Roughly one month ago, when I began this post for The Post, it was my vision to collect savory sound bites from five of the most successful people in the United States. My deep, probing question?
“If you could travel back in time, what piece of advice would you give your younger self?”
But after a month of digging, I realized:
A.) Whatever advice they could come up with, I could come up with ten times better
B.) Executive assistants can be incredibly rude to ambitious internet journalists.
C.) Pretending to be a reporter for the Wall Street Journal isn’t as easy as House of Cards would lead one to believe.
To that end, I artfully pivoted, and now present:
8 Pieces of Advice You’re Probably Going to Give Your Younger Self (Imagineered by Billy J. Clanton)
1.) Be fearless!
If there’s one thing amazingly successful executives have in common, it’s fearlessness. If you think you have a great idea right now, don’t wait, don’t second guess yourself. Pursue it sooner rather than later!
2.) Work overtime!
These are foundation years, people. Making more money, learning more on the job, and making more professional contacts are gonna set you up for success down the road.
3.) Take time to discover yourself!
Not by meditating or any of that useless woo-woo stuff – by working of course!
Get a lot of jobs. Jobs you love. Jobs you hate. Jobs you only had for a week because you miscalculated the learning curve on a career in Electrical Engineering. Experience is what matters people!
4.) Go out and network!
Understandably, when you’re a twenty-something year old, you’re gripped by confusion and anxiety, but in ten years when, obviously, said anxiety will disappear entirely, won’t you kick yourself for not getting out there more aggressively? Who cares if you’re constantly operating with a small amount of self-hatred and unshakeable doubts about your worth as a human being?! Say “hi” to that stranger!
5.) Say <insert brilliant idea> when your boss asks you <insert question you will fail to answer correctly>!
Think of earth-shattering things to say to your boss NOW. Just make a list. Doesn’t matter if said list seems completely irrelevant to your job, just commit them to memory. One watershed moment could make you a 28-year old billionaire.
6.) Don’t ask him/her out!
That relationship is a waste of time! She’s gonna break up with you for a lacrosse player! Focus on your tech-start up instead!
7.) Invest in <insert incredibly successful company here>!
I don’t have any particular advice on this subject. But it seems too obvious to omit.
8.) Diet Coke is definitely not bad for you! It’s fine that you drink eight cans of it a day! In fact, you’re going to live until you’re 120!
Take that, naysayers.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this incredibly insightful, albeit fictional advice.
If you can think of other pieces of advice you’d like to give yourself later, feel free to share them on our Facebook page. It might be the start a digital time capsule of sorts…