In preparation for this speech, I looked on Facebook for everyone I could find that graduated with me in 2000, and I spammed them all with this question: What do you wish someone had told you when you were gradating from High School? I got a ton of responses. Everything from “Love life and it will love you” which, I think is very important, to “Wash your Undies” – Which, well, is also very important.
But it was really interesting to see that there were a few very common themes in the responses I got. Whether they graduated as valedictorian, with a full scholarship to a top university, or they barely made it to graduation day and never set foot in another classroom, based on the responses, there are a few lessons we have all learned. So here you go – 3 things the Lakewood High School class of 2000, thinks the Lakewood High School Class of 2012 should keep in mind.
1. Expect Change
I started by asking people if life today looked like they thought it would 12 years ago. I think the following sums up their responses, and I quote: No. One of my classmates said, "I thought I was going to be a successful, wealthy lawyer by now. I also thought I'd be single and own lots of cats. Instead I'm writing books and I'm married to a great guy who's allergic to cats.”
Here’s the deal – you can do anything you want. You. can. do. anything. you. want. But know that the path to your goal is never a straight line. There are all kinds of twists and turns headed your way.
I think people give up on their dreams because they make plans that will work if everything goes well. Things don’t always go well. A lot of people fail and give up. If you want to reach your goals, you need to expect change and make plan to succeed at something whether things go well or not.
When I left Lakewood 12 years ago, I went to college for theatre and found a passion for politics that brought me to DC. While working in Congress I met the love of my life who was moving to LA. I quit my job and joined her, only to find a better job, a year later we moved to Boston and I found an even better job. Then I started a side project, spent too much time working it and got fired. Now I have the best job ever, working for myself, doing social media consulting so when my then girlfriend, now fiancé got an incredible opportunity in Alaska, we moved to Anchorage – and I took my job with me. Expect Change.
2. Work Hard
I’m sure this is not new – but let me just share this "What no one told me in high school was that sometimes you can work really hard and still not get what you were working for. You may not get into the college you wanted, or lose out on a promotion, or it may take you a really long time to find a job. Working hard sometimes doesn't get you what you want, but *not* working hard means you *definitely* won't get what you want."
The thing to remember here is, you want people to be able to count on you to do what you said you would do. A lot of times you won’t feel like it, but working hard and doing what you said anyway is what will have opportunity come your way. On the contrary, if you say you’ll do something, and don’t do it – I don’t care what the excuse is, opportunities will dry up. Most people will be too polite to tell you why, but trust me. At work or school, in relationships, with your friends and family, do what it takes to do what you said you would do.
In late 2010, I found myself unemployed in the worst job market of my lifetime. I declared a huge goal, that somehow I would make enough money to pay for my living expences and pay off my $60,000 in student loan debt by my 30th birthday, which was 80 weeks away. 14 weeks later, I was off of unemployment, running my own business. My 30th birthday was last Sunday, and I have paid $25,000 of my student loan debt. While I failed to meet my goal, I said I’d pay off those loans, and I will by this winter. Work Hard.
3. Find what you love
My classmates nailed this one:
“contact people you admire or who do things you find interesting. Find out what they do and how they came to do it. and who they look up to, and then look that person up.”
"Go to other countries. (and not just Europe!) you don’t have to have lots of money to do it.. go backpacking. go somewhere cheap. get a part-time job there.. do a study-abroad if you have the option...whatever it takes."
"Do what you love, and you will be happy. Instead of chasing a career that you think will make you wealthy or viewed as a success, spend time identifying what you love doing, and chase that. Your life will be better for it."
Point is, you may not know what you want to do and where you want to be yet. Even if you think you do. Go try stuff out.
I've been an actor, a movie theatre manager, a clown, a waiter, a congressional aide, a PR professional, and a Social Media Consultant, but what I really love is the side project I mentioned that got me fired. It's called ERIC. The Environmental Research and Innovation Center. It is based on the theory that if we knew the environmental and human rights record of companies and products, we would prefer not to spend our money on things that harm the people and places where they are made. At scale, that would mean that people like us could transform the global economy to create the kind of world we all want. Find what you love.
So let’s review – If you can #1 Expect change and roll with it without skipping a beat. #2 Work hard and do what you said you would do. And #3 Find what you love, then you can build a life that doesn’t have much space for things you don’t want because it is too full of things you do want.
I'm really honored to share this moment with you. Look out world, its graduation day for the Lakewood High School Class of 2012!
