5 Words of Wisdom to your 20 Year Old Self

If you had a chance to speak to your younger self with the wisdom you currently have, what advice would you give you? We'll get to that later in the post, but think about it.

The pictures to the left are the countries around the globe and where they stand in entrepreneurship.  Amazing that the U.S. is not first, and Uganda a country on the continent of Africa is the leading country. The U.S.is not even in the top 40. 

I couldn't make this map larger and the makers of the map did not even highlight Africa, but the color coding works like this left to right, 0-1.9% red, 2-2.9% dark orange, 3-3.9% light orange, 4-4.9% yellow, 5-5.9% light green, 6-7.9% yellow green, 8-9.9% teal green, 10-12.9% gray-green, and 13+% purple. 




Did you see the U.S. in yellow which is surprising, but not really.  Most Americans are taught to get good grades, so they can get into a good college so that they can get a good paying j.o.b. (Just over broke) with benefits and stability. 

This sign above looks ridiculous doesn't it?  It should, but the truth is that sign is not fake.  The majority of people who listened to those who told them to go to school, get good grades so they could get a good job, forgot about the cost of higher education and the interest rate that builds and compounds as you complete year after year of schooling.

This book tells of the people who tricked us.

 They also forgot that most jobs will only give the top paying jobs to those who have proven themselves with years of hard work for little pay.  Most jobs will not ask what your GPA was or where you ranked in class standings.  The loan officers at the bank when you want to purchase a car or a home could care less as well. 


Advice to your 20 year old self:

1. Life is short, and there are no guarantees, enjoy your youth, but plan for the future it's where you will spend a great portion of your time.  Make sure you do the math for inflation, and increased cost of living for at least 60 years. 

2. Do what you love, when you are older if you don't plan well no one will care or help you live the life you dreamed you should live. Do this as soon as you can, don't waste time building someone's dream who won't care for you in your golden years, and "they" will be coming right after your 40's rather quickly. 

3. Do the opposite of what everyone tells you to do.  Don't be a follower of the masses, they are wrong. 

4. Make sure you eat properly, exercise daily and drink a gallon of water everyday.  All the money in the world will do nothing for you if you have ill health in your later years.

5. Be happy everyday, acquire knowledge by studying and mastering happiness, ancient and modern history, religion, math and arithmetic astronomy, geography, astrology, science and all laws of the lands.

To your success,
D.S. Woodard