Diving into the unknown

Get good at what you have never done

I had an opportunity to share with some students this week about the big wide world. 

If you read the comments sections on my column, you could be fooled into thinking that I am a communist, environmentalist, leftist, fake news journalist who hates free enterprise. 

In fact, I have never had a job. I have worked for myself since I was 11 years old, always operated or invested in businesses, and I am a conservative and a Christian.

Oh, while I am on it, I am certainly not a journalist of any leaning. 

In talking to the students today, I was reminded of a meme that I recently saw in relation to a quote from Sir Richard Branson.

It essentially said “If someone offered you the most incredible opportunity. but you did not have any idea how to execute, simply say yes and figure out the rest later.”

It is a quote that certainly resonates with me in regard to not only where I have been, but also where I am going in business. 

From a young age, we are pigeon holed into narrow slices of life. The conversation is approached in a way that would make you think that what you learn at school and, if you choose, university, is what you will do for the rest of your life.

For some people, that is very comforting, but it can lead to a very insecure future as the world morphs and changes at an alarming rate. 

I have lived leaping from diving platform to diving platform and figuring it out. I am constantly learning, constantly evolving thoughts and opinions and realizing that what I knew several years ago is almost irrelevant today. 

The reason I stay excited about tomorrow is that I almost have no idea what it will bring and I am going to have the opportunity to figure out something that I have never done before. 

I may not be the best at anything in particular, but with a broad spectrum of experience, it does help to figure a few things out now and again.

So my advice to the future generations was:

• work on your plan, not someone else’s.

Figure out how you can add value to your own life and be a productive member of society.

Then, whatever you do, do it with passion. Nothing can stop you when you get a few things sorted out and realize you don’t know all the answers

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.