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You’ve been told you belong to the best-prepared generation ever. Don’t believe it: you probably have a lot of theory you’ve already forgotten and no practical preparation at all. Most companies will ask you for real experience, and you won’t be able to get experience if nobody hires you for lack of experience. Break that cycle as soon as you can.
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The statistics are against you. 80% of people will fail or won’t reach the life they dreamed of. So look around you. If you’re doing the same as the vast majority, you’re part of the less favourable statistic.
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If you studied law and find yourself working at McDonald’s, I’m sorry to tell you that you’re not a lawyer but a McDonald’s counter worker who studied law. If you don’t forget that detail, maybe one day you’ll be a lawyer who once worked at McDonald’s.
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There’s nothing dishonourable about working in undervalued jobs that have nothing to do with your degree. Those jobs provide financial fuel in times of need, and experience you’ll be able to bring to the table in the future. There’s nothing wrong with it as long as you don’t settle into a life that isn’t the one you dreamed of. The only way to lead the people at the bottom properly is to have grown up alongside them. And that’s a competitive advantage over those who grew up among the people at the top.
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Never show off what you have, whether you’re talking about degrees or material possessions. Show what you can do with what you have, because very often what you have is inversely proportional to what you know how to do.
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We all like praise and hate criticism. The problem is that praise pleases us, while constructive criticism helps us grow. Always try to work under the most critical boss, not the “nicest” one. You’ll become a better professional.
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There are three ways to get ahead in a company: 1. Sucking dick. 2. Kissing ass. 3. Working hard and being competent. While I have nothing against practices 1 and 2 when it comes to intimate relationships, the truth is that they may open doors in the short term, but in the long run they’re always outdone by the person who relies on their own merits, earned through effort and hard work.
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Sales skills help you get ahead in any job or business. We are all salespeople, whatever our job. Every sale begins with selling ourselves, and there are always potential buyers. (Read: 15 habits of successful salespeople)
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Financial education is one of the most important subjects in life, and one they never taught you at university. Learn it on your own, because it’s one of those things you realise you needed right after using money in a way you’ll come to regret.
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Always read the fine print in contracts. It doesn’t matter whether you’re taking out a loan or renting an apartment. The fine print comes “in small type” because if people read all of it, in a high percentage of cases they wouldn’t sign.
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Don’t ignore advice from some people just because they have no degree or no money. It was 80-year-olds without university degrees who said the economy was going to crash years before the crisis arrived. It wasn’t the economists. Sometimes too much confidence and training cancels out your common sense, and common sense is an asset that’s hard to find these days.
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Don’t blindly follow the advice of successful people. Bear in mind that what worked for them probably won’t work for you. Dedication, enthusiasm, persistence and hard work: that works for everyone.
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It’s very easy to get excited and think we’ve started on the upward line of success when we begin to make money at what we set out to do. That’s the time to save and prepare for when hard times come. Hard times almost always come. Remember that success is not linear.
(Read: 16 difficult things we’ll have to do to achieve success)
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Always treat everyone with respect, however far up the ladder you’ve already climbed. You don’t have to like someone to treat them with respect. There’s never room for rudeness. From the waiter and the cleaner to the owner of Inditex (Zara’s parent company), everyone deserves the same courtesy and respect. If you make distinctions here, you become a whore who measures people only by the size of their wallet.
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Never be too busy to send thank-you notes, pick up the phone to say thanks, or publicly acknowledge someone’s honourable act. It will make you a better person and an even better professional.
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In your twenties there is only one kind of failure. It’s called inaction. Everything else is trying, failing and learning.
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Avoid building circles of friends and colleagues in which you’re the smartest person, because while it feeds your ego, your growth is over. Avoid being the smartest person in the room and look for a place or circle where you’re the dumbest, so you can keep learning.
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Build habits. They’ll be hard at first, but over time they’ll become part of you. (Read: 15 habits for success)
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At first, to avoid falling into inaction and as a path to success, it’s a good idea to say YES to almost everything (yes to new projects, yes to new opportunities, yes to meeting people). Later, the secret is to say NO to many things (no to distractions, no to unnecessary risks, no to wasting time with certain people…). (Read: 7 things the world’s most successful people have in common)
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Life is short, and two weeks from now you might not be in this world. So you have to enjoy yourself and be happy every day. Don’t stake your happiness on the chance of reaching a goal. Be happy and enjoy the process while you fight for that goal. Remember that happiness is not a destination but the road to reaching that destination.
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Many people have wasted their lives, whether through ignorance or bad decisions. Learn from them and don’t criticise them too much. At any moment you could become one of them.
Further reading
Featured image: University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
