I Wish I Would Have...
#NewJob #school #travel #family #Investment #cooking #puzzles #saving #college #Time #SecondLanguage #whattodoent
Not Wasted Time Going To College
I do not speak for everyone when I say school was a waste of my time. Learning is important but, today’s schools will not teach you anything you cannot learn on your own for free. The problem with schools is they teach everyone at the same pace. Let us look at my college course business administration. They took three months to try and teach me something I learned on my own in a week. Most people know that experience beats reading a book any day. Reading only provides the fundamentals, not the know-how. Plus, one of my favorite quotes from the movie Good Will Hunting “You spent all that money on an expensive education while I have the same knowledge from the public library, and it only cost me $2.38 in late fees.” I feel you do not learn from school unless it is something that interests you. Yes, you sign up for a major and they fill your day with a bunch of other classes that might be wasting your time. If I am going to pay you, at least only teach me what I want to learn. That way instead of staying in school for eight hours a day, I will only be there for four the other four I could be in an on the job training program.
7 Ways Students Waste Time and Energy
there is still time to go back.
Learn A Second Language
Not Learning another language is one of my biggest regrets in my life. I know you are saying to yourself just learn now. Yes, I am in the process of learning Spanish and French right now. It will take me some time to get them down pack. The reason I say regret is there were so many connections and opportunities I already missed out on. In my adult years, I have discovered that communication can open so many doors in the business world. It really bothered me once I started to travel outside of the U.S.A. I was not able to find places, read signs, or even ask for help. I remember going to Germany there were so many places I wanted to visit and certain types of food I wanted to try. I could not find the right guide that understood enough English to help me find exactly what I wanted. I had a great time there too bad I had to settle for where the people figure would be a good tour for me. I remember getting back on the cruise and at dinner that night I met a German couple. These people knew everything I was talking about telling me how close I was to a few of these places from where I told them I ended up going to. I will tell you this after I learn these new languages I will head back to D.R, France, and Jamaica for a do-over.
start with a few greeting then expand
Spent More Time With My Family
I wish I would have a better connection with my family. My children and I are fine with our time. I made sure we did family time every single weekend. It is the rest of my family I feel a disconnect to. My Brothers, Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles most of us grew up in the same house but distance. Since we all moved into our own place no one keeps in touch anymore. No Sunday dinners, no holiday gathering at grandma’s house, no family reunion, and not so much as a call on a birthday. The only time we come together is at a funeral. I am not saying we need to see or call each other every day which would be nice, but it has been years since I spoke to some of my first cousins. I know I can not control the world but at least I made sure my children understand the importance of a family bond. I realized that I should have reached out a lot more when I was younger, but I did not know I was not taught. In the early 90’s I started putting together my own version of a family gathering. I would host cookouts in the summer and potluck dinners in the winter. I invited my family, but they would never show up. Do not think this story has a sad ending. A group of my friends would show up and they invited their friends. This is what formed the company WHAT TO DO ENTERTAINMENT. I figured if I could not have my family there, I would host events that invite other families to come together. Twenty-plus years later my family (my company) has grown to a few hundred people. Most of the events are sold out from comedy shows to vacations. Even if you buy a ticket as a single person you will leave our events like you spent the day or weekend with your own family. Always a great time without the usual family drama it is a win-win. Here is the happy ending with each event more and more of my own family is started to attend.
Why Spending Time with Family is Important
it is never too late make the time around their schedule
Invested More Money
When I was growing up, I was always told to save my money, never told invest it. Even though I was told to save I was not taught how, why, or how much. When I did save, I always ended up spending the money on a bill or something I wanted. The crazy part I was great at saving but even better at spending once I had an amount, I was comfortable with. All the money I made in my lifetime and it was a lot; I have nothing to show for it today. I was never told to save my money to buy assets. Then later in life, the assets will make me wealthy and I would never have to worry about money or a bill ever again. I could not blame my family and friends for me being broke. They made good amounts of money and spent it just like me, so we all are in the same boat. At least we were, not anymore. Thanks to the internet and some great books I learned how to invest. I now own a few assets plus invested in a couple of businesses. These investments are slowly growing, and my wealth is now building. The best part about investing I am making money while I am sleeping. No more trading my time for money, instead of working for money my money is working for me. Now if someone would have broken it down to me like that I would have started investing as a teenager. Had I done that I might be retired right now. I have two important things to clear up about investing. One is it is never too late to start, and no amount is too small. You can buy a stock for less than a dollar and buying a stock means you own part of that company. If you need help to get started contact me @whattodoent@yahoo.com I teach a class.
77% of Americans Regret Not Investing Earlier
You can start with the change in your pocket right now.
Stayed Doing My Favorite Hobby
When I was younger, I had a few hobbies, not realizing how important they were to my health. My main three hobbies were cooking, puzzles, and watching movies. Now you might say to yourself that you don't see these types of hobbies helped my health. I will break down each of them and explain how it helped me. Cooking I did a lot of experimenting with which herbs and spices work best together. The nutritional value each food contained. In my thirties, I was working 12-to-16-hour days never really had time to make a home-cooked meal. On top of eating out a lot, I ate plenty of snacks and junk food just to keep me up. As you guessed years of that my health deteriorated. If I would have kept up my hobby of cooking preparing healthy meals, I would be in better shape today. It took a pandemic to make me slow down with my insane working schedule and start cooking again. In a matter of months, my weight is coming back down. My blood pressure is almost back in the normal range. Even my aches and pains are going away. Imagine what type of condition my health will be in after a few years of this. I love cooking
Puzzles always kept me thinking and figuring things out. It kept my mind sharp so when I did not make time for it anymore, I started doing instead of thinking. This meant my assignments took longer I was not applying my puzzles solving skills to handle my work situation. Instead of looking at everything as a puzzle, I looked at it as work. I did not know how to fix it. Work is so boring and hard. When I learned to look at it as a puzzle, something, I loved to do; things started to make sense to me. Instead of dreading work, I started to look forward to finding a way to solve it. I now walk into work and say what is the biggest puzzles I am going to solve today. Now that I look at it as a game and not a job the stress goes away as well. Everyone should work on a puzzle today.
My family and friends used to tell me I watch too much TV Now I am writing blogs, books, TV pilots, and working on a screenplay. I took all the hours of watching movies and TV and started thinking about how I can write one. I learn what makes a hit or a flop. How important the character and score are the main keys to a good film. How the director and editor are the backbones to all blockbusters. So, all the years people thought I was wasting I was doing research. So, within the next three years, I will have the best movie, book, or tv series out. Tyler Perry lookout. As far as helping my health movies relaxes me. When I am relaxing my mind can create new ideas. I will go as far as to say I picked up a lot of ideas while I was watching tv and movies. Like a character on one of my favorite movies THE CABLE GUY, “I learned the facts of life by watch the Facts of Life”
Traveled More
One of my favorite pastimes has been put on hold. Pre pandemic I had all these plans of places I wanted to visit. I love to travel it does not matter even if only for a day or two. Now that most of the world is on a travel ban you start to appreciate how much we take it for granted. The same goes for if you get hurt and cannot move around as much or your body gets old. Traveling is for people of all ages, but I wish that I could have started it ten to fifteen years sooner in my life. Some places you want to be able to climb, swim, or hike to get to. When you are younger you are most likely to party longer or break night more. Even if you get into an accident you will heal a lot quicker. It also seems like the younger travelers tend to explore more. Just think of all the new friends I met in the past 10 years from traveling I would have met 2 to 3x as many. Now when I visit certain places, I might already know some locals that live there. Speaking of which I have a few friends in D.R, P.R, St Thomas, London, and Belgium that I call now and tell them I am on my way back. Some other people that I met out of state call and let me know when they are visiting NEW YORK. When they arrive, I take them out and show them around. I like the fact that a lot of people know me in N.Y. I love the fact that I have people from all over the world that I met, hung, and talk with as well. Some of us do not even speak the same language but will still manage to communicate anyway. After the ban is lifted and it is safe to travel again, I am hitting the road, the ocean, and the air again.
Traveling is the easiest to do just make a plan.
Bonus Videos
Today's call of action tell us is there anything you wish you would have done. What are you planning to do now?
