Lessons

After a full year in the workforce, I would like to reveal a few things that were never taught in school. A bit more than a year has passed by since graduation, and it has been more than a year since the last time I was 21 (which happens whenever you turn 22), sometimes I still wonder about what I should be doing. Nobody figures out what they want to do when they're in early twenties. If you do, I'll be your biggest fan.

• Be realistic. Don't frequently set too high of goals because they will just disappoint you often, and never set them too easy either, because achieving them then won't feel a thing.
• Never let go of your dream. You MUST do what you love so that work will not feel like a burden at all. Don't just settle for something that you can live with. Think of something that excites you. Something that keeps you going. Keep on chasing your dream. If not - then you must love what you do.
• Be flexible. Always. They never teach you in school how to convince 40-year olds and 50-year olds of your project plan (well if you join the professional workforce today, this would be the case approximately 90% of the time.) Occasionally, hang out with this group and not just your peers. Learn the trades. Try and push yourself in a maturity boat.
• Keep an open mind. Sometimes you get irritated because the thing in real world is very far different than school or college. Things don't turn out according to plan and there will always be a glitch. Wait a minute. Isn't college also like that? Life is always like that. But here's the difference: the stake is now ultimately higher. Other people could lose their jobs and you could lose your source of income too. You'd be surprised the extent that people would go to in order to save their own skins (security motive). Everybody does it. No exception. There's a simple trick to accommodate this uncomfortable situation but not as nearly as simple to do. You will always get mad at something you don't understand (another universal truth besides the debatable "everybody lies" from House M.D.) so the key is to try and understand the things you are mad at and the things you would most likely complain about. It is the first step going in the right direction.
• Work hard. This is the only key to lead a successful life. Wrong. Only working smart leads you to a successful life. Working hard will leave you exhausted and you become grumpy when you don’t get what you want (happens to many bosses who were promoted based on their indefinite motivation to work extremely hard to get where they are). Be careful every step of the way and always put wit in front of your intuition. Be honest and just enough of honesty before people would manipulate it (another arguable issue of white lie but I don’t want to go deeper into this here and now)
• Be nice. If nobody likes you, no one respects you. If no one respects you, it is much more difficult to demand anything from anybody. Be a giver and you'll receive a lot.
• Less talk. More action. In some occasions, maybe talking would be of help but please remember the difference between talking and communicating. You want more of the latter. And not just any communication -- it has to be effective communication. Talking and communication don’t help. Period. Make sure whatever you do yield the best return (this is also where working smart comes into play.)