Executive Voice
How Agostino Marengo Helps Millennials to grow and build the Future of Business
“Live like your future self is watching you.” That’s the motto that Agostino Marengo lives by and what ultimately led him to create the FSP [Future Self Proud] Self Growing Method, because he can see the potential of Millennial Generation as the near future most important job class.
Who is Agostino? He is a Multi-Hyphenate person as they call him. It means that does several different jobs and has continued his growth as a full-fledged: engineer-researcher-university professor-startup owner-philanthropist.
He says: “I’m an Engineer, I love airplanes because I like flying, I’m a University Professor, I love young people because they can fly and I’m an Entrepreneur, I love challenges because they allow me to fly.”
So, what is the Future Self Proud Self Growing Method?
Future Self Proud Method is about re-designing and building ourselves on new foundations that we can find only within ourselves, refining our senses and looking for our passions, that are the only ones that can give us the energy to reach our goals.
Passions, goals, energy. These are the three levers to rely on so that our “future-self” will be proud of us.
Let’s think about ourselves in 20 or 30 years, in the future, how are we doing now, how are we organizing now to be proud of ourselves and what we have done, in the future?
Marengo says: “Thinking about our future-self that looks at me is a constant of my day, it helps me to always act for the best and to make decisions dictated by common sense rather than by haste or desire. My future myself helps me to be better. Over the years I wondered how to make my future-self proud of me. I share my answer and my strategy in FSP Method.”
To put it simply, it can be thought about as a way of life in six steps that will impact on our personal and professional behaviour.
FSP STEP 1 – BELIEVE in your possibilities
If there is one thing guaranteed in life, it is that change is inevitable. No matter what we do, something around us will always change. So, Marengo suggests that due to these circumstances we must be self-aware, in order to know what to expect. In order to improve your perception, one has to learn about self-awareness, self-improvement, accountability, Kindness and honor so that they may accept and let go of change responsibly while remaining innovative. In order to improve yourself and your perception, you must be susceptible to change.
FSP STEP 2 – CLOSE with your past
FSP is all about the future, and in order to move forward, one must leave the past behind. It is important to not focus too much on the past. Often, this will hold you back and put you in a state of growth paralysis preventing you from improving yourself. Instead of loathing on the past, Marengo suggests moving on with gratitude. Be thankful for your past but accept whom it has made you and focus on what is to come and what is next in your growth.
FSP STEP 3 – INVENT yourself
One of the most important aspects of FSP, according to Marengo, is that it suggests for you to stop searching for yourself and instead focus on inventing yourself. When people are looking to prosper in life and their careers, they often think they have to stop for a moment and “search” for themselves and who they are. This is a waste of time, as an FSP talent, you have the ability to determine who you want to be and who you are going to be. The best part about inventing yourself is that you can make yourself the best that you can be.
FSP STEP 4 – FIND your WHY
Motivation, a driving force that at times, can make us work like a well-oiled machine. Some lack it while FSP talents never run out of it. It is important that you identify what drives you and what you are reaching for. On the surface, many see motivation on an emotional level, but it is also important to connect with motivation on an intellectual level and play smart with your decisions to make you happy.
FSP STEP 5 – PLAN your future
Grab a pen and pencil and write your goals. It’s no joke, having your goals on pen and paper and seeing them lay in front of you allows you to be more grounded and concrete. It is a start and allows for ideas to flow in and out of your head while creating space for more. Make a SMART model if you have to. Write down your goals and be specific with it, make sure it is measurable through time, be able to take action, measure the risks and estimate how long it is going to take you. Planning your future is a project management strategy that is guaranteed to help.
FSP STEP 6 – TAKE ACTION
So, you wrote down your goals, what next? You guessed it, take action. A lot of times, people make the mistake of thinking when it comes to this step. Ready to take action? Great, do not stop now to think, get up, and start taking some form of action. While this may be the most difficult step, Agostino makes sure that his students are taught to work hard, grind, and sacrifice themselves to reach their goals.
In conclusion, Marengo is searching for and building something he calls “FSP Talent”. Who is an FSP talent? First of all, he must have the humility to learn, which seems normal, but it’s not so. Our study paths divert us, they lead us to think that after sweating on our books we are ready to say something to ourselves, but! After studying, however, we are ready to understand how we learn and, often, we do not learn what we studied, but we learn to manage the change, our profession, our talent, our person within a team.
The team, that’s it! For an FSP Talent, the team is his “adoptive family”, he must know that others are there and he must be there for them, he must not leave them behind, he must cuddle them and he must be cuddled, he must poke them, impress them, laugh with them, plan, win, lose with a smile, develop a dream and share it.
An FSP Talent is a dreamer! An FSP Talent has respect and kindness in his DNA, another obvious characteristic, which my students say is not true.
Respect is not learned at school, but within the family… rare, like finding a golden nugget in Alaska in about fifty years.
An FSP Talent doesn’t stamp his card, he doesn’t work so hard to achieve, he joins his job for a reason: to change what’s there and share its satisfaction.
That’s what an FSP talent is.