6 Pieces of Life Changing Advice for New Grads
By: Rushi K. Shah
Tags: Advice, Improvement, Life Lessons, Life, Graduation

The advice I’m about to share with you changed my life and catapulted me to a different way of living life.

I could have written a lot but I kept it simple and digestible. I promise, if you even use just one of these, it’ll make a big impact on your life.

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1. Believe in yourself

Gotta start off with the basics. Do not sell yourself short! Believe in your potential. No one will value you more than you. So how you sell yourself is how you’re going to be bought.

Be bold 💪

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2. Do things that are risky

Don’t optimize for a job because you’ll make a few more bucks. Now is the time to do things that excite you, that make you nervous, that scare you and push you out of your comfort zone. If that means going abroad to travel, volunteering, interning for someone you look up to, starting a company, whatever it is that’ll make you look forward to waking up everyday! Don’t follow the norms, and don’t fear being outpaced by your friends/peers. This isn’t a race, it’s your life. My mentor has a wonderful saying, “Talent is universal, while the opportunity is not,” go seek your opportunity!

In short, shoot your shots 😉

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3. Fuck fake friends

In reality, you realize that there’s only a handful of people that care about you and actually root for your success. Your Twitter, Insta, Snap followers probably don’t count. Here’s a simple formula to help with this: Think about how many people would be by your bedside when you need it the most. Think about how many people would actually support you in your toughest days. Think about how many people can you actually call up and they’ll answer or call back right away.

There’s a quote by Jim Rohn that scared the shit out of me when I read it for the first time. “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Choose only the best. Life is too short to play with the B players.

This seems hard. It’s not. If you want to live your life your way, it’s definitely not hard. 🤷‍♂️

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Speaking of negativity, cut relationships with people that are poison(pessimist). Think of them as carbon monoxide. It’s colorless, odorless, and tasteless but it still kills you! Each and every influence matters. You don’t have to be an eternal optimist but certainly, negativity doesn’t get you anywhere. The roller coaster of life is already tumultuous, you need all the positivity in the world you can get. In terms of comparisons, it’s human nature and I completely empathize.

But remember, as someone said, “you can’t compare your chapter 3 to someone’s chapter 22.” ✍️

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4. Respect your time

I read somewhere that your 20’s are considered your golden years. Regardless if you agree or not, one thing for certain: time is the one thing that cannot be purchased no matter how high one’s net worth may be. That includes Jeff Bezos. Be mindful of it and use it wisely. It’s the most precious thing you have. Don’t waste your most precious asset on things or people that don’t bring joy to you. You’re living in perhaps the greatest era humankind has witnessed. Contribute to it any way you can.

Now is your time. 🤔

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5. Have empathy

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges for our generation. For those who don’t know, empathy is formally defined as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.” In today’s time, it’s extremely easy to judge people immediately but so few actually try to understand each other.

Everyone is fighting their own battles, some fighting depression, anxiety attacks, grieving loss of a loved one, suffering thru health conditions, battling with their own insecurities, everyone has something going. In fact, we even judge others based off what they wear, how they look, the things they do, and maybe their circumstances don’t allow for a “typical” life, maybe their upbringing was rough, who the fuck are we to judge one another!?

Everyone believes they’re right from their own perspectives, right? Just take a second to think from their shoes and see if you feel a bit different. Dalai Lama said it best, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”

If you have the power of humility, you’ll win the world. That’s more fact than opinion. 🙌

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6. Your health matters

Last but not the least, health. It’s not complex, health is the ultimate wealth. If you have health, you have the world before you. Being mindful of what you eat, getting regular physical movement, and meditating is all that it takes. 30 minutes a day can make a big difference in the long term.

In fact, I’ll take it even a step further. If you have food, a roof over your head, good health, energy, the ability to laugh, cry, walk, and run at your own will, you have everything rooting for you. This might be surprising but most of us already have everything we NEED to be happy and healthy. It’s the quest of wanting things we don’t have and the perception that we’ll attain happiness once we reach a goal, that’s the problem.

You’re already living a life that millions of people around the world dream to have every day. Those people would kill to have the problems you’re having(your coffee not being at the right temperature and now you’re cranky). There are millions of people that would just want to be in the US.

You get one life. Be healthy, mentally and physically, to have the best shot at making a difference in your time on planet Earth. ✊