Actuarial Career Insights

Sometimes, people tell us things when we are young that are not true or involve nuances that a saying doesn’t capture.

Remember those cartoons where bulls charge when they see red? Bulls are actually color-blind. How about waiting 20 minutes to swim after eating to avoid cramps? Modern medicine proved this untrue. Have you heard Albert Einstein failed math as a boy? That is also not true. According to Science Questions with Surprising Answers, Einstein was an “all-around good student with exceptional grades in math and science.”

Similar to myths we learn as children about popular culture, there are things that are not true about our actuarial careers. In the words of the band The Doors, in their song “Soul Kitchen,” there are misconceptions we should “learn to forget.”¹

Here are 10 myths about your actuarial career, and the real lessons behind the myths.

Actuarial Career Myth #1: If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, Don’t Say Anything at All

This is something many of us learned from our parents or caregivers when we were rude to our siblings. While they may have been right about being kinder to family members, this is not a good practice when it comes to giving feedback to colleagues.

In Radical Candor,² Kim Scott quotes Kerry Patterson when describing the fool’s choice: “The mistake most of us make in our crucial conversations is we believe that we have to choose between telling the truth and keeping a friend.” Scott argues that a better mantra when it comes to giving feedback is, “If you see something, say something.” For managers, failing to give real-time, accurate feedback can result in performance review surprises, or worse—accepting performance that is inconsistent with expectations.

Offering candid feedback doesn’t equate to being mean. Self-help guru Brené Brown said, “Clear is kind.” It is better to be clear and truthful, especially to colleagues, than not say something if you are worried it may come across as insensitive.

Actuarial Career Myth #2: Nice Guys Finish Last

The myth is that being nice means we are more likely to succumb to the will of others. In his article “10 Reasons Nice Bosses Finish First,” Travis Bradberry contradicts this, citing traits of successful bosses. These traits include being “kind without being weak,” “strong without being harsh” and “confident without being cocky.” He articulates how overly tough bosses create stress and how employees view self-sacrificing and helpful leaders as inspirational and motivating.

The Dalai Lama said: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” Not only do nice guys not finish last, when it comes to actuarial career success, it can be an important attribute.

Actuarial Career Myth #3: Don’t Be a Quitter

Our caregivers told us this when we signed up for something but decided we didn’t want to finish.

According to Travis Bradberry in his article “6 Things You Must Quit Doing Now If You Want to Be More Successful,” “persistence pays off, but so does knowing when to quit.”

As a junior and senior in high school, I took three to four Advanced Placement (AP) courses per semester while playing sports. Sometimes I was up until 1 a.m. studying, then up again at 6:30 a.m. If I had to do it again, I would quit AP work in subjects I was less inclined to pursue as a vocation, including science and English.

Quitting could apply to choosing to leave a long-held job that no longer offers opportunity for growth opportunities or personal satisfaction. It also might be true of unhealthy relationships with others. Sometimes quitting is the best course of action, and we should not be afraid to do it.

Actuarial Career Myth #4: Practice Makes Perfect

I had a violin teacher who said: “Practice doesn’t make perfect. It makes permanent.” He said this when pointing out a bad habit, like holding my bow incorrectly when I practiced.

I remember taking a course on public speaking. Attendees recorded videos of us presenting. In mine, I was surprised to see I rocked back and forth. I practiced this for so long, it became a permanent habit. I think about this when developing new habits. Whatever we practice sticks. If we practice it right, it becomes a positive habit.

My teacher further explained, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” I believe he was right.

Actuarial Career Myth #5: Don’t Toot Your Own Horn

Our caregivers told us this when we bragged. While not bragging is a virtue, not touting our successes can work against us.

In her book, Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It,³ Peggy Klaus articulates a strategy for highlighting successes. She writes: “Bragging means talking about your best self, your interests, ideas and accomplishments, with pride and passion, in a conversational manner, intended to incite admiration, interest and wonder, without pretense or overstatement. In other words, without being obnoxious.”

Do not assume your boss knows about all your successes. They may be busy just keeping up with meetings and emails. Find a way to highlight your successes in a productive, objective way. Tooting your own horn is sometimes the only way to ensure you get the recognition you deserve.

Actuarial Career Myth #6: Multitasking Makes You Efficient

Our phones can distract us all day. Social media has trained us to respond with urgency to blinking bubbles that indicate a new notification. Getting these bubbles in a work application makes it hard to focus.

In his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World,⁴ Cal Newport details the research of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Csikszentmihalyi concluded that people are at their optimal brain performance, called “flow,” after 15 minutes of uninterrupted time on a single topic. The person is at maximum capacity for the next 50 minutes or so. The catch is, every time we become distracted, we must start over to achieve this optimal state.

University of Washington associate professor Dr. Sophie Leroy published a 2009 paper in which she studied the theory of “attention residue.” Her research shows that people switching tasks before completing their prior task remained residually distracted on each upcoming task. In a 2013 interview on “Talk of the Nation,” psychologist Clifford Nass said: “People who multitask all the time can’t filter out irrelevancy. They can’t manage a working memory. They’re chronically distracted.”

It may become necessary to turn off devices and notifications to function at peak performance. If we cannot, we risk becoming chronically distracted and rarely, or never, achieving optimal brain performance.

Actuarial Career Myth #7: Hard Work Pays Off

When he coached my soccer teams, my father said, “play smart, not just hard.” If you watch Lionel Messi, the 2024 World Cup Golden Ball (best player) recipient, he often walks around the field. When the ball comes his way, he comes to life, sprinting and scoring with uncanny ability. Messi plays smart, optimizing his movements.

Per CNBC, professor John Pencavel found that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours. According to this study, people working 70 hours or more per week get the same amount done as those working 55 hours.

The key to working smart is prioritizing. One prioritization method, as described in Forbes, is the Eisenhower matrix. President Eisenhower categorized items as important or unimportant and as urgent or not urgent. He focused on items that were urgent and important, leaving the rest for later or never.

Whatever the method, deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do. Finding the best way to make this decision will help you work smarter.

Actuarial Career Myth #8: Follow Your Passion

In So Good They Can’t Ignore You,⁵ Cal Newport calls this the passion hypothesis. He writes that people believe there are immediate results from matching your passion with your job. Job satisfaction data does not support this, however. Newport argues that subscribing to the passion hypothesis can make you less happy.

Newport writes: “Don’t obsess over discovering your true calling. Instead, master rare and valuable skills. Once you build up the career capital that these skills generate, invest it wisely. Use it to acquire control over what you do and how you do it, and to identify and act on a lifechanging mission … If your goal is to love what you do, I discovered, ‘follow your passion’ can be bad advice.”

In this understanding, the idea of finding the right work—following your passion—pales in importance to working right.

Actuarial Career Myth #9: It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You

There is some truth to this.

In Empowering Yourself: The Organizational Game Revealed,⁶ Harvey Coleman argues that exposure represents 60% of the selection process for upward mobility. People want to see you in action when making higher-level promotion and hiring decisions.

However, who you know matters significantly. According to author Jim Rohn, we are an average of the five people we spend the most time with. In speaking of the importance of a mentor in career growth, as documented on Goodreads.com, author Bob Proctor said, “A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” Having a mentor, coach and peers with whom you can confer, trust and on whom you can rely can make a significant difference in your day-to-day experiences.

I believe who knows you matters. It is a myth that who you know is not, or even less, important. Who you know impacts the quality of your life, relationships and how you navigate tough decisions.

Actuarial Career Myth #10: Growth Will Happen

This career myth is based on the assumption that we will naturally develop skills to be successful and grow in our organization and industry the longer we work. In 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth,⁷ John Maxwell refutes this per the Law of Intentionality. “Growth doesn’t just happen,” Maxwell writes. “To reach your potential, you must grow. And to grow, you must be highly intentional about it.” Without intentionality to grow, upskill and develop as a professional, it will not just happen.

This has been my experience. Years ago, I struggled in my career. I had trouble getting recognition and responsibility. I blamed my managers, colleagues and company. Then, I took a career development class. The instructor asked, “Do you feel like you are stuck in your career and are not getting the recognition or responsibility you feel you deserve?” It was like she spoke directly to me. She articulated how each of us needs to take accountability for our career growth and development. I needed to change, I realized. This started a growth and development journey. I used my commute, lunch hour and organizations like Toastmasters to improve my soft skills.

As described on Entrepreneur.com, Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Elon Musk spend an hour a day learning something new. Over the course of the work week, this totals to five hours of upskilling. This is aptly known as the “five-hour rule.” If these executives believe we must follow the five-hour rule, and therefore the law of intentionality to grow and develop, surely the rest of us should, too.

Bringing It All Together

Like any good myth, there is a little truth to these actuarial career myths, in my experience. Just because we learn or believe something when we are young, it does not mean we cannot find new information to change our beliefs. If you catch yourself believing one of these myths about your actuarial career, take the time to reexamine and “learn to forget,” which will yield a new and updated perspective.

Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries or the respective authors’ employers.

Copyright © 2024 by the Society of Actuaries, Chicago, Illinois.