Shana Duthie

Reflecting – What I wish I knew when I was 22

Resilience

Recently, I wrote an article on reflection and why it is crucial. In keeping with that topic, I decided to look back on an article that I did almost ten years ago, in 2014, when LinkedIn was testing its new article features. LinkedIn has undoubtedly changed a lot since 2014, but I was happy to be a beta tester for many of their product launches.

Below is the article I wrote. I wanted to reflect to see if the wisdom I was imparting then would change today. I cannot find any part of this that I would change. So, I am reposting the top 5 things that I wished I had known when I was 22.

🤗Be yourself always. Don’t try to become someone you are not. You have an inherent personality, traits and strengths. Build on those. Love your uniqueness and what you bring to the table each and every day. Have goals but part of the fun of reaching those goals is the journey you will take.

🚲 Enjoy the journey and be happy no matter where it takes you. I know this is cliche’ but there is a reason for that. Life is to be lived through the great times and the tough ones. If you can stay positive through it all – life will be fun.

🤾🏻Work hard. Play harder. This is something I am still perfecting, but I realize when I play harder, I work better and smarter. So just do it.

🙋🏻Remember you don’t know everything, and no one expects you to.

🫶🏼Try to find something you love in every job you take on, every person you meet, and every trip you take.

There is no timeframe ⏰ for the stages in your life. You have control of everything in some way. Remember that.

My parting words of wisdom…Life is full of choices. You will not always make the right ones, but don’t let that stop you from making decisions. Don’t waffle; become your word and a person of integrity.