Advice to the Younger Generation from an Older Person

With age comes wisdom and over the years we make mistakes and learn a lot the hard way. No matter how much you study and try to learn things, some things can only be learned with age. This is why it is important to get the perspective of those who are older than you and see what advice they have for the younger generation.

As someone in their mid 30's I certainly do not claim to know everything and I do not have nearly as much experience as those who are much older, but at this age, there is a lot of advice I would give to a younger version of myself so I thought I would share some of that advice here. Here is some of the advice I would pass along to the youth of today:

Try hard in school and take advantage of the opportunities available.

When I was in school, I did ok, but never really challenged myself to excel or get more involved. School is one of the basic things our society is built on and how you perform during these years can have a big effect on the opportunities available to you later in life.

Try out different courses and clubs even if you think you would not be interested in them. I never got involved with any performance type classes such as acting, singing, or dancing, but looking back as an adult, I think it would have been a good experience to at least try some of the classes like this.

Education becomes even more important when you get to the college years. While college is not for everyone, I would recommend try to go to college and get a 4 year degree if possible. Just having a degree no matter what it is opens up a lot more job opportunities when you get older.

Make an effort to start and keep relationships when you are young.

Growing up, you will be around many people your own age who are from the same area as you, so even if you feel like you do not relate to anyone, just age and location alone gives you a lot in common with these people. It is a great time to meet people and develop relationships with friends and also partners.

As you get older, it becomes more difficult to meet people and develop relationships as people are more busy and already have groups of friends established. If there is someone you like, make an effort to talk to them. If you pass up the opportunities, you may regret it later in life.

Take care of yourself physically.

One thing about getting older is your body starts to deteriorate and you start to have more issues and ailments. When you are young, your body is resilient and if you get hurt or sick, your body heals and recovers quickly. As you get older, it is easier for things to go wrong and when they do, it takes longer to recover.

Taking care of yourself starting from an early age will help so you have less issues as you get older. For example, things like protecting your skin by wearing sunscreen is a good idea. Try to eat healthy and stay active by working out or getting involved in sports. Avoid activities that are more risky that may result in injury.

Develop good habits such as brushing your teeth,wearing your retainer, and flossing everyday and avoid bad habits such as smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. Taking care of yourself starting at an early age will help make sure you are more healthy as you get older.

Don't worry if you don't know what you want to do or what direction to take.

A common question is “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. We are presented with this question at an early age and often told to choose a path even before we really know what we want to do. It is hard to know what you want to do when you are young because you do not have much experience with different things especially when it comes to jobs and careers.

Many adults still do not know what they want to do and end up changing jobs every few years. Another thing is that interests change over time. What sounds like something you would want to get into when you are 18 may be very different from what you want to get into when you are 30. A lot of it will be trial and error.

Keep in mind a job and a hobby are two very different things. You may think you want to do something that sounds fun like design video games or be a music producer. These kinds of things are fun as a hobby, but as a job, they actually become a job so they may not be as fun anymore in a case like this. Look for subjects you are interested in and feel you can do well in, but also subjects that have plenty of career opportunity.

Make the most of each day and don't waist time.

As mentioned in a previous article, time seems to speed up as you get older. When you are young, it feels like life is so long and you have all the time in the world, but before you know it, you will start getting older and soon you will be at an age thinking, “How I am this old already?”. Time is limited so make sure you are using your time wisely. There is usually always something to do even if you are bored and feel like there is nothing to do. We all have 24 hours in a day but how we choose to use it is what makes a difference.