3 Things I Wish Every Young Person Knew About Their Future

High school is a mystical time. It’s a preparation time. But it’s also a sort of purgatory. You’re becoming an adult and people are telling you to start thinking about your future. But they also keep you so busy and “slap you with reality” so much that you can’t actually do anything yet.

It’s especially true in high school, but I believe it’s true for people in college or even in the early stages of their career. Here’s three things I’d say to high schoolers that I believe apply to anyone young in their career with dreams in their heart.

You won’t necessarily use what you learned.

When I think back on my English classes and the way I write nowadays, I would have been a C student or worse. I don’t follow the rules I learned, and that’s a normal thing. That applies to more than just writing.

Rules can’t make you successful. They can only keep you from failure. But at the same time, learning the rules will help you know when and how to break them.

Learn the rules but don’t let them limit you.

You can start now.

That big dream you have, start now. There’s no reason to wait.

In high school, I had this false notion that one day I’d feel qualified to act on my dream. Truth is, that moment never comes. There’s never a point where you suddenly feel qualified.

So start now. Experiment. Fail. It’s the key to getting where you want to be. You can make an impact now.

Careers will exist that we can’t even imagine yet.

Finally, understand that those jobs on your aptitude test are fluid. They might not exist in ten years or they might look completely different. Also, there are jobs that can never make an aptitude test because they’re so unique.

Instead of following a certain career, focus on a passion instead. The careers will change. How that passion manifests itself will change. But the passions and the things you learn about that passion will go with you wherever.

So there’s my list. What would you add? What do you think high schoolers need to know in order to be successful in the future?