6 Legends Offer Essential Career Advice To 22-Year-Olds

By James Mills, Associate Partner & Mentorship Coach, Lighthouse International

True legends are not only people who have achieved incredible success; they also include those legends who, in order to benefit the lives of others, are willing to share their life lessons. Last year LinkedIn encouraged their community to offer their words of wisdom to the next generation. Especially young professionals who are at the start of their career imbued with so much potential, and indeed in today’s world –  an abundance of opportunities. Here are some incredible insights that we can all learn from…

[emaillocker]

Make Sure You Are Climbing The Right Ladder

“For far too long, we have been operating under a collective delusion – that burning out is the necessary price for achieving success… So the advice I’d give to young people today is this: don’t just climb the ladder of success – a ladder that leads, after all, to higher and higher levels of stress and burnout — but chart a new path to success, remaking it in a way that includes not just the conventional metrics of money and power, but a third metric that includes well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving, so that the goal is not just to succeed but to thrive.”

– Arianna Huffington (Founder of Huffington Post)

Do What’s Right, Not Popular

“There’s a real temptation to go into a field of work because your friends are or because it’s ‘hot.’ But there’s also an enormously small likelihood that it will still be hot 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now. So, rather than wedding yourself to an industry, instead shift your focus to gaining experiences and learning as much as you can, so that you build transferable skills… Keep a running note of what works and what doesn’t work for you, what you like and what you don’t like, what you’re good and what you aren’t, the work styles that suit you and what doesn’t, where you passions lie and what you leaves you cold.”

– Sallie Krawcheck (Chair of Ellevate Network & Former President of Global Wealth & Investment Management division of Bank of America)

Love What You Do…AND…Make a Difference 

“If I were 22 today, I would embrace the opportunities technology has given us. While I am in my sixties, I am incredibly excited about the transformative power of the web and all sorts of new technology. From opportunities to tackle climate change to research to beat terrible diseases, as well as inventions to improve everyone’s lives, I am sure the coming years will be a period of tremendous innovation. Most 22-year-olds today think that the way to make their fortunes is through setting up tech businesses, and it is true that can be a fruitful direction. But other more conventional businesses shouldn’t be forgotten. There are still plenty of different sectors that need shaking up. It is more important to follow your passion than going into tech simply to make a fortune. Not everybody is technically minded anyway, and if you don’t really love what you do you won’t succeed…

As a 22-year-old starting again, I’d love to spend my life from a really young age doing things that completely transform the world. We started Student Magazine in order to protest against the Vietnamese War and other outrages, and the Student Advisory Centre to help young people going through various troubles. However, we didn’t really embed true purpose into Virgin Records from the beginning. If I was to go back, I’d start Virgin Unite, our non-profit foundation, at the same time as the record label…

Age isn’t as important so long as you are surrounded by people you love, doing things you passionately believe in.”

– Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group) 

Have a Healthy Relationship With Money

“…money will never define you. You define your money…when you are starting out in your twenties, it is natural to think about all that you will have and do once you start making money, and making more money. That gives money way too much power over your life. It’s not about how much you make, but the life that you make with the money you have.”

– Suze Orman (Author, Financial Advisor & TV Host)

Change Yourself If You Want To Change The World

“‘To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.’ – Confucius. I understood this to mean that if I wanted to contribute to the greater public good, I had to begin by working on myself; only then would I see progress radiate out from my personal circles to society at large.”

– Ban-Ki Moon (United Nations Secretary General)

Never Stop Learning!

“Over your lifetime, you’ll probably have five to 10 jobs in two to three industries. Your first job is not going to be your last. It’d be great if your first job was to be the fifth employee of the next Google, but the odds of this are small. The only mistake you could make is taking a first job where you couldn’t learn anything, and if you can’t learn anything, it’s probably your fault. Just get in and work hard and stop thinking about finding the perfect first job.”

– Guy Kawasaki (Author & Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist)

The Need To Own Our Career

What stands out from all of this advice, is essentially – the need for us to take the lead in our life and career decisions. It can be very easy to make short-term decisions based on the views of friends, family or colleagues. However, this advice may not be in line with our vision, values and passions. At the end of the day, it is crucially important to ensure that we make the right decisions for our life and career, by investing in ourselves and our growth, rather than blindly following the expectations of others.

If you’d like some questions to get you started, then you should definitely check out this article – 5 Questions To Get Your Career Back on Track.

For more legendary advice to the next generation, then check out this article in the Entrepreneur Magazine.

[/emaillocker] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]

Learn From The Greats As a Member of The Legends Report!   

[/s2If] [whatsapp]