Super Sage Advice From An Almost 30 Year Old
Listen up, punks! In two days I will be old enough for high schoolers to recoil in fear when I announce my age as proudly out of their demographic.
So now that I'm so much older and hopefully wiser I'm allowed to give out unsolicited advice to everyone! Hooray for being old(er)! These are all universal nuggets of truth that definitely didn't originate from me but could be helpful if you've never heard them before.
Don't worry about what other people think.
Easier said than done. But most people are so wrapped up in themselves they aren't noticing those tiny or huge mistakes or missteps you made or are currently making. So buck up buttercup. Most people aren't noticing what you do.
Pursue your passions.
It is a common career dream to have a thoughtful, passionate and fulfilling job on the path to an awesome career. Those jobs aren't easy to find and the path may be treacherous. If your day job doesn't fill you with glee do what you love in the evenings, on the weekend or on your lunch break. Everyone has time in their day to squeeze some self fulfillment in. The side hustles and passion projects are worth it.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Pretty self explanatory. It's fun to follow and compare your life to others especially when things are going well. Now it is too easy to spend all your spare time scrolling. If you feel worse after scrolling through different social media accounts try detoxing by not logging on the next day or unfollowing anyone who makes you feel bad in comparison. If you don't feel happy or at least empathy towards this person stop following them. You're welcome. Use this spare time to work on something that inspires you or take a walk.
Dress for success whatever that means to you.
More about this one on Friday but basically wear clothes you love that look good on you. Don't try to blend in or dress for someone else.
Shake things up if they aren't working.
This is applicable to basically everything. Is no one giving you a platform to write on? Make your own website or post on an already established site. Learn something new. Change your perspective. Do something different. Big things start with small shifts.
Failure is easy and not a bad thing.
“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” - Maya Angelou
Failure is seen as a burden most successful people have skipped over. That's just because success stories are more interesting and eaten up then failure stories. Those are a dime a dozen. Who hasn't failed at something? Failure is how you learn and grow. Never stop failing. Here are some epic fails of mine, Nightmare Interview with Unnamed Government Agency and Nightmare Job: Scams in Sales.
Move your body every day.
More than just dashing from your car to the office or your car to your house. This isn't to encourage weight loss or make you feel bad about yourself. Low impact, walking, exercise is good for your body and mind. It is a kind of mental health break. This helps me focus at work because I take two walking breaks a day. I always come back refreshed and relaxed unless it is really cold or raining. Then I take the stairs.
Change is constant so embrace it rather than hate it.
Change is the only constant in life. You can't fight it. Some changes will be so incremental when they add up to a big change it will be genuinely shocking. Other times changes happen all at once. They knock us over the head waiting for us to get up to get in another punch. You can be upset in the moment. Change is hard. But you must move on and not stay rooted in an unhealthy obsession with the past. Honor it but live in the present.
Self care is important.
Whatever this means to you. Bubble baths, walking the dog or watching videos on YouTube that make you laugh so hard you can't breathe. Getting rid of stress every day and not just occasionally will make each day and life in general better. YouTube is a great resource for me. I recently sought out some vintage SNL videos which made me laugh and lightened my mood.
Keep learning and growing.
I've always been an avid reader and can't imagine all the things I wouldn't know if I had stopped. I try to read at least a book a week even though this sometimes doesn't work out. But even if you don't like reading, learning something new is never a bad thing. This could turn into a new passion project or help you in the future. Staying stagnant isn't ideal. Can you imagine if we were all the same as we were in high school? If we stopped learning and growing after that? I wouldn't be very happy. The person I was in high school was very anxious and had few outlets to de-stress. Now I am much more comfortable in my skin.
