Last week I found myself at a high school graduation party, standing in front of one of those decorative journals where guests are invited to write a piece of advice for the graduate before they head off to college.
I stood there for a second, pen in hand, and thought: I could write something funny. “Watch out for boys!”
Or I could write something actually useful.
Here’s the thing. The advice I wrote wasn’t groundbreaking. It wasn’t even original. It was basically the advice I was given heading into college, some of which I listened to, some of which I promptly ignored, but all of which I now realize in my 40s was absolutely true. And as I capped the pen and walked back towards the party, it hit me: every single thing I just wrote applies directly to the working world, too.
Here are the four pieces of advice I shared with this new graduate, and also, apparently, will share for the rest of us.
Just Show Up
This sounds embarrassingly simple, but in college, showing up to class is genuinely optional. Nobody’s calling your parents. Nobody’s taking roll in a way that matters. And yet, the students who drag themselves to 8am lectures even when they’d rather be literally anywhere else? They pass. They graduate. They figure it out almost by osmosis.
Work is the same. Half of professional success is just being there, in the meeting, on the call, at the event you didn’t really feel like attending. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. You just have to be in the room. Consistently showing up when others don’t is, somehow, still a competitive advantage.
Say Yes
College is, for many, their first real experience on their own. It’s new people, maybe a new city, but almost always a period of time where new experiences are the norm. The easiest thing in the world is to retreat to your dorm room and watch Netflix until you feel comfortable. The best thing you can do though, is to say yes. Learn to say yes to the study group, the new club, and the spontaneous road trip. In my personal experience, you get bonus points if saying yes scares you a little bit.
At work, it’s the same deal. Saying yes to the stretch assignment often reaps rewards. Saying yes to the lunch with someone from a different department can build bridges you didn’t know needed building. Saying yes to the project nobody else wants or the presentation you’re not ready for can build lifelong skills.
Comfort zones are exactly that: cozy. They’re also dead ends because magic never happens in the comfort zone.
Go Somewhere Uncomfortable
Somewhat related, I think it’s important to actively look for ways to get out of your comfort zone. My specific advice to the graduate was that if you get the chance to study abroad, take it. Not because it looks good on a resume, but because being completely out of your element, in a new culture, navigating the unfamiliar, teaches you things about yourself that a classroom never will.
In your career, find your version of studying abroad. Take the role in a different function. Move to a new market. Join the team with the messy problem nobody’s solved yet. Discomfort has a way of accelerating growth in ways that staying comfortable never does.
Don’t Wait – The First Week Matters More Than You Think
Here’s the one that surprises people: the friends you make in the first week of college have a funny way of still being your closest friends in your forties. Something about shared disorientation creates surprisingly deep bonds.
At work, the relationships you build early, especially when you’re new somewhere, tend to be the ones that last. So be open and be curious about people right away. The colleagues you grab coffee with in your first week might be your references, your collaborators, or your business partners fifteen years from now.
So there you have it. The advice I took seriously (or wish I would have) still holds true 25 years later. The graduate in question has everything they need to be successful already, but I hope that advice simply helps nudge them in the right direction.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go cry quietly in the corner as I just realized I graduated high school 25 years ago…..
