Business Report
Kenny Nguyen, CEO and co-founder of brand consultants ThreeSixtyEight, urges young professionals to work for steady, incremental improvement in their own lives and in their communities.
Nguyen was the keynote speaker at YP Summit: Bring it 225, which the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Forum 225 hosted today.
Nguyen described feeling unfulfilled despite professional success. He went to a retreat in California where a monk helped him understand that he was “addicted to other people’s approval,” making it hard to live out his core values in the moments when it matters most.
Before setting goals, he suggests asking yourself:
- Does this align with my core values?
- If no one was judging my success, would I still want to do this?
- Is what I would have to give up worth the sacrifice?
He recommends keeping a journal and putting goals on your calendar to hold yourself accountable, and focusing primarily on what’s in front of you rather than 10 years down the road. Two percent growth weekly leads to 100% growth in a year, he says.
“Those little leaps that you take add up,” Nguyen says.
He asked attendees to embrace life in Baton Rouge, rather than comparing it unfavorably to other cities, and to work together to make improvements. He urged them to be active in existing community organizations or start one of their own.
“If you want to see change, jump in the friggin’ ring,” he says.