While watching an old movie of “Back to the Future II”, there is a scene with old Biff going back in time to give young Biff, himself as a teenager something. Biff travels back from 2015 to 1955 to give his young self a sports almanac with all of the sports scores for the next 50 years to change his course in life. This really got me thinking, if I could travel back in time to my teen years, what advice would I give myself?
Quite honestly cheating to make money really doesn’t appeal to me. So the almanac would not be an option for me. I believe life is more about the journey than the destination. I believe cutting the corners would take too much away from my life experiences. I believe if you don’t know pain, you can’t know pleasure. But, I would definitely give myself some advice. I believe most of us have had the thought,” if only I knew then what I know now”. Well, here is my chance.
My time machine would be set to travel back to the Fall of 1979, when I was going into my senior year of high school. I know how stubborn I was as a teenager. As my wife and friends would tell me, I still am. So, it would need to be simple and believable. I would tell myself that life is fairly simple. My thoughts will control my destiny. Situations are irrelevant. It is my perception of situations that become my reality. I must ALWAYS keep a positive attitude, no matter what and have faith that everything will work out in my favor. This is very tough for a teen to learn. As an adult we learn situations are not permanent nor are they final. Life is just like the seasons, it is constantly changing and we learn to adapt. When it is cloudy and raining, I need to remember the sun is still shining above those clouds. I need to have faith. I would quote Napoleon Hill with “we get in life what we think about most of the time.” I would tell myself that the lack of how to do something is not near as important as the why to do something. I would also tell myself that my network of friends is my most valuable asset and to guard it well. If I could get just those things into my 17 year old hard head, I believe I would start years ahead of the game of life. Oh yeah, I would also warn myself not to leave the homecoming party of 1983 in college to buy hotdogs. Just trust myself on that one.
So, if you found a 1981 DeLorean that would allow you to travel back to your teen years, what advice would you give yourself?
Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger and team leader with over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.
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