A dear friend of mine passed on this article earlier this week which is simply fabulous: “18 Things I wish Someone Had Told me When I Was 18.” The entire article is worth a read – as the narrative is where the ‘good juice’ is. However I have condensed the 18 into this Fine Line – just to give you a taste:
- Commit yourself to making lots of mistakes.
- Find hard work you love doing.
- Invest time, energy, and money in yourself every day.
- Explore new ideas and opportunities often.
- When sharpening your career skills, focus more on less.
- People are not mind readers. Tell them what you are thinking.
- Make swift decisions and take immediate action.
- Accept and embrace change.
- Don’t worry too much about what other people think of you.
- Always be honest with yourself and others.
- Talk to lots of people in college, and early on in your career. (I will add – it is NEVER to late for this one. I do this regularly in my new 2nd chapter!)
- Sit alone in silence for at least 10 minutes a day.
- Ask lots of questions.
- Exploit the resources to which you have access.
- Live below your means.
- Be respectful of others and make them feel good.
- Excel at what you do.
- Be who you were born to be.
Wow – what wisdom. I will add just a few bits of my own: embrace fear with courage anchored in faith. We seldom regret the things we do – yet, I imagine we may regret those things we wanted to do yet were afraid to try. Love with an open heart. Apologize when you are at fault – regardless of your pride or ego. And love life and all it has to offer. It is fleeting. Enjoy the week – and share your comments!
This was a great one Kristin. Lessons so simple and profound. There should be a humanities class in High School that should be required and kids should be taught these things.
This is really good information all compiled into one list. I am printing for my 20 year old son and my soon to be 18 year old daughter who will be heading off to college.
I enjoyed your add-ons to the list of 18. I agree with Clay that this sage advice should be required discussion in class (high school and college) as well as in families. I think I did learn so many of these from my parents, although they used different words for similar concepts. I wasn’t always listening at the time, but they were right in nearly every case!
This is Awesome