Life Lessons
Now That I am 59, Here are 10 Things I Would Tell My 19-Year-Old Self
We just weren’t taught this stuff when we were children
Man, oh man, if the 59-year-old me could go back in time to talk with the 19-year-old me, that discussion would change the course of my life and the lives of my loved ones.
Not only would I be a multi-millionaire, but others would also be reaping the benefits now of what I would have shared with them so long ago. We would have created generational wealth back then that would be coming to fruition now. Had I known then, what I now know, I would have done a few simple things differently when I was a teen, if I had the knowledge. That’s why today, it is vitally important, to me, to share this information with those in my sphere of influence.
My 18-year-old, here at home, has the benefit of speaking with me today and I have the opportunity to relive my youth through him. We just opened him an investment account, so I know he will be well-off. In fact, it was because of a discussion I had with him that made me think of this topic. There was no one to tell me this stuff when I was 18. If I could speak with the 18-year-old me today, here are a few things I would tell me.
- Open a mutual fund and invest $100 a month for the next 40 years. — I started earning a paycheck when I was about 16 or 17. My first real job was at Red Lobster. I don’t remember how much I made, but I remember receiving the raises. That was the earmark of doing a good job. I then went to work for El Chico’s Mexican Restaurant. I used to blow my entire check on things that I felt were important to me. If I could reach back in time, I would instruct myself to open an index fund and automatically invest $100. Or $50 or even $25 with a goal of increasing the contribution amount. An investment account can easily be opened by going to Fidelity.com or you can call their 800 phone number. To see how much growth I would have earned, I would visit the website Calculator.net, click on investment calculator. Start with $25, invest for 50 years (18 to 28, 38, 48, 58, 68), earn 10% with a $100 per month additional contribution. This easily achievable task earns you $1,402,513.35. Clearly, as your income goes up, so too will your contributions. Also, most investments earn about 12–15%. So, the above example is tremendously conservative. The important takeaway is to start now and forget about it.
2. Follow your gut. — When I worked at an El Chico’s, a fellow employee branched off on his own and started a restaurant. Micky hired me to come work for him. Things were going well, but something happened. Micky accused me of wanting to say something that never really crossed my mind. I agreed with him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t true and I have always wanted to tell him that it wasn’t true. I should have followed my gut and told him that what he thought I was thinking wasn’t true. Micky may be dead by now. I may never get to clear the air. If you get the chance to correct something, to make something right, or to not accept the blame for something that you didn’t do, don’t accept it. Follow your gut. Micky, if you are reading this, you were incorrect. I held you in the highest of regards.
3. Take care of your body. — I have wanted to be a bodybuilder for most of my life. Barring that, I always wanted to be BIG and big I am. I think the body beautiful is a journey that you have to strive to achieve on a continual basis. I would tell the younger me to learn about nutrition, micronutrients and pursue my physical dreams.
4. Take pictures. — Pictures weren’t as accessible 40 years ago. Today, I constantly seek pictures from the past. Nowadays, everyone has a camera on their phone. With Cloud storage and all the new electronic ways to store data, taking pictures from years gone by is easily achievable. But if I could speak with my 18-year-old self, I would tell him to document the precious moments with pictures.
5. Store your memorabilia for the future. — Over the course of your life, you are going to have some trinkets that will remain a part of your memory or will anchor your memory to a specific time in your life. There will be a time that you will want to hold that trinket if for nothing more than just the memory. It would be important if you had a place where you could store those important and valuable items.
6. Safe keep the details of your thoughts. — Journal. Often, we forget the details of some of our best stories. Document them now for reading later. Have you ever tried to remember the details of a wild or rememberable event you experienced but just can’t quite remember many of the important details? If I were speaking with my teenaged self, I would tell myself to jot down the great stories. You will know they are great when they happen. But the details will get foggy with time. Preserve them in writing and save the notebooks!
7. Keep track of old friends and new friends as you make them, especially older ones. — Track them down later in life. There’s nothing much more satisfying in life than reconnecting with friends that you met earlier. Most likely, you will have been in a place where you have moved from and you probably haven’t seen the friend in many years. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to reconnect periodically with an old friend? Social media makes it easier to reconnect, but there will still be friends that you have to track down by other means. Keep that in mind and maybe get their parent’s number and address for some time in the future.
8. Grow relationships with distant family members, especially as their family grows. — When we were children, only me and my two sisters lived with my mom. As we grew, we all had children and now, our children have children. I and my baby sister are grandparents. But I don’t know the grands very well. It’s amazing to me that I do not know my sister’s children well and I do not know my sister’s children’s children at all. That’s shameful and I intend to correct that this year, provided COVID-19 doesn’t prevent me and my family from traveling.
9. Set SMART goals to achieve and achieve those goals. — I think you can define your life by setting goals. As long as you are alive and as long as you have a goal, you will be able to achieve it. For a goal to be SMART it should be Specific and not just a general goal. You should be able to Measure it. If you want to invest in cryptocurrency, you’ll need to know how to measure if your purchase is growing or depreciating. Your goal should be Attainable. If you want your start-up business to earn $10M in the first year, you’ll have to ask yourself is that really attainable. This brings me to Realistic. If your goal isn’t realistic, it probably won’t be attainable! lol. How long will it take you to reach your goal? Your goal must be Time Specific. This is not to say any of this isn’t achievable, you just have to know what you need to know.
10. If you do #1, you be able to do #10. — Be charitable. My wife and I purchased dinner for the local fire department. We wanted to thank them for coming to our rescue when we experienced a little flooding in our basement.I decided on a gift card so they could buy what they wanted. I scheduled a time through the city, that could deliver the gift. After a bit of discussion, I explained to the chief, as we stood in front of the firehouse, why we were donating this gift. His reply took me by surprise. He said they don’t make a lot of money but they report faithfully to carry out their mission of saving lives. He said he had worked there for more than 22 years. During that time, no one had ever given them any sort of cash gift. I said, “Well, it’s just a gift card.” But he made me understand the significance of the gift. A small gift made a big difference. I want you to be able to be charitable. We have decided to buy the local Fire Department Thanksgiving dinner again this year. Invest your money wisely now, while you are young, so you will be able to be significantly more charitable in your future.
About the author
Julius Evans has a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI; a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ; a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from City University, Bellevue, WA and an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Central Texas College, Killeen, Texas.
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