Saturday, August 04, 2007

Advice for the Young

Keith Ferrazzi has posted a question on his site about basic things you wished you had done as a teenager to boost your career and life.

I know that I wish I had learned early to recognize the people who cared and learned trust them. I did embody a fierce dedication to trust myself as I got my hands dirty learning as many skill sets as possible so that I would always have the power to make money and never get bored.

Here are my tips to the young (I'll probably add more later):


  1. Try absolutely everything (within legal reason)
  2. Embrace your invincibility.
  3. Decide your passions.
  4. Develop hobbies.
  5. Continue to build your skill sets that will support your future endeavors
  6. Learn to support your friends
  7. Learn how to say thank you
  8. Learn how to take a compliment
  9. Learn how to be a good winner (I've seen some pretty bad behavior after colleagues won a match)
  10. Become a musician (it's a meditative & powerful brain stimulant)
  11. Become a painter (this balances the bias of the left brain)
  12. Read voraciously
  13. Read a variety
  14. Read philosophy
  15. Form your own opinion. (If you don't know how, ask a trusted mentor/teacher how she feels about the article.)
  16. Be a perpetual student of life
  17. Help others
  18. Become a confidant
  19. Beome a mentor
  20. Embrace karma
  21. Embrace humor (life is too short for sour grapes)
  22. Travel
  23. Embrace other lifestyles
  24. Embrace other cultures
  25. Above all: Trust yourself.
Obviously, this is a WIP (work-in-progress) list. What would you add?

1 comment:

Jeanne Rhea said...

I have three lists that are especially good for artists. They are by Howard Pyle, Rainer Maria Rilke and Robert Genn. I read them when I am feeling like I am not focused, pulled in every direction or just not feeling like I am living up to my potential. This is a good list, too. Guess I should print it out!