Until very recently I used my age as an excuse not to do things.

Don’t apply for that job, you don’t have enough experience.

Don’t ask that question, you’re the youngest one in the room, people will think you’re naive and stupid.

Don’t start a blog, you don’t have as much expertise as the other bloggers.

This is all crazy talk. You are never too young to achieve great success.

I turned 33 a few months ago.

There’s nothing special about turning 33, but for some reason it finally hit me that I’m not that young anymore.

Dude, really?? You’re 33, you haven’t been “that young” in quite a while…

If you are under the age of 30 then this is probably what you’re thinking!

Maybe it’s because I spent a decade of my life in post-secondary. I became used to being a perpetual student and I think it took me a few years to shake the student mentality.

I got used to the hierarchy of academia. I was constantly surrounded by super over achievers (MD’s working on their PhD’s or MBA’s) and I felt intimidated and subordinate. My anxieties and insecurities silenced my voice and made me feel inadequate.

I felt like a fraud. I got my masters degree but I didn’t feel like a master of anything.

Now that some time has passed and I have a bit more perspective I realize that age, whether young or old, should never hold you back from experiencing and achieving new and amazing things.

I know this isn’t groundbreaking news. But sometimes I need the reminder.

The idea that you are never too young to achieve great success is especially true today.

In our parents time (perhaps still lingering in some industries) wages and positions were based on seniority. The top jobs didn’t necessarily go to the peak performers that really deserved them, they went to the people who had been there the longest.

It was quantity over quality. Age and longevity over hard work and innovation.

However, the work world is shifting, largely due to technology.

Now it’s not uncommon to have 20 something founders and CEO’s running insanely successful million and billion dollar empires.

Some well known examples of young people achieving great success…

• David Karp launched Tumblr (a microblogging and social media tool) as a baby faced 20 year old
• Evan Spiegel founded Snapchat (an image messaging service) at 23
• Mark Zuckerberg, founded Facebook (social media and social networking site) while in college and became a billionaire at age 23
• Sara Blakely, developed her first pair of Spanx (shapewear for women, and men…google this if you don’t know what I am talking about…guys!) at age 27 and has since turned it into a billion dollar company

On the other hand…

There are a number of super successful people who didn’t get their start until a bit later in life.

• Vera Wang, major women fashion designer, didn’t get her start until age 40.
• Sam Walton (creator of Walmart) opened the first official Walmart store at age 44.
• Henry Ford was 45 years old when he created the first Model T
• The hilarious Betty White didn’t find great success until the age of 51 when she joined the cast of “The Mary Tyler Moore” show.
• Ray Krock didn’t buy McDonalds until the age of 52. He then built it into the worlds largest fast-food chain.

So, what’s my point?

Well, I have a few!

1. You are never too young to achieve great success because there’s no correlation between age and success.

The purpose of highlighting the different ages of these successful people is merely to demonstrate that age doesn’t matter. We all accomplish things at our own pace, there is no magic number.

My goal in writing this post is not to make all of us over 30 feel shitty and unaccomplished in comparison.

Similarly, I’m not highlighting those who became successful later in life so all of us under 40 can sit back and say, “Oh, we’ve got plenty of time.”

No, we all find our calling and successes at different times based on different circumstances and situations. Don’t compare yourself to others (find out how to stop comparing yourself to others here),  but know that there are examples of success at every age and stage of life so don’t use “I’m too young” or “I’m too old” as an excuse.

2. Your perspective matters.

I’ve been involved with the hiring of summer students at my job for the past couple of years. The students that are most successful are the ones who are confident enough to express their opinion.

We often hire students who are in degree programs outside of our profession. This allows us to learn new skills from each other and it also brings a totally fresh perspective.

For years I thought it was best to keep quiet if I didn’t know everything there was to know on the subject at hand. Now I realize the value of a new or different perspective. Sometimes people who are naive on a subject ask the best questions.

They don’t know the ins and outs of the profession, they don’t know the jargon and they don’t agree with something just because that is the way it has always been done. They are so useful in challenging the status quo.

3. With age comes wisdom….sometimes.

Getting older doesn’t automatically make you smarter. The older you are the more experiences, successes and failures you’ve likely had. If you are doing life “right” then you’ve used all these things as opportunities to learn and improve and, as a result, you’re probably a bit wiser at 60 then you were at 20.

Definitely respect the wisdom and experience of those who have been doing “it” (whatever “it” is) longer. Look to them as mentors, learn everything you can from them, but, don’t forget that you have something unique to offer – a fresh, new, one-of-a-kind perspective.

4. With youth comes innovation…sometimes.

One could argue that the youth have a slight edge when it comes to innovation. Often the youth are better at thinking outside of the box. Their creativity hasn’t been stifled by the education system teaching them the “right” way to think.

This is not an attack on post secondary education. As I mentioned, I have spent a great deal of my life in school, by choice. However, I do feel like the focus in college and university is weighted too heavily on getting the right answer instead of being creative and innovative….but perhaps I should have taken entrepreneurship instead of psychology!!   

Try and maintain your youthful creativity. Write everyday, record your crazy ideas, try new things. Keep the mentality, “if you can think it, you can do it.” 

What can I do TODAY to start my journey to success

1. Take Action.

The biggest barrier to success is inaction. You want to lose weight, read more, start a blog. Then stop thinking about it and just do it. Legit, start today.

Stop making excuses, stop waiting for the perfect time, stop making lists or writing notes about how you are going to do it and just start. Small actions lead to bigger actions. I know this is not profound, but it’s true. It is the small things that you do on a daily basis that will help you achieve great things. So, realize that you are never going to find great success just by thinking about great success. Trust me, I’ve tried!!

TO DO TODAY: What ever you want to achieve, pick one small action and start TODAY. Like, NOW! Want to lose weight? Get up and go for a walk. It doesn’t matter what you are wearing, if it’s raining, snowing, whatever. Just do it. Want to read more, go get yourself a library card and sign out a book. Want to start a blog. Pick a name and pay for your domain name and hosting TODAY.

2. Be Persistent, B-E- Persistent!

This is something I have to tell myself on a daily basis. Guys, here’s a secret for you. Nothing worthwhile is easy. If it was EVERYONE ELSE WOULD BE DOING IT.

I started this blog a few months ago. The only person I told about it was my husband. I told him I was starting a blog, but I didn’t tell him what the blog was called…so he can’t find it. As a result I started from ZERO. I literally wrote a post and put it out into the blogosphere with no one knowing I existed. Guess how many readers I had on my first day. ZERO. My second day, ZERO, my first month…..FIVE. 

I’m sure some of you are cringing at this. There are many bloggers who have thousands of views within their first month. I’m not one of them. But, I persist and my monthly readership has consistently gone up and I REALLY hope it continues to rise exponentially. Regardless, I will persist! 

TO DO TODAY: Implement a timeframe to persist. Then when your time is up, reassess.

For example, I have committed myself to a year of blogging. Then I will reassess if it’s something I want to keep doing. By setting a timeline it holds me accountable. By setting a fairly short timeline it feels doable, not too overwhelming. Same goes if your goal is to exercise or study more. Tell yourself, “I am going to exercise/study 3 times/week for 1 month.” Then reassess after 1 month if you need to change things up. 

3. Find your voice.

This is the one I struggle with the most but I can’t stress it’s importance enough. If you want to succeed in life you have to have an opinion, ask questions, take a stance and contribute. No one is going to notice you if you are sitting quietly in the corner.

Yes, LISTENING is of the utmost importance…I don’t think this is a skill we use enough BUT, you also need to make your presence known. 

TO DO TODAY:  Ask a question in class or give your opinion in a meeting. If this is too intimidating then start really small and write an anonymous comment on a blog post.

4. Be creative.

More and more jobs are being taken over by technology and AI. Cashiers are being replaced with self checkouts, taxi drivers will be replaced by self driving cars, even the financial sector isn’t safe, with analysts being replaced by software and robo advisors.

The jobs that are safe from the robots are those that are creative in nature. Writers, artists, graphic designers, bloggers. Even if you aren’t interested in entering a career that is more creative in nature I would advise that you still get into the practice of being creative on a daily basis. WHY. It’s a “use it or lose it type of deal.” Just like you need to exercise your body if you want to stay fit, you need to flex your creative muscle if you want to be able to generate ideas. 

So, start writing in a journal, join an improve group or start scrapbooking…whatever floats your boat.

One practice that I have started is carrying around a notebook and pen. Whenever a “good” idea pop’s into my head I made a note of it. This is especially useful for those of us with terrible memories (a side effect of being a new mom!)

TO DO TODAY: take some time to think about a creative outlet you enjoy. If you can’t think of anything then go back in your memory to recall what you used to love to do as a kid. Paint a picture, write a story, build a model airplane or a lego tower! OR, do what I do. Carry a notebook around with you and just record any ideas or thoughts that you want to remember.

5. Educate yourself.

Again, on the topic of technology and AI. A 2013 Oxford study predicted that 47% of jobs are susceptible to automation over the next one or two decades.

Yikes! 

It will be the unskilled labour jobs that are hit the hardest (retail, manufacturing etc). You don’t necessarily need to go to graduate school to get an education but you want to set yourself up to be a member of the skilled labour force so you don’t lose your job to a robot.

If you can’t afford/aren’t interested in a formal education then consider taking some free online courses, teach yourself how to code or use that library card to sign out some books on a topic you are interested in learning more about. 

TO DO TODAY: If you are just about to graduate high school and enter college/university/trade school etc take some time to think about what you want to do and how susceptible it is to automation in the next 5, 10, 20 years. Side note: if you need help trying to decide what you want to do after high school take a look at this article. 

If you are already in the work force and you feel your job is likely to be automated in the near future take a few minutes to inventory your skills. What are your hobbies? What do your friends/family come to you for advice on? This is a good exercise to help you identify your interests and strengths in case you need to consider a career move.

6. Surround yourself with successful people.

There is a quote by motivational speaker and entrepreneur Jim Rohn,

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ~Jim Rohn Click To Tweet

Tim Ferris, author of “The Four Hour Work Week”, is also constantly quoted saying a version of this, “You are the average of the five people you associate with most.”

So, if you want to lead a successful and happy life then surround yourself with successful and happy people. Ferris explains in an episode of his podcast (I wish I could remember which one) that you don’t necessarily need to have face-to-face access to these five people. Your people can be a podcast host that you listen to for hours per week or a television/Instagram personality that you listen to/watch/follow. Your five people don’t even have to be living. If you admire Henry Ford, Steve Jobs or Coco Chanel, then read everything they wrote and everything written about them.

TO DO TODAY: Take inventory of the five people you spend the most time with. Are you happy being the average of these 5 people or do you need to make a change?

To sum it all up.

This was supposed to be a short post….clearly I got over excited. So, I’ll keep this part short….you are never too young, or too old, to achieve great success. Start implementing some of these tips and you will be on your way to achieving your version of success.

 

References

Post Photo by Picsea on Unsplash

Productivity Photo by Andreas Klassen on Unsplash

Innovation Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash

Screaming Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

Idea book Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Robot Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash