Learnings from my 30's I wish I would have known in my 20's
1. I don’t know it all. I never will. And don’t have to. Whew!
2. I must surround myself with those who are smarter than me. I thought I might be pretty smart by the time I was 35, but I’m still learning. And will continue to do so. But I don’t have to be the expert in every area.
3. I can’t do it all. A team around you is crucial. And as a leader, allowing others on the team to take things off your plate is sometimes the hardest thing to do. But one of the most important things you can do.
4. Career is a season, not a lifetime. I don’t have to have my “career” figured out. I thought in my 20′s if I didn’t have my career plan figured out by the time I was 25, I was sunk, Not so.
5. At the end of the day, a humble and authentic leader will “win” in the long run. Many times in our 20′s, and in our culture, being “loud”, aggressive, “win now”, arrogant, and transactional will get you big results fast. But over the long term, people would much rather partner and work with leaders who are humble, authentic, relational, win/win focused, and not always thinking about themselves. Being real and being generous wins.
6. The more you have, the harder it is to give it up. Doesn’t matter whether we are talking about money, possessions, toys, influence, team members, projects, or assignments. Especially with money and possessions- learn to be generous in your 20′s with relatively little, and it’s much easier to continue that generosity in your 30′s when you usually have “more.”
7. You are never really “ready” for anything. Some say that you should wait until you are “mature” enough to pursue certain things in life. But we’re never really ready, are we? At 22, I didn’t think I was ready. At 25, I didn’t think I “knew” enough. As my friends from the UK would say….. “Rubbish!”
8. WHO you are working with is just as important as WHAT you are working on. One of the major things I’m learning in my 30′s. The journey is much more fun when you are working and locking arms with those you love being around.
wow, brad. love your insights and although i am only 2 years into my 30′s, i can already see and agree with most of everything you said here. thanks for sharing!
Great post!
Great post! Enjoyed chatting today.
Great post. My 26th birthday is coming up and I feel like I’m turning a corner towards 30. The weight of success and accomplishment and knowing everything sometimes gets to me. Thank you for relieving me of this fear.
#5 is where I’m at right now and trying to learn!
[...] Learnings from my 30′s I wish I would have known in my 20′s by Brad Lomenick [...]
Being in my mid-30′s, I definitely agree with you.
Looking back on my 20′s, they were great in the fact that they now give me a excellent perspective in what I do. Without that perspective I would, well, be acting like I was in my 20′s!
Thanks for the post.
[...] Several months ago I put together some thoughts for 20-somethings titled Shut Up and Listen. I also did a post for leaders in their 30’s on Lessons I’ve learned in my 30’s…. [...]
[...] doing.On his blog he’s been doing some stuff on age groups and advice about leadership. Thus, here’s one and here’s another. His series of three posts is worth your reading, but I’d like to [...]
Great post Brad! Another important thing I’ve learned is that everyone is not motivated or inspired by the same things that i am; so, learning to appreciate others differences goes a long ways toward ones ability to impact and influence.