The Graduating Class of 2016
Last night I watched my cousin graduate from high school. I watched him walk across the same stage I walked across 15 years earlier when I graduated from the same school. The differences are he did way better than I did and got into all eight colleges he applied to. I only applied to one and then didn't go to that school so I last minute applied to Rhode Island College and went there. Sometimes I play the game of "what if I did better in school?", "what if I tried harder?". I know that I wouldn't have ended up where I am now. I don't know if I would have been in a better place, but it would be different.
Times are tough out there and it's hard to imagine my little cousin who is now 18 and six inches taller than me going out in the world on his own. There are some horrible people out there. Look at the news and you see scary things happening on college campuses all the time. But there are some pretty awesome people out there. People who you will meet and change your life for the better.
My main hopes for my cousin is that he focuses on school, does the best he can, and plans for his future. He knows exactly what field he wants to get into. I told him to watch Gary Vaynerchuk videos and to read his books. Start young on his business goals. Part of me dreads being his age nowadays but these kids are driven and starting businesses younger and younger. If I had that drive at 18 or 21, I would be killing it today.
I just sent him this video. It's for college graduates but still valuable for high school graduates.
My main advice for high school graduates and even college graduates is ok to not know it all. It took me years to figure out what was happening in my life and where I was going business wise. But this is definitely the time to take a risk. Go for those crazy ideas that you think aren't realistic. You never know, you just may pull it off.