Lessons Learned

 

At SEVENTY-SIX (76) years of age and after a FOURTY-FIVE (45) year career, these are some of the lessons I have learned, many of which were learned the HARD WAY.  The hard way is always AFTER THE FACT, NEVER BEFORE.

What does that mean?

If someone told me not to spit into the wind, I would have to spit into the wind in order to find out why.

1.  Follow the TEN COMMANDMENTS whether you are religious or not because they make sense.

2.  Don't worry about learning that much in high school outside of English because you will always need to communicate properly no matter what you do - both oral and written.

3.  Consider the Air Force as a career - low risk of being killed.

4.  Consider going to a Community College for your first two years and as a junior you can pretty much attend any college you want.

5.  Find the right balance between work and home.  It is different for everyone, not just because everyone is different, but spouses are different as well.

6.  In college, don't worry about the grade - worry about how much knowledge you can retain to use in your career.

7.  Manage your debt properly (no debt is best) and manage your stress.  The word manage connects these two concepts together.

8.  Start saving money as early as possible.  Maybe stop smoking and save the money you would have spent on cigarettes.  Or, whatever else you gave up.

9.  Don't challenge the boss at work but don't kiss their asses either.  Learn what you can from that company and move on to another one.  Never burn your bridges.

10.  You will be lucky if you have 3-5 REAL FRIENDS during your lifetime.  You will like some people you work with, but they are not necessarily friends.  Friends are special and it make take 20 years before you realize someone is your friend.

11.  Don't let power and greed cloud your judgement...  that is to say, having one or both of them is not always the right kind of goal to have.  Simplicity oftentimes outweighs complexity.

12. And to thine own self be true.  Know who you are and live your life that way regardless of what others might say.  Integrity is an important value that people often lose sight of.

I am sure that there are other concepts but those are the ones that pop into my mind.  I have never let greed and power influence too much of my life and when I did follow of path of greed, there was always a tradeoff that I later regretted making.

HOWEVER, I would not change a thing about my life because who I am today is a result of who I was and all those experiences I encountered.  I like who I am now.