Identity Capital

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One of my biggest accomplishments is graduating from Purdue University with two degrees this past May.

The funny part was I (almost) didn’t get in.

In high school, I tried a lot of different activities but didn’t stick to anything.

Sure, I played a couple of years of football, was in student council, and made A’s and B’s in most of my classes, but there was pretty much nothing that I excelled at. I didn’t take on impressive leadership positions, captain a sports team, or found a club.

When I applied to Purdue I smugly expected to get in. I thought because my mom was an alumnus and my grades and involvement were “good enough”, they couldn’t possibly consider turning me away. Submitting applications to only two schools, I didn’t bother looking at other universities or attending a single college visit.

When I received what I thought was my ticket to freshman year as a boilermaker turned out to be a big “maybe”. I had been waitlisted.

I was flooded with embarrassment and shocked that the school I had been planning on attending since middle school maybe didn’t want me after all.

However, looking back now, it makes total sense.

Like many other high schoolers going through the motions, I lacked direction and intention.

Why would they want me? I brought nothing special to the table. All I had to differentiate myself was slightly above-average grades and sub-par involvement.

Colleges today have been increasingly more difficult to get into. At my alma mater, they just welcomed their most selective class on record, and if you look at top universities in the U.S. today, acceptance rates have dropped dramatically. 

It has become a point of pride for schools like Harvard and Stanford to boast 4-5% acceptance rates each year.

With larger and more talented applicant pools and prospective college freshmen founding 501cs and venture-backed startups before they can legally vote, standing out via online portals has never been more difficult.

Simply put, students are doing interesting things and creating interesting identities for themselves earlier and earlier.

Once you’re in college, the same story continues.

Even if you felt like you didn’t make all the right plays in high school to stand out, you’re given another shot.

There is an even greater abundance of clubs to join, internships to acquire, and new, unique experiences easily at your grasp, surrounded by people who are doing exactly what you are doing.

You quickly acquire new roles as your sorority’s philanthropy chair, a founder of a startup with your peers, and a member of the debate team.

Before you can comprehend it, you blink, and suddenly you are once again walking across that stage on graduation day with your diploma in hand.

Stepping off that stage, a wave of nervousness washes over you as you realize you are facing the same conundrum from four years prior.

How can I differentiate myself in the real world? Secure the job I want? What makes me special?

In the same vein as applying for colleges, we are forced to throw all of our accolades out onto resumes and hope that our achievements over the past four years are worthy of employment.

Unfortunately, some make the same mistakes I made when cruising through high school: a lack of direction and intention.

Trading club memberships and internships for another Friday night at your go-to bar or another summer spent working at your local Domino’s, you rob yourself of the novel experiences needed to enter the workforce with a unique background.

So what’s the big deal with having fun, enjoying oneself, and preserving your youth? Why shouldn’t you spend another night watching TV at the end of your day or hanging out at the same bar if you can?

What Defines You?

A great friend of mine named Dilan recommended a book to me last year titled, “The Defining Decade”.

Authored by clinical psychologist and University of Virginia professor Meg Jay, the novel argues why your 20s are arguably the most important years of your life.

In our 20s, we are in this unique and fleeting position of having high autonomy over our daily lives coupled with extremely low responsibilities.

For most, this decade serves as the starting line for a series of diverging paths that can lead to both incredibly exciting and incredibly dismal outcomes.

The outcomes that we desire, like it or not, are largely decided by the culmination of who we are when we seek them.

Our Identity Capital (as Jay coined in her book) signifies this collection of experiences, identities, and talents that we use as currency in our social and professional lives.

As we grow up, we are constantly increasing our identity capital. The schools you attend, the test scores you acquire, and the companies you work for are all investments you make into this cumulative identity.

However, this concept doesn’t stop at these flashier examples. People invest in their identity capital in more discreet ways.

Often, it is gained through reading new books, on travel, and other activities you spend significant time on. These experiences shape the ideas you hold, the attitudes you share, and the skills you acquire.

Our identities are driven by unique experiences, and the more experiences you have, the greater your personal capital becomes.

For better or worse, our world at large values you based on this identity capital.

From acquiring your next job to trying to make a new relationship with someone you admire, you are evaluated based on the unique identity capital you bring to the table and how much it matches the outcome you desire.

In business, capital refers to the amount of money or assets used by companies or individuals to operate and fund future growth.

When entrepreneurs have more money to experiment with and businesses have greater working capital to expand, it enables them to take greater risks, grow faster, and operate efficiently.

Like businesses, people should seek out opportunities when they are young that could lead to more identity capital.

Intrapersonal Fundraising

The schools with the most prestige or the jobs with the greatest paycheck don’t necessarily equate to the best chances for identity growth.

If you’re spending all of your time studying or putting in 80+ hour work weeks, it’s incredibly difficult to build your unique collection of assets and experiences.

What we should be seeking our those opportunities and lifestyles that can lead to the greatest growth.

Sure, more money or a Fortune 500 company on your resume can provide leverage in some ways, but if your entire identity is built up in being a consultant or your bank account, what are your conversations with others going to be like?

We must seek identity capital and novelty in multiple dimensions.

As a new college grad, this could mean picking an occupation that will give you hands-on experience in something you are passionate about or a job in a completely foreign environment.

This may seem unconventional or risky at first but could have huge personal and professional upsides if you’re willing to take the road less traveled.

As a working professional, seeking new identity capital could mean deciding to learn a new language outside of work or joining a rec league at your local YMCA that hosts games during the week.

I don’t believe there is a right kind of identity capital we should be seeking.

Any new experience apart from another Netflix series or hour on TikTok is going to help you build your identity currency.

Weekday Woes

When I graduated from Purdue in May and started my first real job, I was really surprised how quickly I fell into the routine of eat, work, gym, sleep, repeat.

The weekends served as my only respite for fun. After about a month of this, I started to question why my life had suddenly become so mundane.

In school, it was so easy to be busy with all of the club events, friends going out, and activities happening 24/7 across campus. Even during the week, there was always something to do after finishing class or studying.

Yet, once you finish your education and enter the job force, how you spend your days changes significantly.

If you let it, life can become terribly monotonous.

I have had several conversations with friends and strangers who, due to their long work hours, have led to lives where they aren’t gaining novel experiences or having interesting conversations at nearly the rate they were back in college.

When they do finish up for the day, they are so tired that reading a new book or trying to learn an instrument seems out of reach.

Others have fallen into routines that don’t include new hobbies or travel to save money they don’t even need.

Living this way can lead you to certain outcomes much faster in the short term (like maxing your ROTH IRA at the start of the year), but also make your life way less interesting if maintained over time.

It’s a real shame that we as a society look to college as the “best four years” of life. If you lose your lust for novelty and optimize your days for work and wealth above all else, they surely will be.

Monotony can be efficient, but it can also be boring.

When we gear our lives towards increasing our identity capital, they become richer and more purpose-driven.

Since finishing school, I have picked up a variety of new hobbies like writing this blog and surfing. During the week, I intentionally seek out ways to make life interesting.

Deciding to try new international foods every week instead of more chicken and rice or mountain biking before work on Fridays instead of sleeping in has led me to serendipitous ideas, blooming friendships, and lasting memories that would have otherwise remained unknown to me.

As we move swiftly into 2024, I would challenge you to have both direction and intention in how you spend your time.

You are the product of your experiences. Whether it is fair or not, the world does and will see you as such.

For Pete’s sake just do anything but nothing.

-John Henry

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