by Jennifer Taylor
You might not want to hear them but here they are:
1. If you do not get your financial affairs in order while you are still young, you will pay dearly for it the rest of your life.
If you have a debt, do not shirk your payments. Pay it off as soon as possible. Delay making big purchases. Wait until you have your affairs in order before you start upgrading your lifestyle. It’s okay to continue living like a student after you graduated from college. You’ll thank yourself later.
2. People sweat the small stuff — do not be like them.
Do you know how many times I see someone complain because a car cut them off or a person didn’t hold the door open for them? It’s as if they’re gobsmacked to think that that there are some assholes or inconsiderate people that live out there in the world. This isn’t a revelation nor is it something that’s worth your time.
Letting these insignificant things bother you to your core says more about you than them. Don’t be petty. Adjust your expectations. Put things into perspective. Move on.
3. If you want to be average, do what everyone else is doing.
If you want different results, have the courage to go against the grain and do things how you see fit. We take our cues from others — if our friends hit the bar on Friday night, we feel that we also have to do the same.
That’s all well and fine if that’s what you want, but if you truly want extraordinary results for yourself (whether it be in your career, money in the bank, or personally), you have to be prepared to be different. You have to be prepared to sacrifice. You have to be prepared to do things that others aren’t willing to do.
4. People aren’t thinking about you as much as you think.
Every ‘like’, ‘retweet’, and ‘buzz’ are passive actions on social media — in a fleeting moment someone may think about an idea or an opinion you conveyed but will ultimately disregard that a few moments later and continue with their day. The worst thing you can do is develop an inflated sense of self from online affirmations.
5. Further to the last thought: Stop thinking that the car you drive and the clothes that you wear says something about you as a person.
Truth is, no one cares. If someone were to tell you that the only measure that people used to assess whether they liked you was how you treated others, how would that impact your priorities in life?
6. Show me the books you read, your credit card statement, and the 3 people you spend the most time with, and I’ll tell you who you are.
As simple as that!
7. Self-pity is the least useful and attractive quality in a person.
We aren’t able to control the cards we’ve been dealt — and trust me, I’ve seen people who’ve been dealt an incredibly crappy hand — but we have control over how we play them.
No matter how faint the light shines at the end of the tunnel, run towards it with everything you have. Seize the opportunities, no matter how small or insignificant they seem, because you never know just how they might lead to something else that will completely change your life.
8. The #1 reason most of us don’t get what we want is because we’re impatient.
We think we’re owed things that we want within the time frame we’ve set for ourselves. Life doesn’t work that way. Whatever you want to accomplish necessitates a slow, gradual journey rooted in hard work.
Don’t let this discourage you. Appreciate that most people are unwilling to put in the same effort, which will make it easier for you in the end.
9. There is no such thing as an overnight success.
Yes, luck is always a factor in our outcomes, but behind every ‘successful’ individual are years of unrecognized blood, sweat and tears.
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Jennifer Taylor is a lawyer, writer and professional storyteller.
