As I turned 21 yesterday, I want to thank this community for providing me a platform to share the most relevant and crucial 21 life lessons I’ve adopted and learned thus far. Most were discovered outside of the classroom where the real learning begins:
-Everyone has potential, your past is not the future
-There’s rarely only 1 way to do something
-Overnight success takes ~10 yrs, patience is a virtue
-People believe in founders and visionaries that shape the idea
-People remember you for how you make them feel, not your title
-Your goal shouldn’t be for everyone to agree with you, rather listen, understand, and learn
-There’s no point in trying to please or impress others-people will gravitate towards authenticity and relatability instead
-Believing you know everything is dangerous
-Not speaking means you are understanding never boring
-What you put in is what you get out anywhere everywhere
-Moderation is key in everything from food to exercise, work to tv
-Nothing is a waste of time if you can learn something from it or build a connection
-Being an efficient googler is essential to save your time and sanity
-Block emotions from decisions
-When in doubt, listen to your gut instinct
-Sadly and truthfully, many of the most important things and skills in life are learned in kindergarten
-The more you do, the more critics will come your way due to jealousy and insecurity
-Memorization, grades, titles, etc. aren’t indicative of what you really know or who you are. Life is so much more than what you do as a student
-Don’t tie your self-worth to an opinion, past mistakes or metric
-Always be a learn-it-all instead of a know-it-all
-When you are healthy, you have thousands of problems, when you aren’t, you have 1 problem-put life into perspective and never take for granted the things that cannot be replaced
Bonus:
-The best gift is to give and ask for nothing in return
Whether you are 12 or 60, I hope some of these lessons can help you become the best version of yourself.
What’s certain is uncertainty. Embrace the unknown, your insecurities, and weaknesses. That makes you human and relatable. At 21 I have a lot more to learn and see. I’m perfectly imperfect and will always be a work in progress. Be excited about your future and thank yourself for how far you’ve come.