I was invited to a few speaking opportunities for college and I asked a few professors what the heck I should talk about. Most say I have. successful career. I dunno, I guess I have. I’ve had a crazy one for sure and each job has a story that has taught me how to be a better person professionally and personally.
I built out 10 lessons I’ve personally learned that I hope I can share with students. I think most college students will take this with a grain of salt because transitioning to a working environment shocks the system when you realize the rest of your life involves rent, bills, no grading system, and no road map to success, but I do hope some students have the foresight enough for this to help them in life.
Here we go. 10 insights I’ve learned from my wild and crazy career.
1.College is the best time to try everything
There’s no cheaper time in your life, when you don’t have to worry about rent, bills, cars, and 8-10 hours of your life taken away every day. For me, college was a playground where I could reinvent myself and go to different clubs or departments, or parties and just try to fit in.
The truth is, it does get a lot harder when you graduate. I’m telling you, after an 8-hour day, you want to go home and take a nap.
In college, I would stay up until 2 am working on projects with other people which allowed me to build my soft skills. These skills are with me even now. Not only was I like, you know, that nerd who got into all the leadership positions at my department, but I also explored other things on campus. One of my biggest joys was leading and managing an ancient Chinese dance troupe called Lion Dancing.
2.Put yourself in different environments
1 in 6 people hasn’t left their home town and it makes sense why. It’s scary to plant yourself in a place where you have no friends and family.
My first internship was at a turkey slaughterhouse in Waco Texas. It was in the middle of nowhere, hot and it sucked. I didn’t make a single friend there, and it was a lonely time for me.
I’ve lived in a variety of places starting from Northern California, San Luis Obispo, Phoenix Arizona, Austin Texas, and Boston Massachusetts. People ask me where was my favorite place to live and to be honest, I have a hard time answering that. At each place, I made memorable friends and explored things I never thought I would. It’s not only enough to just put yourself in different environments, but to appreciate living there and explore them.
3.“Read” often after college
Reading isn’t just books. Information comes in many forms. Audiobooks, long-form articles, podcasts, lectures.
We get into phases where we read fiction or non-fiction but it’s healthy to have a combination of both as non-fiction helps you understand reality, fiction helps you aspirationally.
The point of reading is to become more informed about the world around you and to make your own decisions. It’s easy to believe in what you hear from Youtube, Tiktok, news articles, but allowing yourself to take a second look and understand the bigger picture is the biggest benefits when it comes to reading.
4.Understand what’s old and what’s new and why they work
There are always funny conversations where futurists argue with the people who yearn for the past. Both sides are right, and it’s important to understand that.
In the food industry, I look at cultivated meat and tofu. One is just starting to exist and another has existed for thousands of years. The insights we get is that even though tofu has existed for 1000s of years, most don’t even know how to cook it. What lessons can we apply from the past to help us in the future?
5.Understand yourself
Take time to understand yourself. What makes you happy, and sad, your strengths, and your flaws.
You are going to have a lot of crises in your life. And when things don’t go your way, you might have the tendency to blame others.
Knowing yourself helps you not do that.
It’s a lifelong journey, but one tip I have is to surround yourself with friends and loved ones who respect you. Find those people.
6.Make friends
There’s a study that states that 1 in 6 people don’t have a friend.
Making friends is a muscle that requires a lot of effort to maintain.
Some of the best friends you’ll make are in college but the chances are high that you’ll drift apart. I’ve taken a lot of time to maintain my friendship with a lot of my classmates and colleagues and they’ve been great ballasts that have helped me over time.
The hardest part about friendships is just the maintenance of it. But it doesn’t require much. Some friendships need constant attention, and some it can be yearly or even decades.
Recently, I met up with an old high school friend when I was in Japan. He lives in Okinawa but wow, he is tough to get a hold of. All of my other highschool friends tried and failed to reach him. I had to go to Okinawa to meet up but it was so great seeing him.
Making and maintaining friends is hard, but it’s worth it.
7.Comparison is the thief of Joy
In school, we’re always taught to compare ourselves to each other. Our grades, our test scores, our happiness, it’s ingrained in our system
It’s not like that after you graduate. If you keep this mindset of comparing yourself, you will live a depressing life. It’s important to be proud of yourself.
This gets easier as you age. As you progress through life you realize what you accomplished, is unique. Cherish that
This gets easier as you age.
8.Don’t optimize your life
We all want to make six figures, have a house, be with someone who loves us a lot, be Vice President of some big company, and live a successful life by 30.
There are people who do follow this path, but they may miss out on other opportunities
When you think about school, it’s been structured your whole life. Once you get out in the real world, there is no structure. There is no formula for what makes a happy life. Some people say there is, but to be honest, it comes from within.
9.Be a good person
Easier said than done. Generally, people who show thoughtfulness, humility, and respect make better leaders. Just take the L sometimes. It’s ok to be wrong. People respect you more for it. I just feel like good people generally live less stressful lives than people who have malicious intent or want to “get back at someone”
10.Change Your Life Drastically Often
If you’re truly not happy with your life, don’t be afraid to change it often
Jumping into the unknown allows you to be comfortable with risk, and allows you to build confidence in yourself. These experiences solidify into skill
Rule of thumb: Generally, you want to stick with things that allow you to tell a story. It’s unwise to drop out of college or stay in a job for less than a year. Of course, this is circumstantial.
I’m not saying you have to follow this advice, these are observations and insights I’ve picked up working as an adult. This worked for me, this made me feel comfortable about who I am. At the end of the day, maybe that’s all that really matters. Being comfortable with yourself. If these lessons don’t help you, you will find lessons that will, and that’s ok. That’s kind of what being a working professional is all about.