Let's face it, the first ten years out of college are tough even when the economy is good. They're a lot harder when it's not.You're realizing that your fun but irrelevant electives didn't teach you how to negotiate for a salary, or help you deal with setting goals to get through the next 43 (or so) years of your life. Maybe you're part of the way through, or just approaching graduation - but you're really wishing you had a less nebulous sense of "getting to retirement" which is twice as far away as the day you were born.Earning What You Deserve: The Guide for Building Long-term Success Starting From Graduation Day is a book focused on making the transitions from college into the post-college adult world (PCAW) to help people establish the right behaviors to be able to achieve their ultimate goal of success - told from the perspective of someone that's made a lot of good and bad decisions, but has still managed to achieve a fair amount of their own success despite graduating into "The Great Recession".The book is broken into three sections:1. The Plan. It all starts with a plan. Know what's important to you and start to work towards those most important things - focusing on higher level goals, don’t get caught up in the details yet. This plan can be about a job or salary, a trip or a volunteer act, a house or a car, it can be personal or professional - there's no "right" vision for success beyond what it means to you. We’ll also cover advocating for yourself and dealing with colleagues who might not have your best interest at heart.2. The Work. Next, it's about setting yourself up for success by working really hard. It’s about knowing yourself and creating a brand that others can support. This involves knowing your strengths, working hard day in and out, putting yourself out there, and learning lessons when things don't work out in your favor.3. The Growth. Lastly, it's about getting a little bit better every week within the context of what you can control. It’s also important to remember that you need to recharge, so we’ll dig into recharging your batteries in these chapters as well. I also believe that most growth and perspective comes when you’re not in the weeds of day-to-day work, so this is very important for your ability to achieve long-term success.