#10 Always be honest. Always.
Tristan and I go way back to high school and have happily kept in touch. I believe he is, to quote Coolio, “an educated fool with money on (his) mind”. In writing this, he expressed (and I’m paraphrasing here) that it’s hard to be earnest without sometimes coming off as corny. I find the same thing, but then again…who wants to be sarcastic all the time? Oh, and he happens to be a terrific music/fashion blogger: http://sidewalkhustle.com/
- Chase your dreams. You only live once! I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. It’s easy to settle for comfortable, but if you truly want to be happy in your life you need to chase your dreams.
- You have to work for what you want! The world owes you NOTHING. Just because your mom told you that you were the greatest thing since sliced bread, that doesn’t mean it’s true, or that other people agree. You need to give it your all, your everything, or you will never succeed.
- Don’t give up! Ever! Nothing comes quickly and/or easy, and when it does, it hardly ever seems worth it.
- Listen to your friends! They know a lot about you and for the most part want nothing but the best and success for you. Plus when you become HUGE you can entourage them…
- If you want something, ask. My good friend wanted to start writing video game reviews so he wrote a bunch about the games he had at home. Then when he was done he emailed video game companies directly and asked if he could write reviews for new games. Some said sure and sent him some, some did not. Eventually he got to the point where he no longer had to ask because he became a wanted commodity. Which leads to the next point.
- Be careful what you wish for. Biggie said it best, “Mo Money, Mo Problems” which can be applied to anything. We use to hunt for things to write about, constantly hunting down the sources of info we wanted. Once we got to a point where people wanted us to write for them they would send us stuff… Now, it’s a matter of filtering through the constant barrage of emails. There is no such thing as a “quiet day away from the computer”…my inbox would be a nightmare.
- The world is a beautiful place, be sure to take a minute to enjoy it. Just because you are giving it your all doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy life.
- Always be honest. Always.
- Always be nice to people, and help people out who are in need. Give your seat on the bus to the older gent or pregnant woman. I didn’t learn this from blogging, I learned this from being a participating member of society. Manners are extremely important. Don’t be a jerk.
- Most importantly… Fake it until you make it.