Elon Musk is a genius, read his advice for young people below:
- have a meaningful goal
- embrace failure
- challenge the way things are done
- seek out feedback
- focus on one thing
- university degrees aren’t everything
- take risks
- create don’t complain
- be different
- ask yourself ‘How could I improve?’
Elon Musk Advice For Students #1: Have a Meaningful Goal
Don’t just try and make money or get promoted.
Try to have a goal that you really care about and will work hard to achieve it.
Elon Musk Advice For Students #2: Embrace Failure
Don’t be afraid to fail.
Some of the best products come from failing in the early years.
Innovation and failure go hand in hand.
“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
Elon Musk Advice For Students #3: Challenge the Way Things are Done
You can either choose to be ‘ordinary’ or ‘extraordinary’.
Challenge the status quo, do the unexpected; that is how you will really stand out from the crowd.
“I think people can choose to be not ordinary. They can choose to not necessarily conform to the conventions that were taught to them by their parents.
Yes, I think it’s possible to choose to be extraordinary.”
Elon Musk Advice #4: Seek out Feedback
Seek out as much feedback as you can from people you trust and respect.
Your ideas or plans may not always be as good as you think.
“A well thought criticism of what you are doing is as valuable as gold”
For 11 insightful career advice tips from interviews with 100 young professionals, read my career advice for teens post
Elon Musk Advice For Students #5: Just Focus on One Thing
Concentrate on doing one thing or one project and give it your all.
That is how you can get more done.
Elon Musk Advice #6: University Degrees aren’t Everything
Don’t be obsessed with what university you graduate from or what degree you have.
You can have a great career without either of these.
Are you unsure about which career path to follow? You have a vague idea what you might want to do, but are not really sure?
If so, check out my online course on ‘How to Find Your Perfect Career’. It is 25 tried and tested exercises that I’ve used to take me from jobs I hated in my 20’s to a job I LOVE now!
Elon Musk Advice For Students #7: Take Risks
Take risks when you are young.
When you don’t have a mortgage or a wife and kids to support; what is the worst that can happen?
You will always have a roof over your head and enough to eat.
As you get older, risk taking impacts your family.
Not sure about what you want to do career-wise? check out my 3 Proven Tools to Help you Choose a Career blog post
Elon Musk Advice #8: Create Things
Create instead of complain.
Complaints are a sign that there is a problem there to be solved.
Finding solutions to these problems can result in successful business ideas.
Elon Musk Advice For Students #9: Be Different
“Don’t just follow the trend”.
Focus on creating new innovations instead of chasing your competitors.
Elon Musk Advice #10: Constantly Ask Yourself ‘How Could I Improve?’
Constantly think about how you could be doing things better, and question yourself how you could improve.
Feedback will give you outside perspective on how you can improve and move forwards.
