Introduction
I’ve worked in several different fields, and I’ve seen a lot of careers come and go. So I figured that if anyone could give me some sound career advice, it would be my grandfather. He’s been retired for more than 20 years now, but he still has lots of good stories to tell about his time as an electrician in the Navy during World War II.
One thing that always stuck with me from our conversations is how much he valued learning new things throughout his life. He used to say “If you stop learning new things every day then you’ll never get promoted.” That’s why today I’m going to share with you some of the best career advice that Granddad gave me—and hopefully it will help you too!
Work with your hands.
- Work with your hands.
- Physical work can be a great way to get away from the stresses of life and relax. Learn a trade or skill that allows you to do something physical, whether it’s carpentry or farming. Your grandfather might have been right: using your hands may help you find yourself more easily than sitting at a desk all day staring at a screen
Don’t expect every job to be your dream job—but choose your boss wisely.
You might think that your dream job is out there somewhere and you just haven’t found it yet. Your granddad would tell you that’s not true—but he’d also tell you to choose your boss wisely.
If you don’t like your boss, leave. If you don’t like the job or company culture, or even the industry (or if it’s an industry that isn’t for everyone), then leave too. Don’t let anything hold you back from finding something better for yourself and making a name for yourself in whatever way suits YOU best!
It’s never too late to start a new career.
You’re never too old to start over. If you’re unhappy with your current career, it’s never too late to change. Don’t let age or other people’s expectations stop you from pursuing a new career. And don’t let your past mistakes hold you back either; if anything, those can be good motivators for doing better in the future!
Start saving for retirement now.
The best career advice you can ever get is to start saving for retirement now. It’s true that the later you start saving, the less you will have in your pension fund when it’s time to retire, but even if you only start with a few dollars a week, every little bit helps.
Start young and save more money every year. The earlier we start saving for our old age and invest in stocks or bonds (or both), the more compound interest will benefit us over time. Compound interest means that interest earned on previous investments is added to your principal amount at maturity; this increases its value and allows your return on investment (ROI) to increase as well – in short: compound interest makes things grow bigger!
Don’t rely on someone else to take care of you once you’re too old or infirm to work anymore – life happens unexpectedly sometimes so make sure that someone else won’t become responsible for paying all of your bills when something goes wrong!
If you’re going to stay late, make it worth your while.
If you’re going to stay late, make it worth your while.
There is no point in staying at the office past 6pm if you aren’t getting anything done. But if you are working hard and making progress, then staying late can be a good thing. It shows that you are committed and dedicated and it also shows that your boss trusts you by giving you more responsibility than other employees who leave at 5pm every day.
The key is to stay productive during your extra time at work so that when someone asks where all this extra time goes, be able to answer them truthfully about what exactly happened during those last few hours of work!
Go to the company picnic—and the holiday parties.
There are few better ways to get to know your colleagues than by going to company social events. The picnic and holiday parties are good places to meet people and build relationships that will help you in your career. You can learn a lot from the people around you, and it’s a great way to network with others who work at your company.
Only work with people you respect.
Treat your coworkers like family. You don’t have to be best friends with everyone, but you do need to respect them and get along well enough for the team to function. This is especially important if you work remotely, because being able to trust your coworkers completely is key to having a successful working relationship. They will help you grow and learn new things, which makes it more likely that you will improve professionally (and personally). It also means that they are more likely to put in effort themselves—not just because their boss told them too but because they want their work environment to remain positive and productive as well!
It goes without saying that this advice applies whether or not you like your coworkers personally; it just makes sense from both sides: employers want employees who enjoy doing good work; employees want employers who value doing good work.
Learn how to use a computer and a computer program—and then learn more.
You need to learn how to use a computer and a computer program.
Learn how to use the computer you have now, and then learn more about the program that’s on it.
If you don’t know how to use a computer, then get one and learn how. And then get another one, so that if your first one breaks or gets lost or stolen or whatever else could happen (and hey, things do happen!), you can still work (and maybe even find new jobs).
Use programs like Microsoft Word or Excel on both computers until you feel comfortable with them—then add some more programs like Google Chrome and Firefox into your everyday routine as well!
Treat everyone with respect, even if they aren’t “your type.”
“Treat everyone with respect, no matter their age, gender, race or religion.” I know this is a lot to ask. But if you can’t do that at work—or anywhere else in your life—you’re going to have a hard time getting ahead in any industry.
Don’t let anyone step on you because of your age or gender.
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Granddad knew a thing or two about having a successful career
Granddad was a very successful businessman. He started out as a salesman for a small company and worked his way up to running the whole show, eventually selling it for millions of dollars (which he used to invest in other businesses). He was also a great mentor, teaching me how to be entrepreneurial and run my own business (although I wasn’t successful like Granddad was).
Granddad was also a good man. He loved his wife and kids with all his heart, and always made sure they knew that they were loved by him as well as their mom.
Granddad is also an example of how we can live life: with kindness and love towards others, along with hard work towards achieving our goals–whatever those may be! As long as you are honest with yourself about what makes you happy in life then there’s nothing stopping anybody from being successful at whatever career path they choose 🙂
Conclusion
Granddad was one of the greatest men I’ll ever know. He taught me important lessons about having a successful career, but he also taught me what it means to be a good person. And he did all of this before I could even read!
