5 pieces of advice and encouragement to fresh graduates to take on the world authentically.
Last week, my husband and I proudly watched my youngest son's college graduation ceremony in Canada via YouTube live-stream on my big screen TV in Hong Kong. He and my older son live in Canada now. His big brother was there to represent us, proudly cheer and take photos.
If you have read my blogs on Encouraging Generation Z and parenting Gen Z, you will understand that I am an advocate for them. In my blog Family Connections That Endure, I share how losing my parent at a young age has guided my principles in building my family connections with my sons.
My sons are one of the reasons I started blogging. I wanted to capture stories, lessons and a part of me to share with my sons whenever they are ready for the various topics.
Cuz let's be honest. We never listen to our parents when we are young adults full of independence to live our own lives.
My greater blogging objective is capturing my life's wisdom from a long career in training, education and coaching, as well as a life full of lessons in resilience in hopes of helping others. But each blog is saved in a growing memoir collection for my sons to have a part of me long after I am gone. When they are ready for the advice and lessons.
As I watched my son's graduation ceremony and listened to a somewhat generic speech from the guest speaker, I thought about what my message would be to the Class of 2024.
They have had their college and university life so augmented by a 3-year pandemic and are going out into an uncertain world still in recovery. What words of advice, inspiration and encouragement can I give to my recently graduated Gen Z sons and their cohort?
I have imparted guidance and encouragement to my sons throughout their post-secondary journeys. With their journeys complete (for now), here are my 5 pieces of advice and encouragement to fresh graduates to help them take on the world.
1. Chase Dreams With a Plan
My Chinese immigrant parents did not encourage me to dream when I was growing up in Canada during the 80s. Their generation wanted us to be practical and find a dependable, stable trade or career. Imagine their dismay when I declared at 13 that I wanted to be a fashion designer and then went on to study fashion design in post-secondary school.
In today's world, things are different. There is no truly dependable and stable trade or career. Gen Z has grown up influenced and inspired by entrepreneurs and influencers who have created alternate trades and careers. It should be no surprise that they want to chase big dreams with squiggly career paths.
Regardless of the size of your dream, it will stay in the clouds unless you tether it to a plan to make it a reality.
I encourage you to dream big and chase those dreams with a plan.
Things you can do to help you plan for your dreams are:
Break down your dream goals into bite-size stepping stones.
Set concrete action plans for each stepping stone.
Allow for detours or alternate routes as life and situations change.
Enjoy the chase and learn from the process along the way.
Celebrate the small achievements, not just the big ones.
Know that mistakes and missteps are inevitable and valuable for reflection and success.
The dreams we have for our lives are unique to each of us. There is no competition, comparison or judgement that matters from others and even from ourselves.
Dreams are fluid and can change over our lifetime. If you chase your dreams with actionable plans, there's no limit to what you can make into reality.
2. Balance Confidence and Humility
The confidence that comes from graduating from post-secondary school is a rite of passage into young adulthood. This is a big milestone that launches you into your next phase of adulthood.
You are full of knowledge and expertise in your field of study. You have worked hard and are proud of your post-secondary accomplishments. You should be beaming with confidence as you set out to make your mark in the world.
I encourage you to balance your confidence with humility.
During my corporate career, I had the pleasure of interviewing and hiring many fresh graduates into their first career roles. I could sense their confidence or lack of it or their overconfidence.
The ones who were successful in their first career roles have a balance of confidence and humility. They were confident in the skills and knowledge that they have gained with their degree, but not over confident to think that their degree made them an expert on the topic.
Many fresh graduates in their first career roles are focused on seeking praise, recognition and reward for their required job responsibilities as if still seeking high marks and praise from their professors.
In chasing respect and recognition, they often overcompensate with an air of confidence. They think that asking clarifying questions or asking for help when needed is a sign of weakness. Or that it makes them look less confident and capable.
In fact, the opposite is true. Asking clarifying questions shows your confidence as it demonstrates your assertiveness to do the task correctly. Asking for help when needed shows confidence in voicing your needs to get the task done to the expected results.
While employers want confidence and independence in fresh graduate employees, they also want team players who have the humility to learn, grow and collaborate well with others. Not overly confident employees with a chip on their shoulder to prove themselves capable.
Balancing your confidence as a fresh post-graduate expert with the humility to learn from working experts in their roles will make you a valuable part of the team you join. And someone who others will enjoy sharing and working with.
3. Make Learning a Lifelong Habit
The school of life is always in session and offers many valuable lessons, if we take note and allow ourselves to learn and grow.
I am a strong believer in lifelong learning. What we know today easily becomes outdated tomorrow. Our first post-graduate degree may not be our last if we want to grow in our careers and in other life pursuits.
I encourage you to make learning and self-development a lifelong habit.
You can foster a life-long learning attitude by:
Conducting an annual stock take of the knowledge, interests and skills you have gained.
Try to balance one new learning for your career and one for personal growth.
Be intentional in dedicating time for learning and growth pursuits because it will never happen if you wait for the "spare time to do it".
Make a list for the learning that you need or want to get you to your next career or personal goal and set an action plan.
Invest time and resources into your self-development.
It's easy to become out of touch with information, knowledge and skills in today's fast moving world. Even if you spent 4-6 years to gain your post-graduate degree, the information will inevitably change.
Change is the the only constant in life and a lifelong learning habit will help you evolve and grow throughout your life.
4. Identify Your Core Values
The idiom, "The world is your oyster." is said to mean that someone has the opportunity to achieve great success in their life. (Collinsdictionary.com)
While each graduating class enters a world of challenges and uncertainties, graduates can achieve success by adapting to and overcoming challenges. To overcome difficulties and challenges, it helps to have personal guiding values and principles.
I believe you can make the world your oyster when you have clarity on your core values.
The definition of success will change throughout the stages of life. The values and character that define you will help you to achieve meaningful success in the various areas of your life.
I know this sounds vague and abstract, but if you are able to identify your values early in your young adulthood, they will help you build character and find purpose.
Personal values are principles that help you differentiate between “good” and “bad" or "right" and "wrong".
Personal values influence your behaviours, relationships, and everyday life choices. They guide you through important decision-making and influence personal development and your ideal career path.
Examples of personal core values are:
honesty
integrity
accountability
loyalty
generosity
family
kindness
courage
health
perseverance
creativity
Core values are universal and timeless. For example, the definitions and behaviour for the value of "honesty" are the same regardless of culture or time. When you act against your core values, it feels uncomfortable and wrong.
In an article from BetterUp.com on 30 Personal Values Examples & How to Live By Yours there are useful prompting questions to help you identify your core values.
In my blog Discovering Purpose, I give you 3 exercises to help you discover your purpose along with some great videos for inspiration and contemplation.
Identifying your the core values will keep you from losing you way along the many ups and downs on your life's journey.
5. You Are Capable of Anything
When I think back to being a fresh grad, I remember the excitement of entering the "real-world" and starting my independent life. I also remember the nervousness and trepidation of knowing that I am now fully responsible for my decisions and actions. For me, there was no safety net to fall back on with both my biological parents passed away. And a very strained relationship with my step father.
I am grateful for the open and close relationship that my husband and I have with our sons. They know that we will always be there as sounding bords, life coaches and career councillors for whatever they need.
We have also tried our best to instill in them that they are capable young adults who can make wise decisions and create value in the world.
You are capable of anything you put your mind to. Impact and valuable contribution is not limited by age.
My biggest encouragement to the graduating classl of 2024 is to live with courage and compassion. Believe in yourself and in others. Be kind and compassionate with yourself and with others.
Success in material things in life or in social status is fleeting. What makes a life truly rich are the relationships we cultivate, the contributions we make to better ourselves and the world around us.
Congratulations to the graduating class of 2024!
Additional articles to advise and encourage your success:
Thank you for spending time on AYCLimitless.com
Please share and subscribe if you enjoyed your time on the site.
Comments