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| How to navigate through life: A young person's guide to success - Girl feet, red converse, three directional white arrows, black tar mat, AggieStrong logo |
I love young people. I truly do. I have two and I often feel like I am one of them myself to be quite honest. But honestly thought, are young people taking on too much?
I wrote this post a few nights back, then had second thoughts about publishing it, but here you go!
The other night while lying in bed surfing through my emails I came across this Quora post: “I'm in my early 20s and is there such thing as wanting to do too many things in life?” And decided to blog about my insights.
So here are my thoughts on the matter...
First, to begin with, too many youngsters today are getting bogged down with fancy ideas of starting and running a business and not wanting to work for anyone. But here is the thing, if you've never followed, how are you going to lead? My best directive to young people is to stay in school and get a solid education under your belt. When push comes to shove, you are going to need it! Your education is one of those things no one can take from you.
If you don't know what to study post-secondary, I would suggest you take marketing/sales, something in communications, or finance.
Marketing/Sales:
First of all, people who understand the concept of marketing and sales can sell anything and get ahead in life. If you can sell, you will survive even the toughest of times. Too bad that's not my forte. Selling has been the first job since the beginning of time. Dating as far back as 18th century BCE, to the harlots of biblical times with prostitution being described as the world's oldest profession. Even to today, anything you do will call on you to sell in one aspect or another—From selling yourself in a job interview to selling yourself to the man or woman of your dreams. Everything we do is selling—Some at a higher price than others. And a lot of time it really has NOTHING, or very little, to do with the product itself. It is more the facade that you are buying into—The illusion that the seller has created for you. So may the best seller wins.
Communications:
Secondly, communication is power. It will help you to sell even better. Every job on the market today calls for effective communication skills. You never saw a successful person who cannot communicate their idea, thought, or feel very well. Effective communication is the art of storytelling and a big part of sales is knowing how to tell a good story. The fancier the language and the more charismatic the personality, the sweeter the communication. But, it goes much deeper than that. You have to be a skillful listener, have the ability to quickly recall important facts and details, and speak and write with clarity in such a way as to convey the truth or the real message you need to get across. Finance:
Last but not least, finances. Understanding money makes sense. Pun intended. The reason why so many people suffer in poverty today is their lack of understanding, respect, and appreciation for money. If you don't understand and respect something, you'll never get it to work effectively for you.Young people today are often misguided by social media propaganda that is mostly intended for a much more mature and grown audience using only 140 characters in my view. A less sophisticated thinker can be easily scooted off and led astray by such gibberish if they are not following the right people. Personally, I believe people should be accountable and aware of what they tweet or post on social media.
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| statistic graph - from the internet - showing failed v still operating after 4 yrs |
They say education is a waste of time and money. They've touted most billionaires dropped out of school. But what they often don't say, is the real reasons behind these propagandas. Get the facts. Do your own research. Put the Internet to some good use and do your due diligence. We all learn by default whether you pay for it through traditional schooling or failed businesses, lost jobs, or disappointments in life. Either way, you are going to pay to learn. According to statistics, less than 49% of all startup businesses fail within the first five years. Now here is the shocker, “Most small business has no employees, no capital and is NOT designed for growth.” And get this, According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. A whopping 80% crash and burn. Forbes.com. And Canada reports: “Current survival rates for small and medium-sized businesses in Canada decline over time. About 85 percent of businesses that enter the marketplace survive one full year, 70 per cent survive for two years and 51 percent survive for five years.” (Source: Industry Canada).
Please do not consider this a doom and gloom, but rather a wake-up call for sound decision making. Not because they failed, doesn't mean you are going to fail. Everyone have different skill sets and tenacity. Just know that the odds are stacked high against you. Can you keep your back against the wall and shoulders to the wheel?
That's a lot of money down the drain and nothing to show for it. Businesses take a lot of money to run and a lot of time to nurture. They are like babies. They scream for attention, they drain your pocket and keep you up all night. So unless, it is a family business, or you are from a lineage of family wealth, or you have a strong passion and extraordinary talent for it, and you are willing to live a meager existence for the next five years or so, I suggest you walk the straight and narrow, or saddle up for the ride!
I say, invest in your education. Invest in your health. Save your money. Build your credit. By then you will be a little more mature, a little wiser, and a little stronger. Then, go for it! But not before you do your homework, line up your investors, and prepare to lose some friends. Not all that glitters is gold.
It is important to enjoy your youth. You are going to have plenty more old age than you do youthful ones. Don't waste your time being overly curious and get stuck in the matrix. There will be plenty of time to worry about making money and becoming filthy rich! Stay at home for as long as it is mutually possible. Most parents will be happy to have you home with them if you are respectful and help out around the house. Besides, they ask for wayyyyy less than a landlord would. Keep the money in the family. Compromise until you are stable. Give back to your parents and respect them to the max! This is going to make your life a whole lot easier years to come.
Get a job! Get up and go to work—you are going to need money to finance your business idea anyway. I know this is a lot easier said than done given the labor market and rat race of today's society. But find something to do. Anything is better than nothing. Experience is experience. You will always learn more than you bargained for. Bottom line, stay in school, get a solid education, and get a part-time job on the side to pay for your incidentals.
Start investing as soon as you are able to. Learn about the stock market and invest in real estate. This is how most people get rich quick. What have you got to lose? Don't waste all your money on material things. That's not going get you ahead. Just teach you how to stay a slave to the system and stay stuck in a rut. Sure you want to look good and of course, it is important! But everything in moderation, even moderation itself. Learn from those before you mistakes. Break the cycle and create a shift in paradigm. You are the future! The future is you!
Life is real simple. Follow the simple rules and live the life everyone else dreams of. Put these processes in place when you are young and when you are old, you will not depart from them. Put your money to work from an early age and you won't have to later on in life. Live life, have fun! Do it sensibly. It doesn't matter until it matters, and you can't matter until you know what does.
There was this one comment that really resonated with me, he spoke of the 10,000-hour rule. In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. To do the math, that would be five years of full-time work of 40 hours per week; or roughly 10 years of part time hours, give or take. Or I guess as Margaret Thatcher said, it used to be about trying to do something, now it's about trying to be someone.
“If you want to give yourself a fair chance to succeed, never expect too much too soon” ~Po Bronson
Sources:
five reasons 8-out-of-10 businesses fail
failure-is-a-constant-in-entrepreneurship
Statistics-on-Small-Business-in-Canada_StartupCanada.pdf
http://www.quora.com original question and answer
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