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.
Nicely said and written Tim! No doubt all of us would change something if we could go back.
Jack, thank you for your kind words. It really made me think about life’s journey. It was fun to write.
Mark Twain said the older I got the wiser my father became.
Mike, in the dialect of Twain, “ain’t that the truth?”
I’d tell him to take more chances when he’s young – with the jobs he’s pursuing and his finances. If you look at a lot of very financially successful people, they gave up the comfort of the 9 – 5 salary job to pursue a dream of owning their own company, inventing something, being an innovator. They did it when they were young and had plenty of time to recover from setbacks and start again. Same with finances. A lot of the billionaires in the world invested in their own companies, and controlled ownership, or they invested in startup companies where they could learn a lot about the company and watch it grow and then maybe buy into it later as a large investor.
I would say, “Self, you’re going to turn out great!” Honestly, I attribute every detail of my life as stepping stones to get to the exact place I was designed to be. We should all be living lives of no regrets.
Sheryl Brown / @AshBrokerage
Sheryl, somehow I think you had the knowledge in your teens! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Hang on better days are coming!….lol
Shawn, I take it you din’t enjoy your teens or maybe you enjoyed them too much!! LOL! Thank you for sharing!
No one will ever pay you what your worth unless you work for yourself.
Israel, all I can say is Amen! Thank you!
Tim I was a single parent who raised two boys 365 days per year (the normal parent/per say)…lol..now that they are raised…life is easier and calmer. I love the grandparent stage…spoil them and send home. Plus doing just one job instead of two….my life is ALOT calmer…Thus the better days are coming!
Wow Shawn. Good for you! You sound like an awesome person. I really appreciate you sharing that. Much continued success!
Wow, that IS a good question! I laughed at first because I was going to live forever and I didn’t worry about the future. I realize that many people in their early 20’s feel this way. It’s when a person makes the additions of career, family and obligations that one may get the feeling that time is going faster and how am I going to make my goals in life to achieve what I think is success. The journey can be fun but we can also prepare along the way!
Carol, I really appreciate your kind words. It was fun to write. Really makes you think.