At the risk of dating myself, who else remembers “The Sunscreen Song?”
The track was put to wax by Baz Lurhmann during the summer of 1999 and features lyrics taken from a hypothetical commencement speech penned by Chicago Tribune Columnist Mary Schmich.
The tune features some great pieces of advice. But one piece of advice stands out above the rest.
It’s advice about advice.
“Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.”
I love that line. It’s snarky, but I choose to take it seriously. Dispensing advice is a way of recovering lessons from the past, taking the best parts, and then reusing it.
While this line and the majority of the song address the more personal aspects of life, I’ve found it applies professionally as well.
I mean, it makes sense, right? The best way to learn is to take on advice from those you respect and those who have reached places in life to which you aspire.
Whenever I have the opportunity, I ask smart people I respect to share with me the best advice they have ever received. You’d be surprised how much insight such a simple question can yield.
Here are a few of the best I’ve collected. Hopefully, they will help you on your own journey.
- If it’s going to take two minutes, do it now.
- Become a lifelong learner.
- There’s more than one way to do things. Don’t be the embarrassing person stuck in their ways.
- Be strategic in your decision-making. Moving forward with or killing an idea? Have a reason.
- Every time you open your mouth is an opportunity to make yourself look like an idiot. Be thoughtful and choose your words carefully.
- Take ownership of victories and failures.
- Think as big as possible and scale back until your ideas fit your needs.
Oh, and and here’s a bonus one. Remember cool songs written before you were legally able to vote. It might help you write a blog one day.
