Five Lessons My Oldish Self Would Teach My Young Self
Something about having kids causes you (or least me) to reflect quite a bit on the past. I imagine that a lot of it has to do with thinking about how I want my kids’ lives to be different from mine, and in what ways I would like it to be the same.
That line of thinking kind of dovetailed into an examination of what I would do differently if I had the chance. And, as with many things, I tried to figure out how I could make a blog post out of it. Here goes nothing.
If I had the opportunity (at 42) to come face to face with the 18- or 22-year-old me, what would I say?
The following are the thoughts that are fit to print in a business magazine. I will spare you the reflections on bad perms, roommates and happy hour at Rick’s.
1) Work harder than you think you need to.
Oh, this is HUGE! As I breezed through high school winning awards and ranking in the top 1 percent at graduation, I’ll admit I did not work very hard. Then I entered The University of Michigan, and everything changed.
As were not automatic. The reading was crippling. And, yet, rather than strive for the As, I became complacent, and was satisfied to round out my college career with a solid B-minus average.
Eighteen-year-old Kelly, listen carefully. WORK! Work hard! Forget about some of those frat parties and act like this education you are getting actually matters! Because it does!
And, while you’re at it, extend that new work ethic to your first job out of college and kill it there too! Impress people with your stamina and drive! Don’t wallow in mediocrity and complacency!
2) Don’t listen to those abysmal statistics.
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- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
