30 things I wish I knew before graduating from University

Ivan Oung
Ivan Oung
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

Although I don’t regret what I did, but I wish I knew better back then.

I missed Dafoe library

Options

  1. Most people don’t take the best options, but the more comfortable and least risky ones — don’t get all worked up when people don’t take your advice.
  2. Inspire with words, change with actions — “actions are louder than words”.
  3. Don’t blame anyone for the result just because the result was not ideal— every actions and options come with a cost, and no one forces you to make any decisions.

Learning

  1. Make time for learning new things — knowledge is the best resource to be leveraged.
  2. Truth is the best path towards a better version of yourself — try not to run away from the truth.
  3. There is no best options, but only better ones — improvement is a continuous process, not a one-time thing.
  4. Explaining what you’ve learn to a layman without further confusing them, is the best way to learn.

Education

  1. Receiving education is a privilege, don’t take it for granted — give back by teaching those who do not have the opportunity to learn.
  2. Do not stop at memorizing information — be generous with spending time at understanding and applying those information.
  3. Read, no matter how little, or how good you are at reading — knowledge goes a long way.

Living

  1. If you want to change someone or even the world, be that very change first — walk the talk.
  2. You are the only person who is responsible for your own happiness — it makes no sense when you cannot even make yourself happy, what makes you think that someone else should/would be doing that?
  3. Unless under extreme cases, you are the mater of your own fate — for better or for worse, it’s all up to you.
  4. Always ask questions — you actually know way less than you think you know.
  5. Don’t help other people with your own brand of justice — everyone need different things, yours are not always equivalent to helpful.
  6. Celebrate victories — even the smallest ones.
  7. When you start hating something, ask why — more often than what not, you might be the very thing that you hate.
  8. Don’t burn bridges to tell the truth — making the other people understand and accept your help is different from proving that you are right.
  9. Say your appreciations — you wanted to be appreciated, so is everyone else.

Friendship

  1. Make friends with those who make you become a better person — fun and excitement doesn’t help much in growth.
  2. When your “friend” blames you for not putting enough effort at staying in contact — don’t feel guilty about it, they are not in contact with you as much as you are with them.
  3. Real friends share values and harsh times, fake one share sheer joy and excitements.
  4. Honor honesty — honesty is the most expensive thing to acquire in this world.

Money/Business

  1. Invest in process and tools — effectiveness is very important to reproducing good quality work.
  2. Learn how to manage time — you can always earn more money, but you can’t earn more time
  3. If you are good at something, don’t do it for free.
  4. Generosity goes a long way — you will never know when you will also need that from someone else.
  5. Quality trumps quantity — you can leverage quality, but it’s much more difficult to leverage quantity (unless you are talking about trading).
  6. Money is everywhere, but quality work and people are hard to find.
  7. Always under-promise and over-deliver — over promising and under delivering is 100% equivalent to lying, and no one wants that.

Can I haz some claps?

If you enjoyed this article, feel free share with your friends, or simply just give this article some good claps, it motivates me to write more and better, thank you!

And for you…

If you managed to plow through this article without being scared off, leave me a comment describing how this writing made a difference for you : )


Ivan Oung is a Product / Marketing geek in tech. I believe in building intelligent products, creating memorable user experiences and working effectively. Just come say hi to me on LinkedIn, Github, or visit me on my personal portfolio page, mentioning this story.

Ivan Oung

Written by

Ivan Oung

Product Manager | Web Developer | Scrum Master | 🇭🇰🇨🇦 | Writes about start up, product mgmt, and tech in Hong Kong | www.ivanoung.io

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade