Daniel Blanchard’s Interview of Peter McClintock!

 

 Peter McClintock, a banker by training and an Executive Vice President, has recently moved into the position of Educator/Counseling Coordinator at the Neighborhood Housing Services of New Britain, Inc. Peter is very interested in leadership development. He has taken it upon himself to work with individuals teaching and sharing financial literacy and financial fitness disciplines. Peter believes that all individuals, no matter what their backgrounds, need to have a strong foundation of financial principles integrated into their lives. Peter has plans to go into our public schools to start teaching our youth about financial literacy.

  • Did you always know that you wanted to serve others and help today’s youth?

I think my passion for serving others started growing up in a family where my Dad and Mom were servers of others. My Dad was the old school neighborhood family doctor and my Mom assisted him in his office, and my sister and I grew up watching them help others in a very real and tangible way in their profession. As I grew I began to more fully understand that one of our roles in life is to give and share and serve others in whatever way we can. My passion for assisting our youth is centered in passing along wisdom passed to me over my life particularly in the area of finance and financial literacy. Like reading and writing and arithmetic, taking care of our finances and not having money be our master but our servant is essential to living a positive and fulfilled life.

  • How did you handle the bumps in the road? Were there any moments when you wondered if all your hard work was worth it?

 

Don’t think you can go through life not expecting issues and situations are going to come up to distract you or try to throw you off course. What is important is to have dreams and goals set in life and pursue them no matter what happens day to day. I look at life like a baseball game; there are 9 innings to be played. And what happens in any one inning doesn’t mean the game is over until the final out. Just keep talking your swings! Associations with people who uplift, encourage and believe in you carry you through the tough “at bats” and celebrate with you in your victories along the way. I also subscribe to what Mike Murdock says “All men fail, the great ones get back up. The only reason men fail is broken focus.” Surround yourself with people who will mentor and focus you on your dreams.

 

  • I’m wondering if you can help us understand what you attribute your success to.

First you have to define what success is to you. Most folks have a very narrow definition almost always related to accumulation of financial wealth.

My definition for my life parallels John Maxwell’s definition in his book:

-Knowing your purpose in life

-Growing to reach your maximum potential

-Sowing seeds that benefit others

Important is to determine what your gifting is and plow energy into that area of your life. Serving others is at the core of any success. My experience has been that the more you invest in others’ lives and helping them reach their dreams, the more “rich” you become.

 

  • What do teens need today more than anything else?

I believe that the most important thing is seeking mentorship provided by someone who has “walked the walk not just talked the talk” and who can come on the side of them and provide guidance and direction. I admire this generation of teens who refuse to simply conform to norms and how things have been done in the past. This is a generation growing up in the technology age with unlimited access to information. However, balancing that with good wisdom and life principles supplied by a successful mentor can make all the difference in where an individual ends up. The old adage “be careful who you associate with, you might just turn out like them” still holds much wisdom.

 

  • What would you tell a teen who was struggling?

Put your hand up and ask for help. Seek advice and counsel as I said above from someone who is in their life where you would like to be down the road. Who we hang out with influences our decisions. Bad decisions come from hanging out with the wrong people. But it is a “long ball game” as I said earlier, and teenagers are in the first inning of their lives and they have the whole game ahead of them. How exciting! So matter how bad it gets or how bad things may appear, what may be going on right now is not the whole picture. With proper mentorship and leadership any situation can be overcome. It takes effort and a willingness to change, but everyone can do it.

 

  • What else do you want to tell us about what you do and what you want to eventually be doing?

At my stage of life (entering the bottom of the 6th inning of life!) I figure to wear out not rust out. My passion is in assisting individuals to reach their potential and encourage them and connect them with opportunities to do just that. In particular, most people get their finances all screwed up because we aren’t taught proper financial principles that lead to abundance. We are conditioned to think that if someone wins, then someone has to lose. That is a lie. Rising tides lift all ships if our vessel is in good repair and can float. Making better financial decisions is what I love teaching and sharing. I’ve been broke twice in my life (not poor—that’s an attitude) and have worked my way out of problems I had precipitated. Getting good counsel and advice and paying attention to time proven financial principles of success have helped me overcome my challenges. Actually, here’s an example….the compounding effect in life either works for you or against you. To quote a mentor of mine, “First we need to learn to think, then we need to learn how to think correctly.”

 

  • Can you please share with all of us something else that I should have asked you?

Ha-ha. That’s a good one. I guess I would say “dream big, think big, and live big.” I have an association with principled business leaders who follow this credo. Another one is “don’t let anyone steal your dream” because there are plenty of people out there who will try.

Pursuing one’s dream is most important and investing time in reading, listening, and associating with people who add positive to your lives every day. Give it a shot and see.

 

  • How can people get in touch with you if they have additional questions?

The “old fashioned way.” Call me! If I am not around leave me a message or e-mail me or text me.

 

Contact Info: Peter McClintock

E-mail: p.mcclintock@comcast.net

Cell 860-213-1331

 

Thanks for your time Peter and keep up the good work! Our youth needs more people like you!

Daniel Blanchard

Author and Speaker of the Granddaddy’s Secrets teen leadership book series.

www.GranddaddysSecrets.com

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