Five Lessons For My 18-year-old Self!
These behaviours will help you irrespective of your age!
I will be 30 years old in December 2022. I have spent the last decade in finishing my education, finding a job, leaving the job, and building a small business.
If I go back in time and talk to my past self, he would be very happy to know I am doing well in life. But there are definitely things that I missed and things that I wish I had understood sooner.
These are the five things that I would tell my past self to make the best of his time:
- Be curious
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
— Albert Einstein
I was curious as a kid. I always had questions related to everything. I wanted to know about the Solar system and about atoms and molecules. There was never a toy that I did not break open to figure out how it worked.
Things changed as I grew up. I limited myself to studying and preparing for exams. Even when I was studying science, I was doing so to write the answers in the exam. I did not focus on really understanding it.
The lack of curiosity compounded later in life.
I went to college with the same mindset. I did not show any curiosity to do constructive activities beyond my classroom.
The other regrets that I have now emanate from this fundamental problem. The lack of curiosity.
I did not participate in any activity, curricular or extracurricular. I kept myself away from any situation where I would need to be on a stage.
Eventually, I took the career path that everyone else was taking and I did not pause to think about what I really wanted.
If you lack curiosity, you don’t ask the necessary questions about what you like, what you would like, what all you can do.
Whatever you do in life, be curious!
2. Study consistently
“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.”
― Anthony Robbins
In schools, children show pride in how much they study, while in my college, students show pride in how less they study and still pass the exam.
I did not grow up avoiding study but I started to imitate people around me in college. I only studied when exams came close and I did not pay much attention during the semester.
It is very common for engineering students in India to do that as far as I know.
The biggest downside of such behaviour is that you do not really learn anything.
If you are pulling all-nighters to appear in an exam or to write an assignment, you are not learning anything for the long duration. It all disappears within days or months.
The same happened to me. I did not really remember much from what I had studied in the previous semester and soon I did not remember what I had studied during the entire duration of under graduation.
If you want to learn any subject or skill for a lifetime, studying for a week or a month does not lead to that. It takes time to build up knowledge. It requires consistent learning and practice to master a subject.
It does not mean that you need to spend hours in study and forget about spending time with your friend or do other activities that you enjoy. If you plan to study for just 1–2 hours daily, you would learn far better.
3. Read more books
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
― Dr. Seuss
As a child, I did not read much apart from my textbooks. Also, I did not know enough English; not enough that I could comprehend a book.
Later, I read some books to develop my English vocabulary. Initially, it took some effort but I liked reading. I read a few books but never considered it to be life-changing.
The books that I read were recommended by some friends. I did not bother to look for more books that I might have liked.
The only use of the internet for me was to use YouTube and download movies.
In the last two years, I have discovered many books and learned so much from these books that I could not have imagined learning otherwise.
Now, I want to read many more books and I am limited by how much I can read in a day.
There is immense learning hiding between the pages of books that nobody should miss. I am thankful that I read now and excited to read more.
Even if you read one book per month, you can read over 120 amazing books in the next 10 years.
4. Take care of your health
Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it. — Seneca
I grew up as a very active kid. I played outdoor and indoor sports. I was really fond of playing cricket and I would sneak out to play whenever I could.
Before getting into a college, I had to spend a few years just for the preparation of competitive exams. In those years, I did not play any sports.
As I was not aware of the importance of sports or physical activity, I did not try to play sports during my under graduation as well.
In my second year of college, I had severe back pain and body stiffness issues. Later, I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, an autoinflammatory chronic condition. It limited my movement and added to my already sedentary lifestyle.
I can partially blame the break out of the disease to my lethargic lifestyle. Even I could manage my disease better if I focussed on some physical activity.
In our teenage years, we take health for granted. We do not focus much on eating, sleeping and physical activity which is not sustainable.
Many students start having health issues by the time they finish college or when they have to sit on chair for the entire day in their jobs.
It is not difficult to take care of health. If you like to play a sport then it is the easiest way to maintain your health. The key aspect is to make it fun.
Don’t try to do activities that you do not enjoy. It is unlikely that you will continue such an activity consistently.
5. Explore
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
― Andre Gide
The education system does not prepare you for reality very well.
While you are in school, the success measure is how well you do in your exams. Innocently, I thought that’s how the world worked.
I thought, I needed to take care of my exams and my career would take care of itself. The reality could not be farther from this.
I went for my under graduation with the same mindset. I only studied to pass my exams and nothing more than that.
I did not look for what opportunities were available to me or how I could develop skills that were desirable in the industry.
I had a difficult time finding a job. I failed at multiple interviews. I did not have sufficient training or internship to show in my resume. It took me a year to finally find a job.
To avoid such a situation, you need to explore. You need to not only see what your friends are doing but also find out what other students in your college and other colleges are doing.
With the help of Google, you can easily find out the opportunities are available in your country and around the world.
Develop the skills that are in demand and new skills that only a few people know.
If you pay attention, you can find much better career opportunities while you are in college and avoid wasting your precious time.
These are the changes that I would like to make if I get a chance to alter my past.
It does not mean that I sit now complaining to myself about how I have wasted my time. I have learned much more since I finished college. The real world teaches you ruthlessly.
It also does not mean that the only time to improve yourself is in college and you cannot do anything after that.
You can change your life irrespective of where you stand in life right now.
The key is to have a growth mindset. Keep in mind that you can make the necessary changes in life and achieve the success that you desire.
If you are a student, let me know how you spend your time.
If you have finished college, let me know what you would like to tell your past self.
Stay tuned for more!
