What I would say if I met my 17 yrs old entrepreneur-self

The journey of being an entrepreneur has been a learning journey but also a challenging journey.  It is one that constantly bends my faith, tests my characters and challenges me to extend the limits of my tolerance every day.  Some days I am brought down to my knees other days I am lifted like an angel with wings.   Although I am one to believe it is better to look ahead than to look back, I believe therein lies in the past lessons that if I forget, will repeat itself until I have learn them.  As I look back and address my 17 years old self, I am also reminding my present self that with these battle scars, I know better and I will do better.   By no mean this is the complete list of all the things I would say but perhaps the ones that I would say right now if I were able to step in a time warp.

Be curious.
Curiosity allows you to absorb everything that is happening around, it create a sense of excitement that you will always experience something fresh but more importantly it will make you ask the question “Why?” and it is with that particular question you begin to find knowledge.  Keep watching Star Trek; continue to dream of travelling to a distant galaxy and embrace the unknown but investigate by asking “Why?”

Be playful.
Play doesn’t cost money, play doesn’t involve thinking because play is something you feel like you need to do and you can’t somehow justify it without giggling.  Smile often, laugh out loud and be silly.  Decorum and improprieties are for the 1800’s ladies who drink tea and wear corsets.   A wise lady named Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said, “Well-behaved women rarely make history.”

Be courageous.
Bad thing will happen to you.  That is a fact of life; you can feel weak from it but make the decision that the experience will not reduce you.  Tremble but forge ahead with courage.  Let me tell me how geeky girls are hot in the future so bear with teasing and bullying for now.   Keep standing out, shrinking down to be less a person that you are to please others is not.

Be wary of whinning.
If you don’t like something, change it.  It is within your power, you are in control of yourself and your mind.  You are not a victim of your circumstance.  Be proactive, be the change because “We become what we think about all day long” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Believe.
Be yourself, believe in yourself and be still.  People will say you are too young, not smart enough, wrong time, wrong place, too much of a girl, too ambitious, too emotional – too much of everything wrong and too little of anything worthwhile.   Hush up and believe me, you can be anything you want to be.  A lawyer, a microbiologist or an entrepreneur – whatever that path is, you get to choose and you have life’s permission to change your mind. Be still and hear your own voice, believe it as it will guide you – ignore it at your own perils.

Me and my friends at Templeton High School

Posted via email from minna's posterous