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Every day we feature a young entrepreneur or professional who’s taking their career to the next level, offering our readers a glimpse into the minds of some of Canada’s most talented and inspiring people.
They can’t share all their secrets, of course, but every single person we’ve asked is passionate about offering a valuable piece of advice that’s universally applicable in our competitive circles – whether work, social, or recreational.
We’ve asked hundreds of notable people what advice they would share with other young professionals – and here are 15 of the best responses…
Always stay true to yourself and surround yourself with people who are better than you at what you are striving to do.
– Vittorio Colacitti
Work hard, stay focused, sleep when you can. Realize that you may have to work for little to no pay in order to gain the experience you need to get to where you want to be – I’ve definitely done it and can tell you that it was worth it.
– Tessa Sam
Get out there and talk to people. Talk to people your age, to people a few years older, to people much older. Talk to people in your field, talk to people outside your field. But most importantly, make sure you’re offering mutual benefit. Don’t go into these conversations just thinking about what they can provide you, think about what you can provide them. You have to give to get!
– Dave Wilkin
Consider getting a business coach and work hard… very hard! Coaches have a macro vision and they can save you a lot of time and costly mistakes. They give you blueprints to move your company forward. There is no such thing as instant success. My life changed the day I met Stedman Graham at a seminar in Montreal. He told me I would become a genius if I focused on what I had to do. I thought to myself: “A genius! Wow! No one ever told me I could reach such heights.” I made it my goal. All of a sudden it became real and much more exciting than artistic. I used to define myself as artistic, now I’m an entrepreneur.
– Natacha Noel
Have a vision, and have drive. Learn everything from the Internet. That’s all it takes.
– Simon Tian
I was given a great piece of advice early on that really encourages me to keep going: “If it was easy, then everyone would be doing it.” That advice is so true! It’s not easy but the challenge is what makes this journey so exhilarating. Another thing to remember is there never will be a perfect time to take a chance and go out on your own; it’s about taking calculated risks, closing your eyes and just going for it. Once you take that leap you won’t regret it.
– Mary Young
One, never settle for mediocrity. It’s a waste of your precious life. Two, build meaningful relationships personally and professionally with others where you give more than take. Value, nurture and respect everyone around you. Three, know what you want – and then ask for help to get there. You’ll be amazed by what happens next.
– Jordan Axani
Don’t waste too much time doing something you don’t absolutely love. Don’t be shy about your passions. Let everyone know what you’re passionate about it. Eventually, they’ll get it and help you as much as they can. Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have enough experience – a baby shark is still a shark.
– Shawn Freeman
Start small, dream big. Find something that’s natural and authentic for you and it will all fall into place. My biggest take-away so far has been not to wait for perfection. Let go of other peoples’ expectations, make mistakes, let yourself fail. Surround yourself with fearless, positive people. Two books I’d recommend are Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie and Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. I also love what Steve Jobs said about not trying to do things better than the competition, but instead thinking of how we can do them differently.
– Kalyn Swihart
Starting a business can be very overwhelming; ask questions, and expect failure along the way. Surround yourself with lots of positive energy that everything will work out!
– Debbie Fung
I can’t stress enough the need to develop a sense of urgency. In business you quickly learn there is always someone running behind, beside, or ahead of you. Also, it’s essential to put more emphasis on nose to the grindstone and less on attending self-congratulatory networking events.
– Jordan Whelan
Do stuff. I know it’s been said time and time again, but getting things done is one of the trickiest things to do in life. There are so many reasons why you shouldn’t do this or that, but there’s usually one reason that outweighs all the cons. Find that reason and use it to overcome all those barriers.
– Kevin Lee
There are more tools than ever before to learn about industries, people, roles and opportunities. Use them! Don’t be afraid to take the initiative and experiment – you will learn more that you could in any MBA.
– Oliver Walsh
Know yourself and grow yourself.
Understanding your values, your strengths, what drives and motivates you, is so important when it comes to sustaining ourselves and thriving in our careers. Continuous learning, reading books, taking courses – do all of these things now. The skills and knowledge you develop now are going to be what sets you apart and gives you the advantage in business. Never stop learning and applying that.
Also, I think that it’s so important that we create habits and routines in our lives that focus on self-care. Often that’s the first thing to go when we get busy and we justify it by thinking that if we just get one more hour of work in that we’ll be more productive. Everything I’ve read and researched about this is telling us the opposite.
– Matt Tod
Don’t be afraid to take risks. If I hadn’t taken a leap of faith when I first started, I would have never landed where I am now. Also, don’t let not having money stress you out and be the reason for you to give up on your dreams. There will always be hard times in your life, especially when you’re chasing something that you are extremely passionate about. But that is your test; to see how badly you want it. And trust me, there is not a more satisfying feeling than when you finally get there and know you did it because you worked hard and persevered. It is easy to make money, but it’s not easy to find something you truly love and get excited to jump out of bed for.
– Amira de Vera
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Cover photo courtesy iStock.