Students should pursue jobs in fields that they love and avoid the temptation to enter careers solely for their high salaries, author and Harvard Business School professor Mark Albion said in a lecture yesterday in Robertson Hall.
During his talk, Albion — the founder of more than seven companies — interacted with the audience through questions, quips and catchphrases that frequently drew laughter.
"The purpose of life isn't about 'getting a job,' " Albion said. "The purpose of life is to stand for something ... What is it that makes you come alive?"
Four questions will help students find their own "journey," Albion said: "Who are you?" "what do you want?" "what can you do?" and "where are you going?" His advice was drawn from his bestselling book "Making a Life, Making a Living" and his new book "True to Yourself: Leading a Values-Based Business."
"It's really easy to get your priorities mixed up," Albion said. "It's very easy to lose touch with what's important."
Albion's own journey was the result of similar self-reflection. His life seemed perfect after he completed three degrees at Harvard — he was teaching one course a year, making a seven-figure annual salary, considering working with the Reagan administration and had started seven companies.
But when Albion found out his mother had stage four cancer, he said, he became aware of what really mattered.
"I struck out for the small time," Albion said of leaving his seemingly perfect life for one that included, among other things, selling dog biscuits from the Amazon. His new dilemma, he said, was figuring out, "How ... [to be] a Marxist and still own my own Jacuzzi."
Albion acknowledged the pressures Princeton students face from both peers and family to graduate and enter a lucrative career. But he emphasized the importance of a career in service and doing what you love.
"We always have, 'Yes, but ...' [when we consider pursuing a satisfying career]," Albion said. "Don't live a deferred life plan."
"The biggest risk is not the money risk," he added. "The biggest risk is not living your life. We identify ourselves so closely with [our] work ... Don't get really good at what you don't want to do."
In an interview after the lecture, Princeton Pre-Business Society president Jonathan Hayes '07 said Albion's description of the cultural pressure to choose jobs for money and fame resonated with him. While some truly enjoy working in the finance sector, he said, others feel pressure to do so against their will.
"From [Albion's] advice, [what's important] is to be confident in what you believe in and [to follow] what you believe in ... you'll end up living a life that's more fulfilling than making a ton of money at Morgan Stanley and doing something that you don't want to do," Hayes said.
"Like [Albion] said," Hayes added, "it's [about] changing your options [so that] you'll find a way to make a life as well as make a living."
Albion's talk was sponsored by the Princeton Pre-Business Society and the Wilson School.
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