Advice to my 17 Year Old Self and Others
Hi, there?
My name is Stephen, today I’d like to share 6 tips/advice, I would tell my 17 year old self that would have made life easier and fun.
Remember take everything written here with a grain of salt, but also take it with an open mind.
Now I myself never applied these to my life and hence the reason I am how I am(will talk about this later)
Wisdom no 1: Have fun
I never had fun, wait ….. I did but not as much as i should, I was too concerned with my future, that I forgot to live in the present. There’s a quote that goes something like this, “If you live for the future, you will never truly accomplish your goal, but if you live for the present while thinking of the future, you will enjoy the fruit of the present and have hope for the future.” You can say, I invented the quote right now. But the thing is, after thinking about the future, working hard, I have nothing to show for it. Sure, I have grown, I have learnt but it hasn’t gotten me anywhere yet. All I have is regrets. I have learnt a lot but I am yet to show for the years I spent studying hard, starting businesses left and right and the days I spent indoors learning new skills. Look am not saying, don’t take risks, don’t start businesses left right and center. Do those, in fact do them, take risks when you are young with little to no responsibilities, then learn from those risks/failures. Just remember to have fun! When you launch a business, it grows and becomes successful, take some money and go have fun with friends and family, trust me, that’s one thing you won’t regret. Just don’t overdo it. Balance.
Wisdom no 2: Invest early
Look I understand, but investing when you’re young is the key to financial freedom. If you can invest 20 bob everyday, in something like a money market fund. You get between 9 to 12% per annum, and this starts being added every month. After 1 year, you can withdraw and use it for riskier investment opportunities. Think about it. I don’t know any person who doesn’t want to be rich or financially stable and at 17 this is something you should be aware of. For my lads in the United States and Europe, you can invest in Index Funds. Try and invest even just ksh. 20 or USD 2 a day. It will mean a lot when you finally turn 25.
Wisdom no 3: Work Hard(and Smart)
As a young adult, this is the time you have a lot of energy and you are full of ideas. Pursue them, don’t worry about failure too much. Pursue your ideas even try out the ideas of others. My first business was selling weed(I stopped taking it a long time ago), and please don’t do weed, it reduces your short term memory trust me i know. But the point is, try business, try offering a service in a field or topic you are good in, if you are still in high school, try educating others in a field you are great at. The earlier you start the easier starting and managing your future businesses will be and not only that, just this alone will increase your chances of being successful(whatever your definition is).
Wisdom no 4: Learn
You have an interest in piano? There are apps for that. Interested in web development? There are YouTube videos for that. Learn as much as you can, not just in your preferred field but in anything that catches your attention. I learnt web development while in high school and made my first website. It was a crappy looking website, but it was mine, a personal website with my picture and a short bio and a blog. Then later built a full blog with WordPress back in 2016. Feed your curiosity. I may be in tech but i know anatomy. To the point my parents wanted me to become a doctor, despite fully supporting my love for I.T. Feed your curiosity and parents if your kid wants to launch a rocket, help him/her. That is how Steve Jobs, Elon Musks and the likes grow up. Help them with experiments, bring in the safety you provide without shutting down their curiosity and passions.
Wisdom no 5: Dream
By the age of 16, I knew my future was owning a large tech conglomerate, with it’s paws(oops, yea am a cat lover) all over the place, agriculture, tech, medicine, manufacturing and so on. I am still not there yet. But it’s dreams like those that help you learn and grow. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Before that I dreamt of owning a big hospital and it is because of this that I know several jargon words like laryngitis, hypopituitarism, otorhinolaryngology and the like. Dream big and then follow Wisdom no 4 Learn.
Wisdom no 6: Seek God!
God is the only one who can open doors, heal and help you achieve great things. But don’t seek Him for purely material gains. Seek HIM because He loves you, seek Him because He sent His only Son to die for you so that the space that once separated you from Him would be no more. Look I am a Christian, i have had ups and downs, days where i had a lot of faith and days where i had none but the truth of the matter is that at the end of the day, you can only trust 1 person, not yourself, not your mother or father and not your sister/brother only Jesus Christ, because He cares for you, and I know what you are saying(for those depressed), where is He, but all i can tell you for now, is that He has always been there. To end I’d like to also tell you unbeliever, God is real. And i want you to do one simple experiment, let’s try to prove it. It’s an experiment, if you refuse it probably means you know He exists, if you accept, just say “Jesus, prove to me you exist”. That’s all.
Anyway, good day everyone, I’ll see you in the next one.