5 lessons to my younger self
One of the perks of getting older is gaining more knowledge and making plenty of mistakes along the way, from which over time we learn, helping shape not only our professional careers but our own personality.
Let get right to it, and hopefully, like my younger self, you will gain some insight from the mistakes I have made and learned from over the last decade.
- Ask more questions
- Embrace failure
- Read more books
- Know when to give up and when to push on
- Look after yourself
Ask more questions
Earlier on in my professional career, I would always feel idiotic when in meetings, when certain acronyms were used, or if I didn’t understand something. I felt like this surely should be something I should know, and the gut feeling of wanting to ask questions was pushed down by my own guilt.
Later in life, I realised how ridiculous this is, in fact, I would go as far as saying there is no such thing as a stupid question, and a lot of the time you will not be alone, others around you, will be thinking the same thing and being too shy or feel too stupid for stopping and asking someone if they can explain it again.
If there is something you do not understand, the only way you will grow is by asking.
Embrace failure
As a kid, when learning to ride a bike, you learn that you will fall and through persistence and failure, we can learn from our mistakes, and then riding a bike becomes second nature.
So why is it, when we start in the real world, we tend to leave this life lesson behind?
Throughout my career, I have made many mistakes, but these mistakes do not define who we are or want to be if we learn from them and keep pushing forward.
Don’t feel disheartened when you fail, take it on the chin, learn from your failure and learn from each mistake you make.
Read more books
This might seem like an obvious one, but one I neglected far too long in my life. There is so much knowledge out there, across numerous fields and experts, waiting to be read, so why let it go to waste?
Want to understand the fundamentals of marketing, there are countless books to help you, from those that have spent their lives within the field.
It’s all well and good reading more, but if you are not taking it in and learning from it what is the point?
I recently picked up a useful insight from Author Ryan Holiday, around taking notes on the books you read. (you’re going to need a lot of sticky notes, but it’s worth it)
I first highlight key areas within the book that sticks out to me, once I have finished reading the book, I leave it for a few weeks, return to the highlighted sections, and take notes on small cards. Understanding why that sentence stood out to me, analysing how it was written, and rewriting it word for word, followed by writing it out again in my own words. It is a longer process than others I have used in the past, but so far it has been far more effective, in really getting the most out of non-fiction books.
Know when to give up and when to push on
There were times in life when learning a new skill or picking up a new hobby when you reach the plateau of learning, everything at the start is new and exciting, and when you reach that plateau, you suddenly realise how much you still have to learn.
This can be incredibly daunting and certainly, when I was younger, there were times at which I gave up on something instead of pushing through that plateau period of learning.
I reached this realisation from reading Seth Godin’s “The Dip”, another good reason not just to read more, but to read the right type of books!
“The next time you catch yourself being average when you feel like quitting, realize that you have only two good choices: Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.”
Seth Godin
Look after yourself
I have recently spoken to my brother about this, who is currently going through the same early steps I had taken in my career, working overtime and neglecting both my physical and mental health, at the time and when we are young we tend to think we are invincible and we can push through it.
Taking the time to focus on your mental and physical health right now, will provide you with so many benefits later in your life. Don’t make the same mistake I did, and focus more time on yourself, your body can only be stretched so far before it snaps.
Wrapping it up
I hope you found these lessons helpful, and as a grow even older I am sure in the next decade, I will have even more advice for my younger self and remember we are all capable of much more than we realise, don’t doubt yourself.
