What steps do you wish you had taken sooner?

[garyjsmith]

Ignoring what others think, especially when it came to family members telling me I was tight with money, would have helped me out a lot. I was very good at holding onto my earnings before I was 18. Words wore me down and I started spending. First on clothes, then on cars.

Finding business and development audiobooks on cassette or CD would have been HUGE. In college, I commuted two hours each way for 4 years and, if I took action on the information, I'd be semi-retired now.

 

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[Gigi Rodgers]

What actions, skills, or books do you wish you had learned about when you were 18?

This is pretty open ended I thought it might be kind of fun and constructive to learn what others had wish they had done to prepare themselves for adulthood or entrepreneurship.

Oh Man...
Let's go down Regrets Lane...

1. I wish I would've moved to NY/LA/DC/Miami and took hip hop classes DAILY. Fuq college.
2. I wish I had a better relationship with money early on. I still have psychological issues with it.
3. I wish I didn't sabotage myself out of fear of being judged - when I was younger. Ha! And now I'm 36 and middle fingers in the air ya'll...
4. The book that changed me at 18, initially, was "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". I took his advice and blundered it all up. I wish I would've worked under someone who was a TRUE BLOOD entrepreneur, so I could see how it's done.
5. I wish someone would've taught me how to deal with conflict, negotiations, and other hard situations - continuously - throughout my childhood.
6. I wish I was braver to go out on my own, back then. Today? Middle fingers still wavin' in the air!

I am AMAZED.
Once you get ONE quick win - everything turns around for you. Your perspective shifts.
And then once you get that momentum, and you have more skills under your belt, FEAR....fades away.
The things you THOUGHT you couldn't do...fades away.
The old version of you...slowly, starts to drift away.

Transformations are SUPER!

Would I change anything? PSHHHH!!! FUQ YEAH!
What?! I'm not above it!

Even though I'm in a WONDERFUL state of mind now, I'm adulting, and I've learned and grown from my CORNUCOPIA of mistakes - learning THOSE skills and taking THOSE actions earlier on - would of been GAME CHANGING! I feel it in my marrow!

But thanks to good ol' "free will" I can rectify some of those past losses now.

1. I will be taking hip hop dance classes at least 4X a week in Shanghai, China.
2. Me and money talked and we're cool now. We made peace...
3. Have you ever heard that song, "You Can Hate Me Now" by Nas feat. Diddy?
4. I may not be a "true blood" entrepreneur, but I've had my stab at it enough times to know how to do it properly now.
5. For negotiations, I'm all about Ramit Sethi. For conflict, I would like to take Debate courses.
6. I live in Shanghai, China. I don't know anyone here. But I'm here. And I'm thriving. #winning

Regrets? Everyone has them. But they can be rectified - if you're willing to put in the time.

 

[just10]

Oh Man...
Let's go down Regrets Lane...

1. I wish I would've moved to NY/LA/DC/Miami and took hip hop classes DAILY. Fuq college.
2. I wish I had a better relationship with money early on. I still have psychological issues with it.
3. I wish I didn't sabotage myself out of fear of being judged - when I was younger. Ha! And now I'm 36 and middle fingers in the air ya'll...
4. The book that changed me at 18, initially, was "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". I took his advice and blundered it all up. I wish I would've worked under someone who was a TRUE BLOOD entrepreneur, so I could see how it's done.
5. I wish someone would've taught me how to deal with conflict, negotiations, and other hard situations - continuously - throughout my childhood.
6. I wish I was braver to go out on my own, back then. Today? Middle fingers still wavin' in the air!

I am AMAZED.
Once you get ONE quick win - everything turns around for you. Your perspective shifts.
And then once you get that momentum, and you have more skills under your belt, FEAR....fades away.
The things you THOUGHT you couldn't do...fades away.
The old version of you...slowly, starts to drift away.

Transformations are SUPER!

Would I change anything? PSHHHH!!! FUQ YEAH!
What?! I'm not above it!

Even though I'm in a WONDERFUL state of mind now, I'm adulting, and I've learned and grown from my CORNUCOPIA of mistakes - learning THOSE skills and taking THOSE actions earlier on - would of been GAME CHANGING! I feel it in my marrow!

But thanks to good ol' "free will" I can rectify some of those past losses now.

1. I will be taking hip hop dance classes at least 4X a week in Shanghai, China.
2. Me and money talked and we're cool now. We made peace...
3. Have you ever heard that song, "You Can Hate Me Now" by Nas feat. Diddy?
4. I may not be a "true blood" entrepreneur, but I've had my stab at it enough times to know how to do it properly now.
5. For negotiations, I'm all about Ramit Sethi. For conflict, I would like to take Debate courses.
6. I live in Shanghai, China. I don't know anyone here. But I'm here. And I'm thriving. #winning

Regrets? Everyone has them. But they can be rectified - if you're willing to put in the time.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Enjoy your Hip Hop dance lessons! Good luck in Shanghai!

 

[JordanK]

Started reading entrepreneurial books when I was 16 and educating myself. Went on to run a successful gaming server for two years making me thousands of dollars. I'm 19 now and for the most part self-employed making money with Copywriting and Web Design. I'll also be expanding into real estate in the next twelve months.

Reading this entire thread and a few similar ones about what people would tell their 25 year old self I feel quite happy that I have started nearly as early as possible.

 

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[just10]

Started reading entrepreneurial books when I was 16 and educating myself. Went on to run a successful gaming server for two years making me thousands of dollars. I'm 19 now and for the most part self-employed making money with Copywriting and Web Design. I'll also be expanding into real estate in the next twelve months.

Reading this entire thread and a few similar ones about what people would tell their 25 year old self I feel quite happy that I have started nearly as early as possible.

I started online selling last year at 16, I haven't made loads of money, but better than a job. I would like to build my own business without piggybacking of eBay. Business books have really helped motivate me.

 

[just10]

Thanks everyone who left a reply! This was really helpful.

 

[DrkSide]

None, any change would have put me on a different path. I like where I am.

Me and @jon.a think a lot alike. Just the other day I was talking with my Mom and her biggest regret is that I didn't finish college. If I hadn't made the decisions that I did then I wouldn't be where I am at. None of the career paths that I was going to be looking at would offer me the freedom that I enjoy today.

Since you are here and asking questions my biggest takeaway from my youth is to make your own decisions and stick with them. For better or for worse that is what will make you in the future. I've had many failures and a few successes that got me to where I am today that were based on my decisions even when others were telling me to go the other way.

 

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[Brian C.]

I wish I started getting out there and making sales calls, treating clients to lunch, coffee, beers, and that sort of thing a lot sooner.

Or in other words, I wish I realized that a strong business is built on the foundation of relationships sooner than I did.

 

[Christopher777]

I wouldn't neglect my health. (Dental, prevent smoking habit, cholesterol, eat healthy etc)

Read more books.

Met more awesome people.

Took more action.

Established more excellent habits.

Focused on being consistent.

But then again, I wouldn't have it any other way, since right now, even if it's not ideal, it's just perfect for me.

I wouldn't have arrived at this strong mentality and mindset if I didn't have to go through all of those. I am better equipped now to deal with life.

So, past is past. It's cool to speculate, but like what jon.a said, "I like where I am." I would have been a totally different person.

Different choices would have created a new timeline.

And just like in those strategy games I played as a kid, (specifically Master of Orion 2, believe me I tried all sorts of stuff to win), no matter how you slice it, however careful and strategic you are, something's gonna bite you in the a$$ (the universe's act of balancing, just like on those car games : tweak the top speed, you get less acceleration and handling ) and in the end, win or lose, you learn something in order to be better next time.

 

[ZCP]

RDPD in my hands at 15 yo would have changed the world. My dad built houses and developed subdivisions. The opportunities to build our own rental properties and own a large real estate portfolio were there. Just unknown. He just worked and focused on all he had to do in the next two weeks. I was heading off to college to get a career. Oh, to have the DeLorean for 15 minutes......

 

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[IceCreamKid]

I'm with jon.a on this one. I'm not really big on the whole "looking into the past with regret" thing, but since you asked...

At 18 I was floundering around like a fish outta water. Jumping from one idea to the next without really thinking things through. Shiny object syndrome to the max. I wish I had learned the discipline to stick to one thing with the focus of a high powered laser. I wish I had learned to respect fastlane mathematics and work my way backwards towards my goals.

It took a really long time to fully respect all the fastlane rules. It's one thing to know the rules, but it's an entirely different thing to have it in your bones.