photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdiazfor/12540352455/">gdiazfor</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
Much like the old saying that "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink," you can give advice to young people but you can't make them listen!
As I was interviewing people for this series, one of the questions I asked, was "looking back, what advice do you wish someone would have told you?" From a few, I got some very specific answers. From others, they echoed versions of a shared thought- "some things you just don't understand when you are young...even if someone would have told you."
I want to share the answers to the "Things that I wish I would have known..." from those that had specific thoughts. These are some lessons that people learned the hard way.
"Things that I wish I would have known..."
· The evils of using credit cards. (How much credit card debt do you have? Banks routinely increase your limits as you pay your bills, but if you use that credit, your monthly payments can become substantial. Then, all of your disposable income is taken up by paying off past debts.)
· It’s never a good idea to date someone at work. (Yes- some people learn this the hard way! It doesn't have a good outcome if you don't stay together... and even if you do, all relationships have their disagreements. Work is not the place you want to air your disagreements.)
· It's not the best idea to marry young. (For many reasons marrying young is not a great idea. You are still learning so many things like who you are as an individual, how to succeed at work, learning financial responsibility. When you add marriage into the mix you are still learning in every major area of your life and at the same time learning how to be a good spouse.)
· Finish your education while you are young- even if it means getting into debt. (It’s smart to finish your undergrad or graduate degrees before life decisions or events de-rail you -that could mean marriage, working full time, having children, or moving as a result of one of the above. Also, the sooner you complete your degree, the sooner you will make more money. According to a May 5, 2014 post by Time.com , “college graduates, on average, earned $830,800 more than the high school graduates over the course of their working lives.”
· Be consistent in your work product. (This sounds as though it should be self-explanatory, but consistency is key when building trust – even at work, and remember those first impressions?)
· Allow other people not to like you. Don’t waste time looking for justifications of why someone doesn’t like you, or seeking ways to try to make them like you. Some relationships are not meant to be. Accept those who like you for they bring positive energy around you. Leave those who do not like you, for they steal your positive energy.
Things young people can't understand...
When we are younger, most of us don’t believe everything our parents tell us. (or is that anything our parents tell us?) If we are lucky, there are other adults that we’ll listen to- perhaps family members, friends or teachers. It’s interesting that we don’t listen to our parents more as we grow up… but we are too busy trying to prove ourselves. However, sometimes you can tell young adults something 100 different ways, and they still don’t get it.
Do you remember your parents saying, “life is hard?” What I thought was- they are just telling me to “suck it up” and maybe they were. What I didn’t understand is that Life is Really Hard. It’s complicated, messy and sometimes difficult.
Money- Remember your parents saying, “Money doesn’t grow on trees?” Of course it doesn’t! But when did you really learn to manage your money?
Being 18 or 22 may make you an adult, but it does not make you know everything! Nor does it make you invincible! Somehow we don’t know what we don’t know or learn caution until we are older.
You can be ANYTHING you want, but you can’t be EVERYTHING. For every decision and move you make in one direction (even towards a goal), you are taken farther from something else. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but by recognizing that you probably can’t both be a professional hockey player and a ballerina… you should focus your time and energy where your talents and passions lie.
Life is short. It doesn’t seem so in the midst of turmoil, but it is. Use each day to the fullest- we are not guaranteed a certain amount of time in life. Work hard. Have goals and dreams and don’t forget to make time for fun. It sounds cliché, but it’s true.
If you aren’t familiar with a story about a professor, a philosophy class, a mayonnaise jar, golf balls and sand, you should check out this viral social media post.
No comments:
Post a Comment