Everyone looks back at pictures or social media posts and wonders, “What was I thinking?” I know, I personally have looked back at some Facebook statuses from years ago and wondered where mine was! At the moment, we are at a different development level and good thing there’s a difference now looking back now. That signifies growth as a person, once we stop growing we begin to mentally dwindle. Here are three things I wish I knew 10 years ago, at the age of 16. A similar question is what would I tell my 16-year-old self?
The Power of Thoughts
The power that our decisions lead to our day-to-day actions and that creates the experience we are currently having. In other words, everything starts with a thought or idea and develops from there. Every great invention started with one single thought, the difference is who decides to take action on them. We are all responsible for everything in our life right now, If I knew this beforehand I would have been able to accomplish and set much more serious goals at a young age. I was basically living the life others expected and told me was possible. We go from being told as a child that we can be anything in the world, to telling us that we have to get a job and work until retirement. There were only two options, you go to school get a job, and work to support your family or you’re a failure. I wish I knew there is always a third option and I could still take an alternative route.
The Power of The Internet
I wish I knew the power of the Internet and social media at that age. I was 16 in the year 2010. This is right after the 2007-2008 recession, If my thoughts were aligned and I understood this, I would have taken more of an advantage. The Internet is taken for granted still! It’s a source of all information ever recorded and access to mass amounts of people at once click! Millennials must take advantage of this tool, as we still have time! The information industry is going to be a billion-dollar industry in the next couple of years. ” I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been”, A quote by Wayne Gretsky. This is the exact approach we need when thinking about the internet. When we focus on what value we can spread to the world and get past any scarcity mindsets of judgment and fear. We truly can use the Internet to change the world or at least one person’s life!
The Power of
Compounding (Investing)
Investing was something I was not familiar with until a few
years ago when I decided to take learning into my own hands. I signed up for a
Motley Fool Premium membership and the rest was history. Compounding refers to the increasing
value of an asset due to the interest earned on both a principal and
accumulated interest. From my understanding, it was investing a fixed monthly
rate into a portfolio over time that resulted in crazy growth with time.
Below is
a quick example of Compounding I found online here.
Let’s say we played a game of golf and we made a friendly bet
of 10-cent on the first hole, with the bet doubling on each hole. Would you
take on this bet? Now, if you were familiar with the game of golf, you would
know that there are only 18 holes, so how much can the bet be on the 18th hole?
Well let’s see how the bet increases on the
first 9 holes:
Hole 1 10 cents
Hole 2 20 cents
Hole 3 40 cents
Hole 4 80 cents
Hole 5 $1.60
Hole 6 $3.20
Hole 7 $6.40
Hole 8 $12.80
Hole 9 $25.60
At the 9th hole, the bet is $25.60. We are already halfway there, so how much could it be on the 18thhole? $100? $300? $500? Let’s go on.
Hole 10 $51.20
Hole 11 $102.40
Hole 12 $204.80
Hole 13 $409.60
Hole 14 $819.20
Hole 15 $1,638
Hole 16 $3,276
Hole 17 $6,553
Hole 18 $13,107
As you can see on the 18th hole, the bet becomes a whopping $13,107! When given enough time, the power of compounding can turn very small amounts of money into huge sums.
Enough said in this example, but the key to compounding’s effectiveness is time. The earlier you begin investing the more the magic of compounding will kick in. Warren Buffet began investing at the age of 13 years old! He is now in his late 80s and you can see the results it had for him.
The three major things I wish I learned 10 years ago were the power of my thoughts, the Internet, and compounding. Oddly enough, I completed schooling all the way through college and no class went into detail on any of these. I was responsible to take the learning into my own hands after college and that’s exactly what changed my life forever. If you are unfamiliar with any of these three, please begin on the journey to learn more about them. Also, I know everyone is aware of these three things, I am talking about how to apply for the benefits directly to improve your life and others around us. Napoleon Hill said the secret to success is specialized knowledge, it doesn’t matter how much knowledge we have learned, and it’s how we use it. Millennials, it’s time to use social media for just more than getting a hit of dopamine and false confidence. Let’s begin to provide value to others that we have always dreamed about.
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