A send-off message to young millennials

Dear young adults,

Congratulations!

You are now part of the work force. I know this is your first job. You don’t want to screw it up. Don’t worry about it. No matter how long it takes, you’ll eventually get good at it, for sure. Play along well. Always be polite and respectful but do not be afraid to share your thoughts. It matters.  The time to make mistake is now. Commit honest mistakes and learn from it. Well, it’s kinda part of the process. You can never learn without experiencing failures.

I’m writing to give you some advice. Things that nobody told me when I was your age. I got a lot suggestion but I’ll keep this short as I know you’re busy going through the learning curve of how to be a responsible young adult. Been there too!

Now that you’re finally earning your own money, please spend it wisely.  I know it’s inherent to us to gratify ourselves for the hard work. You may be thinking that because you’re done schooling and it’s quite a long and a hard run, you deserve to get that latest iPhone or that nice shiny car. Don’t be silly, of course you deserve those. But I want you to fill your empty pockets first. It’s not cool starving yourself while tweeting how cool the new app is. Please don’t brag about shallow things in social media. Hearts and likes are not worth it. It’s more important to build a solid personal finance. Look back at your financial struggles while you’re still in school. I’m quite sure you don’t want to be in that position again.  Save for the drought! It will certainly come.

Secondly, I want you to invest in yourself. Learn as much as you can. You are young and able and has all the time in the world to learn about anything. School may be over but practical knowledge is very handy. There is no better way to learn but through hard work. Every minute spent on learning a new task or understanding how some things work is a golden opportunity not to be wasted; paid or not. You surely will be required to work longer hours than your more experienced colleagues. Please understand that although you may not be legally compelled to do so, it’s justifiable and for me, acceptable.  Your bosses have been there too. They surely haven’t reached the top sitting and waiting for the clock-out. Before you complain, think. Trust me. It’s for your own good. You can better do that by staying focus on your goal at the moment – to learn.

Third, bear in mind that you are responsible for your own happiness. Know yourself, it is your duty and moral responsibility. How can you make you happy if you’re a stranger to your own self? Do not base your happiness on what you see in social media. It’s them. It’s not you. For sure we can both agree that you are different. I want you to do more of what makes you happy. If you don’t know it yet, go out and discover. I can enumerate some interesting endeavors but I don’t want to put the “what” in here. I’m trying to describe the “how”. List the things that you value, causes that you deeply care about and start from there. You need to find out what makes you really really happy. I think it has something to do with your own character and it needs to be fit to your personal interest. No matter how simple or crazy it is, remember that a tiny step to the right path will make you feel fulfilled – eventually.

Lastly, be grateful. As what people used to say, it’s the secret to success. When your heart is filled with gratitude, it helps you see the blessings easily. I want you to maintain a positive outlook in life.  Being grateful will make it more easy for you to be optimistic. Life is generally messy and rough and hard and unfair. Nevertheless, trust that there will be good days. Lots of it.

I’m not going to keep you any longer. Please stay in touch. I appreciate a nice catch up over coffee once in a while. See you around!

Lovelots,

Your twenty-something senior who graduated some 5 or more years ago 😉