DEVELOPMENTAL CRISIS IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: A ...

Frank’s young Dream was to become a writer. This aspiration was thwarted by his
move to the USA from Mexico. In the USA he had to learn a new language and lost
his confidence in his writing abilities:
“When I was a kid in Mexico, I really felt that I wanted to be a writer. I started when
I was 8 – I used to write in Spanish, and I used to read a lot, I loved literature, so I
always thought I wanted to be a writer…Moving to the US age 14 was a bit of a blow
because suddenly I wasn’t that great at writing. I eventually developed the skills and
then it was one of one of my fortés , but not the sort of natural, artistic writing.” (p.4)
Mark’s youthful aspiration was to become an architect. He described how this Dream
was thwarted when as a teenager he went to see a career counsellor who advised him
against it and suggested going into finance instead. He heeded the counsellor’s advice
and gave up on architecture as a realistic goal.
8.5 Pre-Crisis Extrinsic Orientation
Despite these early intrinsically-motivated Dreams, all six individuals enter
careers in early adulthood that have little or no intrinsic interest attached to them. The
three men took executive roles which served the extrinsic goals of money, success and
status. Success in this pre-crisis role was scaled objectively by money, position and
influence. Mark said of his choice to go into financial consulting: “It was very
conventional, it was about having this status and this reputation that came with
money” (p.10). He described the money and status that came his way as “infatuating”
and “intoxicating” (p.9). He described the identity that came with this as: “external,
narrowly defined, conventional, status, board room.” (p.16). Frank cited a similar
materialist mindset: “I chose law because at the time frankly I was impressed by the
money you could make…the quid pro quo was just material well-being, simply that,”
(p.5). Rob had the same goal of money - when I asked him what his aim was when he
went into business, he replied: “Money. What else is business about? I actually have
a very different answer to that now, but then it was all money.” (p.14)
For Lilly, Victoria and Claire, early adult life structures were also
extrinsically motivated, and lacked interest and enjoyment, but for more conformist,
rather than materialistic, reasons. Lilly said she had “traditional” aims involving more
money and progression through the “rungs” of adulthood. At this time she equated
success with money, much like the three men:
“I think I was more concerned with money, and thinking I want to get into a big
agency, because I will be earning more money and that is more successful.” (p.15)
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