G. Scott Acton, Ph.D.--My Vision Statement

MY VISION STATEMENT

The following is a statement of my vision for the future. I am a compassionate intellectual who leads a connected, tasteful, balanced, and productive life. Through the path of service to humanity, my partner and I seek to broaden our minds and spirits. We enjoy volunteering and helping others see their dreams come true. Our lifestyle is tasteful; although we spend money to make special occasions memorable, we also contribute what we can to make a difference in the world, because we value people more than things. Our lifestyle is balanced; although we put extra effort into our work when urgent deadlines loom, we are still able to manage our time effectively so as to spend quality time with each other and engaged in other pursuits. Our work is both intrinsically valuable and a means to obtaining our desired ends; it is important for us to be successful and respected in our professions. Our family is a project; although we invest whatever effort is needed to make it successful, we find that it is usually a source of strength and encouragement that allows us to apply our efforts more effectively to other things.

I am a tenured professor at a relatively prestigious university. I collaborate with various psychologists on research projects having to do mostly with individual differences and substance abuse. I publish in the best journals, serve on the editorial board of a major journal, and am the author of a book that is successful enough to provide me with a six-figure income. I am best known for my theory uniting my interests in personality, psychopathology, and substance abuse. I communicate effectively about my work with lay persons, students, and scientists both verbally and in writing. I am a teacher and mentor of capable, motivated, and intellectual students, whose career goals I help to meet by teaching them research methods and theory and by using the resources at my disposal, such as grant funding and name-recognition.

I am married to a successful woman who enjoys her career. We are truly, deeply in love and are very attracted to each other. We agree that our relationship is very important and are committed to making it successful. We share a deep respect and connection, can communicate about anything, and support each other completely. In fact, we are each other's biggest fans. We share an interest in intellectual activities, such as psychological discussions and writing. We also share a desire to help others that is an overflow of our love for each other. We travel the world and have friends in distant places. Our friends help us to make a difference in the world. We participate in a foundation to help meet the needs of people in a third-world country, and we have summers free to visit, during which time the people welcome us into their community for meals, work, songs, and sharing of dreams.

I anticipate that when I die, people will have a reason to remember me. I will have accomplished something. I will have inspired love and admiration in my friends. At my funeral, my face will have achieved the look of Elizabeth, a deceased, poor elderly lady from my hometown whom I often visited--really benevolent, composed, she took the long view, the view that transcends time. She cared.