If I Were 22

If I were 22 and had the knowledge and experience that I now have, I would follow the advice which I am listing below:

#If I Were 22

1. It’s OK to fail, but it is never OK to ‘Not try’
2. Understand true networking and make and maintain relations for life. Not to profit from them, but to have a rich and wholesome life.
3. Risk is a good thing, a secure, stable job may not be. You never know when the risk you take hits a Jackpot or the secure, stable company you are working for decides to let you go.
4. Learn something new every week. Keep exploring – you may get old, but your mind needs to remain young, curious, soaking in new information, learning something new every now and then.
5. Take courses which might never be useful in your career – just for fun – like ‘Calligraphy’ or ‘Photoshop’ – you get the drift.
6. This one, though not applicable to me is very important– Learn the basics of accounting – this will be useful in whatever you do – whether you are an actor, a doctor or an entrepreneur; Whatever you do in life – accounting is the only way to know whether you are on the right track financially. (For anyone wondering why it is not applicable to me, well this point is redundant for anyone who is or aims to take up finance and accountancy professionally.) Also I must point out here that my Father as a banker had introduced us to concepts of accounting and finance and money at very young age – this is the best thing a parent can teach their kids.
7. Don’t take life seriously, enjoy the journey – remember it is not how much you make but how you lived that will make any difference to you and others close to you.
8. Take vacations – don’t become a workaholic – no one likes them and they make very bad company. Especially in the company :)
9. Never be shy about asking for help – but be sure you are asking the right person.
10. Always know where your passion lies and ensure you are doing professionally that which you are passionate about. The higher monetary gains in something which you are not passionate about will only excite you and motivate you for a limited time; after that you will start feeling miserable and wish you had followed your heart. You can read more on doing what you love in one of my earlier articles here. (Aptly named ‘Do what you love’)
11. Now this is an advice which I did follow – Go to a foreign country for your honeymoon – especially useful for people marrying young – at a young age of early twenties going abroad for your honeymoon would mostly be the first time you are flying out of the country for countless many. Add to that the new dimension of thinking about someone else (your spouse) and making adjustments and joint decisions, all this in a strange new place – this will start you off very soundly on dealing with change. I myself had gone to Mauritius – a lovely beautiful location – you can read about my trip here. Ahh Nostalgia...
12. Related to above point – always make memories you would love to remember when you start growing old – at 65 or 85 it won’t matter to you what all you possess except for the people around you and your beautiful memories which you created along the way. I have documented some of my childhood memories here. (“childhood memories @ Brindavan Soc”)

And lastly always remember. “Don’t forget to breathe – life may get difficult, confusing and challenging – Take a deep breath, focus and get back to whatever you were doing”

#IfIWere22

Author: Shabbir Bandukwala - All copyrights reserved

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