Youngest
I was always the “young one” in the room.
I am 19. Almost two decades old. And I am no longer the “youngest one” in the room.
I think a lot of young “entrepreneurs” make the mistake, early on, of building their brand off of their age.
“Teenage entrepreneur”
“Young hustler”
etc.
Something I thought about quite quickly — you are only ‘the young one’ for so long. You are only a Forbes 30U30 until you turn 31. Right?
Does your brand disappear when you get old? Do people still care about your opinion?
I rarely share my age on my social profiles. Why? For this exact reason. I want people to take chances on me, yes. But not because I am young. I want people to take chances on me because they believe in me.
Being the youngest in the room, however, does have some advantages. Just like being old, being young gives you a unique perspective.
Diversity of opinions is generally super valuable. Companies value unique styles of thinking.
When you are young — you can use that mindset to your advantage and start helping companies.
I’ll save much of this for a later, much longer post, but there are so many ways you can add value for companies — ESPECIALLY — when you are young.
Anyways — have urgency. You are only young for so long. And realize that you will not be forever. Make it count!
Originally published at Jordan Gonen.
By jordangonen on April 7, 2017.
Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.