MMT Chats: “If I Knew Then What I Know Now”

^{This episode is brought to you by ISCAR with New Ideas for Machining Intelligently.}

“Jumpstart Your Future” by Ben Lampron, VP for Metro Mold & Design—Consumer & Industrial of Rogers, Minnesota, is a book that I believe not only has value to our next-generation of moldmaking professionals but also to our seasoned professionals, management, leadership and ownership who can use this book as a tool to both attract and retain that next generation. This book is about offering more to a young employee by focusing on the whole person.

Ben takes a simple approach to complicated topics, so our next generation of professionals can easily grasp and follow through on making a plan for both career management and life outside of work. He uses his life lessons to address strategies for personal happiness and well-being, the dollars and sense of personal finance and career management.

Here are some of my takeaways and tidbits to pique your interest in listening to whole Chat.

• Between 18 and 30 are mission-critical years.
• “For me, it’s all about keeping score.”
• Ben wanted to be a teacher, was a boxer, and is still a coach—all these roles are part of his story and helped him write the book.
• Keep concepts with a lot of meaning
• “Make a deal with yourself”
• The “theory of the power of starting strong”
• Use your “anchors”
• Identify career opportunities within companies that possess “ethical leadership”.
• “Do the hardest thing first thing in the morning” approach to your workday.
• “Stoppers”
• The basic table stakes of immediate success are put in time right away, be best at whatever you do, work until the job is done, don’t job hop.
• “Cross-train your brain”
• “Family first then work comes second (from time to time, you might have to ask your friends or family for forgiveness and forgo a personal event in order to satisfy a key work issue).
• Personal finance is all about discipline and data.
• Budget within your means … contrary to society today
• Six months of expenses
• Put away as your emergency fund
• The Big 3 Qs: What is my cash flow situation? What does my total spending look like? What is my overall net worth?
• Dollar-cost averaging
• Set it and forget it
• Sum up The Rest Easy Investment
• Strategy is a seven-step methodology that I’ve fine-tuned and used over the last 25 years.
• Finding your happy place (visiting 153 Ballparks)
• Overcoming the Sunday night blues
• The 6-Month Rule
• Value of listening

This episode is brought to you by ISCAR with New Ideas for Machining Intelligently.

Watch the full video chat above, and for more of our archived MMT Chat conversations, click here.

Stay informed and stay inspired.