How do you define success? What is happiness to you?
Is it owning a lot of nice stuff?
Seeing the entire world?
Or perhaps being able to just lay on the couch at the end of a good workday and not have to stress?
Theory of Happiness
In 1922, Albert Einstein was at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo for a lecture and had just heard about his Nobel Prize win.
He had no change for the bellboy at the time so he wrote down his “Theory of Happiness” on a piece of paper and gave it as a tip.
His theory was this:
“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness”.
That piece of paper has recently been sold by the nephew of that bellboy.
It sold for for 1.5 million according to The Independent.
Albert Einstein was a brilliant man and his theory is a good one.
But it’s not the only one.
Downtown Money did some digging around the internet and found what we think are the best pieces of advice to any millennial at any stage in their life.
10 Absolutely Amazing Pieces of Advice for Young Canadian Millennials
#10 Use your twenties wisely
The first piece of advice was from a Reddit post titled: Successful men of reddit, how did you get where you are now?
This was by a user named Dbcanuck:
“Lots of people say they’ll focus on career and relationships in their 30s and 40s once they’ve experienced the world. I’ve seen this ruin people. As they get older, they get set in their ways…. laziness in their 20s becomes laziness/settling in their 30s. Your 20s isn’t time to f*** around, your 20s is the time to discipline yourself to later life success”.
Why we love this:
Your 20s are a time where you have the energy to pull off a lot more than you will later in life.
It is also a time where you need to learn how to focus.
As mentioned above, once you create your habits and settle in, it is extremely difficult to break those bad habits.
Have fun in your twenties but work towards your goals as well. Do not put this off.
Life tends to have surprises when you least expect them, so expect the unexpected!
#9 Take risks in your career
The next piece of advice comes from a Forbes article titled: My 10 Best Pieces Of Career Advice For Millennials
The author mentions that you should take risks often and early in your career.
With so much out of our control in this economy, we cannot keep doing what we did yesterday.
Why we love this:
This is very true. You may be working in your company for the last 5 years with great results, but one bad streak of bad results due to slow months can end in you being fired or laid off.
Make yourself a valuable asset regardless of how the business is currently running.
You cannot be disposable, you need to show your company or boss that you are more than just an employee, you are a brilliant thinker who competitors would love to have!
#8 You want to be successful? Keep going!
This piece of advice comes from David Walker, a CEO of Triple Mint, a successful real estate firm in New York:
“Success is really all about who’s left standing. Keep pushing until you’re successful — I believe the tendency to jump around careers, although tempting in our current system, is often a mistake”
Why we love this:
This is also geared toward the millennial entrepreneurs out there.
If you started a business, your putting a lot of effort into it and you just aren’t seeing the results, do not give up!
Analyse why it’s not working, fix it and try again!
You will eventually succeed.
The hardest part is not giving up when you feel like you are failing.
#7 You need a strong network!
This next piece of advice wasn’t directly a piece of advice. It was more the intro to a good business article from Business Insider.
The article’s first line is this: “The most successful people in the world didn’t make it on their own.”
Why we love this:
Many millennials have their ego telling them that they need to accomplish something on their own.
That if they get help, they didn’t really succeed.
This is bad thinking.
The most successful people on this earth had help.
You cannot do anything today without the help of your fellow humans!
From the day you are born, you are already being helped by your parents meaning you technically never accomplished anything alone anyways.
Create good networks and strong connections and use what you have around you.
#6 Be prepared to have conversations that are not fun
This next piece is one of our all time favourites. It comes from another reddit post called: What’s the single best piece of advice you’ve ever heard?
User The_Krug states: “Your success in life is largely dependent on how many uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have.”
This was a quote given to him by his former boss when he was denied re-enrollment for University. He told him to drive down and go have a talk with them
Why we love this:
Interviews are not comfortable. They never will be.
But they exist and are a key to get you into higher positions.
Disagreements are also not very fun.
But a good debate can go a long way.
Get used to the idea that you will have many uncomfortable talks in your life.
The more you have the better. It means you are progressing in your life.
Don’t just agree with things you actually don’t because it easier.
#5 Sometimes what you say cannot be taken back
This piece of advice also comes from a similar reddit post.
Sharsyed13 says his best piece of advice he has gotten is: “Years of love have been forgotten in the hatred of a minute”
Why we love this:
You will get into many arguments in your life.
Maybe you are angry with someone now?
Girlfriends, boyfriends, bosses, parents, grandparents… the list goes on of people who might get under your skin at some point.
Lots of people simply loose their cool when they hear something they don’t want to hear and say things that can’t be taken back.
You cannot do this, you need to remember that you actually love this person.
They have stuck around you for a long time and they don’t deserve your angry and thoughtless words.
#4 Motivation comes in waves, do not wait for it
This piece comes from a website called success.com. “Focus on commitment, not motivation”
Why we love it:
Motivation comes…motivation goes.
Then it comes again!
And then it goes.
Motivation comes in waves. It can be sparked by a small success, and then taken away by a small failure.
As we know, any business, career, journey has both failures and successes.
If you focus on motivation and not commitment, you won’t get very far with the task you are given.
You need to stay committed, work, and remember why you started this in the first place.
#3 Balance your life
This piece comes from Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike :
“There is an immutable conflict at work in life and in business, a constant battle between peace and chaos. Neither can be mastered, but both can be influenced. How you go about that is the key to success.”
Why we love this:
You need to balance your life.
If you work hard, you need to rest. You need to be healthy to continue.
If you are going to drink some alcohol, eat some good food as well.
Have a good social life, don’t be a workaholic.
Spend time with your significant other.
“Success comes from balancing your life, not destroying your other parts of life so one part can succeed.” – Downtown Money original!
#2 Don’t rely on money as happiness
This piece comes from a 70-year-old man named Akshay Gupta and his advice is not to rely on money as a source of happiness.
-If you rely on money for your happiness, then you fall into an endless cycle of frustration. What cycle? The cycle of thinking “I’ll be happy if I get X” then getting X, not being satisfied, then thinking “I’ll be happy if I get Y,” then getting Y, and then keeping on with that same cycle of frustration.
Why we love this:
At Downtown Money, we appreciate what money can offer us.
It is a means to an end.
It allows us to travel and if used well, a stress free life.
We can afford to live where we want and do as we please.
This is why we are all on a quest to make more!
But the truth is, having more and more money is not what makes us happy.
As the quote said, if that’s how we thought, we would never be happy because we can always have more.
Set your goal. How much do you need to realistically enjoy your life to the fullest?
Make some adjustments. Do you need to have a brand new car or is used okay?
Do you need to have a 4000 square foot mansion in the future or will a normal sized house suffice?
More won’t make you any happier. Happiness comes from within!
#1 Be positive
This is something you can find anywhere on the internet but it is our favourite.
So we decided to create our own original quote… at least we think it’s original…nothing really is unique anymore.
“Staying Positive keeps your mind healthy allowing for more success in your career. More success in your career offers more money to travel. Traveling offers more experiences for better conversations. Better conversations results in more connections. More connections opens up doors for your future. But it all starts with being positive. ”
Everything is better when you have a positive outlook on life.
Even if you are in the worst possible position, if you can put a positive spin on it, you will come out a winner!
In the end of it all, what counts is how happy you were in your life.
That is something that you actually have control over.
We hope that these 10 absolutely amazing pieces of advice for young Canadian millennials can help you live a positive and balanced life while achieving your form of success!
Do you have any tips?
Please share below!
Downtown Money is a millennial online magazine aimed at helping our generation move forward. Follow us for the latest news worth your time.