Advice to my Younger Self
"What advice would you give yourself if you met yourself 5 years ago?"
The question in a quiz asks flippantly, but really it is a huge question
Now I am very old and turning 30 (in January for anyone who wants to buy me a gift) I have lots of wisdom to share..... hahaha
After thinking carefully here's a list of advice I would give my younger self.
1. Pay a professional to do your CV. It’s an investment. I am good at what I do for my job; why not assume that a professional CV writer is also good at their job? As soon as I got my CV and cover letters done professionally I got a response asking for an interview from almost every job I applied for. This led to being able to choose the job that most suited me. Well worth it.
2. In a church you need to feel loved, valued and respected. If you don't feel this normally, then leave or don’t join, it’s not the one for you. Every church has a slightly differing focus on what is important and what’s not, but I say again; unless you personally feel loved, that your contribution is valued and you are respected as a person you will really struggle to move forward with God within that church.
3. In a job you need to feel appreciated, valued and respected. You are paid to go to work, and you won't feel appreciated every second of every day, but if you feel actively unappreciated on a regular basis it’s a warning sign. If you are not valued or respected you won’t get training opportunities, you won’t get more responsibility, you won’t get support and you won’t get a pay rise. Not worth it in my books.
4. Respect does not equal unthinking acceptance. I tend to believe other people, if they say something it must be true..... but over time I have learnt that sometimes I am right! Sometimes it’s ok to think something over and then say "Nah, that’s not true". Respecting someone doesn't mean they can't be wrong.
5. Don't put up with discouraging people. If you come away from a conversation feeling worse than when you started, don't talk to that person anymore. Simple. Life has enough challenges without adding outside discouragement.
6. Chase after encouraging people. Value the people who encourage you, who make you feel like you can take on the world. Anyone who thinks I'm awesome is someone I want to hang out with. The value of being encouraged is unquantifiable.
7. Get away from obligation. Anything you feel obliged to do will drain you. Just say no. Give yourself permission to do what you want to do! If you have to do something (such as go to work) remind yourself of why you agreed to do it in the first place, link it up to how it will help you meet your long term goals (of not being bankrupt for example) and you will realise you had a reason for wanting to do it in the first place.
All in all it could be summed up by saying:
Do fun things, get out of un-fun situations and have a fun life.
That’s so deep :)
What do you think? What advice you would give yourself? Comment below :)
KG
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