How many times have you thought about the opportunities you let go in your formative years? Haven’t you told yourself that you would have acted differently had gotten the experience you now have earlier? It is normal to have those regrets. It is even healthier to continually think about them and use them to better our lives.
Nonetheless, what is important is how we positively turn those irreversible regrets into professional success. At your tender age, probably in your early twenties, you are still naïve and inexperienced. During that stage, we all tend to make mistakes, some grave, that we live to regret later in life. Maybe you ask yourself why it happens so. It is because, at that tender age, we haven’t yet mastered the most valuable lessons this world can offer.
#1: Experience Doesn’t Come Overnight
Gaining knowledge is never an ending task. The more we live, the more we continue to learn. Maybe the first task towards accumulating experience is through constant learning as you pick vital life lessons along the way.
Experience is learned, gradually and patiently, without having to bypass any stage of life.
#2: Don’t waste your time on a boring job
Most of us would want to land any job when we are starting. Sometimes it is just a matter of desperation. We then find ourselves in some unfamiliar territories that we have no idea how to get out of. First of all, taking up a job that you have no interest in is a grave mistake. When you take a job just for the sake of money, you end up wasting your time and miss out on the precious life lessons we ought to have learned. As time moves, you get to realize you are not only uncomfortable but also stagnant in terms of growth.
You see, many of us miss the vital aspect of a job interview. We are very keen on the question of how much we’re going to earn than what we’re going to do. If a manager asks you, “what is your salary expectation?” do you ever sit back to think about the kind of job you are going to do. For most of us, the salary question is where our concentration starts and ends.
Steve Jobs once said that the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
#3: Your Health is of Essence
There is constant pressure on each one of us to perform and be successful. However, we rarely pay attention to the methods we use to achieve our goals. Some of us work until we are completely exhausted and worn out.
We return from work with loads of files to go through and numerous emails to reply to. It always works after work, without minding to take a break and focus on your health. What many of us, therefore, do not realize is that without good health, those big dreams we have nay never come true.
#4: Take a break and tour the word
It is true that for any of us to climb the ladder in any profession, we need to show a lot of commitment and hard work. However, life is not just about work. Sometimes taking a break from routine chores to visit different parts of the world is a way to learn and get more experience.
Moreover, create more time for you and your family. Don’t regret abandoning them just because you’re busy at work.
#5:Learning never stops
The industrial world, like the technological niche, is very dynamic. Some of the skills acquired some twenty years ago might not be needed today. It is therefore advisable that you keep yourself abreast with current trends by enrolling in online classes. Go for what you’re interested in and get to expand your knowledge.
#6: Keep off the company that adds no value
There is a saying that goes, you can walk alone, but to reach far, you will need company. Life is never an island. We all need moral and material support every other time. It, therefore, means we have to strike relationships with people of all kinds.
However, let not some peer pressure continue dragging you back into the company that adds no value to your life. Progression in a career doesn’t need somebody who wants to bring you down with negative comments and behaviors. Let them go and find other people that add value to your life.
My Take
Life is a journey, but more importantly, life can never be rehearsed. You can, therefore, choose to live a life of trial and error, or get everything right from the onset and lead a worthy life.