global economy.
Even before coming to London, I knew that the merits of having both an undergraduate and post-graduate degree held less weight in today’s society than in generations past.
Though academic qualifications help, they are not as important as skills that only come via experience and global exploration.
I am referring to realizing that in order to be successful, one must rethink how we live in different times than our parents' generation did.To be successful, we must remember we grew up in a global world.
We live in a time when one single job posting on LinkedIn at a top firm can receive well over 8,000 applications, and where only knowing how to speak one language will land your résumé in the trash bin.
Some of the most successful people I know came from multinational backgrounds, which challenges what it means to be global in today’s world.
Every aspect of our lives is so much more interconnected than ever before, and we need to adapt ways to help us rethink how the world really works.
It’s no longer a one man show, and by that, I mean the United States isn't the great superpower it once was. You can only be on top for so long until someone else is willing to work just as hard as you are to attain your spot.
In order to reach this level of success and self-awareness, we, as a society, must pay attention to what really occurs on a daily basis. Foreign and current new affairs allow anyone to debate with virtually anyone else in the world.
Befriending coworkers from different nationalities allows us to absorb different ways people conduct business from other parts of the world, and simply trying new cuisines can open doors.
For me, no day is the same, here, in London. I get to meet and work with a vast amount of people daily, and my aspirations keep me eagerly following many of these principles as I find they have helped me become more globally competitive in today’s marketplace.
