Words of Wisdom From a Generation Xer

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Leo Babauta of Zen Habits is one of my favorite bloggers.  I doubt this will be news to anyone, but if you haven’t heard of him yet, he writes about productivity, simplicity, and happiness on his blog, which has gained over 38,000 subscribers in one year.  He also wrote an ebook called Zen To Done (purchase it from his website) and has a second blog called Write To Done, which has been a fantastic resource for me in starting this website.  If that wasn’t enough, he has a book deal, which I assume happened due to the overnight success of his blog (not that he isn’t a fantastic writer). 

I love the feel-good nature of his blog, but even moreso, I love that he is from the pacific island of Guam, where my mom is from and where I lived three different times because my parents were in the Air Force.  This goes to show blogging is as much about who you are as what you say - but that’s topic is for another day.  Today, I want to write about something Leo wrote - 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life.  Here are the three that resonated with me most:

Make time to pursue your passion, no matter how busy you are. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and get a book published. I just never had time to write. With a family and school and a full-time job, there just weren’t enough hours in the day. Well, I’ve learned that you have to make those hours. Set aside a block of time to do what you love, cut out other stuff from your life that take up your time, and don’t let anything interfere with that work. If I had done that 15 years ago, I could have 15 books written by now. Not all would be great, but still.

I love this, especially for young people.  In truth, most of us don’t know what our passions are, even in our mid-twenties, because they change so often as we grow up.  That said, the sooner you start exploring the sooner you’ll find your true passions.  Over the years, I’ve been passionate about singing, dancing, photography, fashion, acting, writing, designing websites, marketing, science, law, scuba diving, and karate; all at various times.  There’s no sense in committing prematurely, so take some “me” time to pursue what you love - it’s the easiest way to find yourself.

Yes, you can do a marathon. Don’t put this goal off — it’s extremely rewarding. Running a marathon had always been a dream of mine, since high school … something I wanted to do but thought was out of reach. Or if I ever did it, it would be years and years later. Well, I learned that it’s not only achievable, it’s incredibly rewarding. I wish I had started training when I was young and light and fit … I could have had some good finishing times!

I ran a marathon last October, and I’m one of the most unathletic people you’ll ever meet. If I can do it, you can too; and not just marathons. I think of running a marathon as a metaphor for that unattainable goal that each of us has - something that “other people” do, but we can’t, for whatever reason we’ve convinced ourselves of. Guess what - you can do it. So make it happen.  No regrets.

Fund your retirement, son. And don’t withdraw it. This piece of wisdom, and probably all the ones above, might seem blisteringly obvious. And they are. Don’t think I didn’t know this when I was 18. I did. I just didn’t pay it serious attention. Retirement was something I could worry about when I was in my 30s. Well, I’m in my 30s now and I wish I could slap that little 18-year-old Leo around a bit. What money I could have invested by now! I had a retirement plan, but on the 3 occasions when I changed jobs, I withdrew that and spent it frivolously.

I take a “live and let live” approach to most differences I have with people, but when I see twentysomethings who aren’t contributing to their retirement fund in their twenties I can’t seem to bite my tongue. Compound interest is more valuable than any item you can purchase right now, and in the digital age, contributing has never been easier with direct deposit. Wouldn’t you love to be 25 years old and know you already have $20,000 in retirement savings? And that the $20,000 will be double by the time you retire? Don’t waste your youth; your 65 year-old self won’t look back and think “I’m so glad I bought that brand new truck instead of saving for retirement.”

You can read the other 17 things here; I also plan to elaborate on the three I wrote about today in separate posts. Don’t miss a thing - subscribe today for free.

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