8 Points I Shared with Senior High School Students on their Career Day
Earlier today I spoke to a group of students at ACS Jakarta.
A humbling experience, to have had the opportunity to share, together with the others speakers.
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Out of the things I shared with the students, if I were to pick only 8 points, here they are, in no order of importance:
1. Youths today tend to forget about the importance of communication, REAL communication, because we live in an era where texting is common. Whatever is your career path, you need to learn how to communicate well, verbally and in writing. You need to practice and have real interaction with others.
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Start looking at yourself and ask, am I a responsible teenager?2. If you want your parents to take you more seriously, to listen to what you believe in, to not nag and force their beliefs on you, you need to start looking at yourself and ask, am I a responsible teenager?
Proactively complete tasks that are part of your responsibilities, without being told. Practice basic manners and appreciate your parents, siblings and other people. Help out and initiate communication in the family.
When your parents start to see how you are a responsible and thoughtful teenager, there’s a better chance of them listening and even agreeing to what you feel and think as important.
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Being a Mom is not equal to changing diapers and losing the skills you have acquired3. As women, you may be blessed with children one day, raising them yourselves does not mean you have ‘wasted’ your talents. Continue to explore your God-given talents as you become an involved Mom. Learn new things, inspire others. Being a Mom is not equal to changing diapers and losing the skills you have acquired. Know your calling, find what’s really important in your life at different phases in your life.
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4. What is your definition of success? Making a lot of money? Making more money than others?
Some people define ‘success’ as earning enough to cover their expenses and STILL have the time for their family, for socialising, for pursuing their passion, etc. Success is not ‘always about how much cash I get to make from what I do’.
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5. Attitude is important. Be humble. Be polite, helpful, proactive. Regardless of our age, we must always be a student, always learning.
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6. We can never climb a mountain if we’ve never made the first step forward.
If you wish to inspire other people, start by doing small things for others. If you love to write, start by making cards for your friends / families. If you see a friend who needs some positive encouragements, slip some positive words of encouragements in her bag, eg. Your friend doesn’t need to know that the note comes from you, but YOU yourself know how you’ve made a positive difference in others.
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Regardless of our age, we must always be a student, always learning7. You may end up doing things that you did not learn in University, and it’s okay.
Keep on exploring and developing different areas in your life, and find what you’re passionate about. Teach yourself new things (auto-didact). If you do what you’re passionate about, you’d go to ‘work’ and not feel that you’re ‘working’. You can be exhausted, but if you love what you do, it keeps you going.
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8. Someone said, ‘I learn many things, and yet I’m not good at anything!’
How much time have you spent learning each of those ‘many things’?
If you haven’t spent much time learning about something, you cannot say that you’re not good at it. Some people spent 5 hours learning how to play the guitar, and said, ‘I can’t play the guitar. I’m not good at it.’ To that person I’d say, ‘Yes, of course you’re not good at it, because you haven’t spent much time learning how to do it well.’ If we haven’t spent ‘1000 hours’ learning about something, if we haven’t tried it ‘1000 times’, then we cannot easily say to ourselves, ‘I’m not good at it’.
In other words, learning anything needs time, effort, perseverance and practice.
