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This is specifically for people in and out of the industry under 35 because you are not yet stuck in your ways and afraid of change. While it may seem like it will take forever to get from the age of 35 to 50, it is actually only 15 years. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n You would truly be amazed at what you can accomplish in that time if you make the right moves by the time you turn 35. Working in the music and radio<\/a> industry, I\u2019ve seen people go from wealthy to food stamps. I\u2019ve seen people go from owning homes to renting an apartment or worse living In various missions. <\/span><\/p>\n They usually choose to suffer in silence because they are humiliated by the circumstances. They didn\u2019t use their \u201c15 minutes\u201d wisely and the most common mistake of all.. they thought it would last forever. I\u2019ve also seen incredibly successful people in the industry, they are always the \u201crolling stones\u201d like Steve Harvey, Diddy, Dr Dre, Russell Simmons, Cathy Hughes, Jay Z etc and they always have one thing in common, they knew how to leverage their career assets to create ancillary products for themselves and either expanded their brands or used it as leverage by leaving on top to start something new<\/span>. <\/p>\n There are people who think that success means you can relax WRONG!!! That\u2019s actually the time to go to WORK!<\/p>\n The music industry has a different set of rules than most other industries. First, you\u2019re not really required to have a college degree or a lot of experience to work in the industry, at least that\u2019s how it used<\/em> to be. Many people became successful<\/a> simply because they knew someone who worked in the industry. <\/span><\/p>\n Those days are long gone and now industry people have to justify their value which has led our industry to be cut by more than 50% since 2000. The music and radio<\/a> industries are great platforms to use for this story considering any and everything that we do has gone online. <\/p>\n There are many other tips I can think of but these are the most important and the biggest mistakes I\u2019ve seen people make, including myself \u2026 I mentor several younger people and these are the things I often tell them. Click NEXT above or below for next segment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Truth be told, I don\u2019t think most people are ready to go to college right after high school. <\/span><\/p>\n It is your first time experiencing independence and at the same time you are under immense pressure to be responsible?<\/i> That\u2019s an anomaly, which is probably why many kids party so hard then get extremely stressed for midterms and finals. Even more unfortunate, I cannot even count how many people I have seen graduate from college after high school who never use their degree. <\/span><\/p>\n College is very different today for millennials and older students. <\/span><\/p>\n There is access to online classes, which means you can pretty much go to school from anywhere in the world depending on what college you go to. Warning, do your homework, the national colleges that advertise online and TV are severely overpriced. Your local colleges probably offer online classes as well for a lot less. <\/p>\n You do NOT want to get into great debt after 35.<\/p>\n If you wait until after 35 to go back it gets harder because at that point you should be reaching the height of your career. That degree may come in handy when you decide you want to do something else like start your own business<\/a> or another career. This is the kind of insurance that would be of great benefit to you. <\/span><\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t finished, consider getting at least a Bachelor\u2019s degree. For those over 45 it is still a good time for you to go back to college considering you have another 20 to 25 years to retire. The job market has broadened for workers over 40.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s a saying \u2018everything lost can be found again, except wasted time.\u2019 While it is okay to hang out with your friends and experience life together, imagine the time, pain, money and frustration you can save<\/em> by avoiding the pitfalls and hard-core life lessons. The best way to do that is to find<\/a> older people who are already<\/b> successful<\/a> in doing what you want<\/em> to do. <\/span><\/p>\n As people get older, they often feel a need to give back especially after the age of 45 or 50. <\/span><\/p>\n There are also others who become even more selfish and sinister at that point wanting to hold on to what they have at all cost. These, of course, are the people you want to avoid. Follow your gut, however, if you can find<\/a> those who don\u2019t mind going out to lunch with you and, giving you some great advice via letting you know about the mistakes they\u2019ve made as well as their successes or even resources, that information is invaluable. <\/p>\n In addition, if they are wise, they are benefiting from the relationship too. Working in a progressive industry like music, you would be an idiot not to surround yourself with younger people It helps you to stay abreast on current trends. If you\u2019re lucky, sometimes a mentor<\/a> will find<\/a> you but it\u2019s rare because if they are still working they are probably too busy. <\/p>\n So the onus is on you to find<\/a> them. I would suggest at least three people male and female and I would suggest finding people who are currently working<\/em> in your industry.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen some of the most abrasive and hard-core egos working in the music and radio<\/a> industry. Allow me to tell you those are usually the people that fall the hardest, from fanfare to welfare. In addition, there\u2019s a saying in most industries \u201cdon\u2019t burn any bridges.\u201d This much is true. Some of the people who treated me the worst in my entire career in the industry have needed me years later and they never knew it. I\u2019ll let you think about that for a minute. <\/span><\/p>\n What I\u2019m saying is, it\u2019s best to treat people well, even if you don\u2019t like them because you really don\u2019t ever know where they\u2019ll end up over they will become friends with.<\/p>\n Once you get to be the age of 50, you want to make sure that you have various options and as many sources of income as possible. You never know what may fall through later on in life.<\/p>\n The people who are blessed to work the longest in any industry that I know of are the ones who diversified their skills. They learned various aspects of the job or career and inevitably made themselves more valuable. <\/span><\/p>\n Again, having something to fall back on his key. If the position that is your chosen career is suddenly discontinued or the corporation has layoffs the person<\/a> with the most diversified skill set usually will have the most value and is the most difficult to let go. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m always amazed at how younger people are under the impression that they can\u2019t make a move without discussing it and getting the approval of someone else especially older people at the company like a boss, who may not have your best interest in mind. You must know your value and if you\u2019re black you will come across people, including other black people, who will try to convince you that you have NO value. Don\u2019t ever fall for that, if it were true you wouldn\u2019t be working there. <\/span><\/p>\n If you work for a company that treats you like sh#t, the solution is pretty easy\u2026 leave! Plan out your career in advance<\/strong> and you\u2019ll have a better chance of reaching your goals. If you set a goal to work at each company for only two years, everything about you will reflect that, you won\u2019t come up as needy, desperate or eager to be mistreated by a frustrated boss and flawed work system. Aim high to make sure each gig is a step-up from the last to create greater leverage and negotiating power faster. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0People over 35 are well aware that most of the danger in their lives or negative things that have happened came with a warning<\/em> in advance. I like to call that the \u201cyellow light.\u201d An example of this is when you hit your brakes in your car and you feel them grinding, that\u2019s a yellow light. If you don\u2019t get it fixed as soon as possible it could lead to tragedy. There are also people you will come across you just get an uneasy feeling about. <\/p>\n You may not trust them, for example. Chances are you\u2019re being warned or getting the yellow light from your gut or intuition. Listen to your gut and intuition and do your best to follow what is telling you. <\/p>\n It is your higher being looking out for your best interest. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I know a lot of people who worked hard to reach their goals got married and had kids and never get a chance to travel extensively. Then I know others who travel all the time. <\/span><\/p>\n Many people wait till they\u2019re older to travel, but you can easily do it while you\u2019re younger. In fact, the opportunity for you live abroad is greater when you\u2019re younger and can take chances or a couple of years off. It\u2019s much easier to meet people when you\u2019re younger, find<\/a> work and climb the ladder. <\/p>\n I cannot think of one black radio person in urban radio that ever worked at a station in Europe. The world is too big to sit in one space, especially the neighborhood you grew up in. Venture out of your comfort zones.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This may or may not be for everybody but is there something that you like to do and people are willing to pay you for it like making cheesecakes? If so, you have the makings of a small<\/a> business<\/a>. Yes, it\u2019s very hard work, endless hours, doing things you don\u2019t want to do, hiring and firing, and growth. Nevertheless, it never feels that way because it\u2019s all YOURS. <\/span><\/p>\n The likelihood of you getting fired is nonexistent provided you have clients and if you get tired of it you can sell your business and do something else. Make sure whatever you do in your small<\/a> business is something that you are very passionate<\/strong> about. Money is secondary whatever you\u2019re doing is always first. <\/p>\n If you go into business<\/a> thinking of making money first\u2026 you\u2019ll usually fail.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jim Carrey said it all during a commencement speech recently when he said his father wanted to be a comedian and was very talented but he had to take care of his children so he took a job as an accountant. Carrey said his father lost the job when he was 12 years old and they struggled from that point on. He stated the greatest lesson he learned from his father was you can be a failure at doing something you DON\u2019T want to do so you might as well go ahead and do what you really want.<\/span><\/p>\n Make sure you find<\/a> time to do the things that you love to do, even if you have to do it alone. You will miss out on a lot of opportunities in life waiting for others to tag along. You have to find<\/a> a way to laugh and ignite those feel-good receptors in the brain (of course with non-negative addictive substances, events, and situations\u2026too often \u2013 joke) <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u200b VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA \u2013 APRIL 27: Jay-Z performs onstage at SOMETHING IN THE WATER \u2013 Day 2 on April 27, 2019 in Virginia Beach City. (Photo by Craig […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFinish College by 35<\/h2>\n
Find Older People who are ALREADY Successful at what you want to do<\/h2>\n
Always watch your ego<\/h2>\n
Invest in the stock market<\/h2>\n
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You can pay rent and bills for the rest of your life but all that can buy you is another month. You can always find a place to live but what about opportunities to invest in yourself for YEARS? When you\u2019re under 35, you rarely think about this but you would be amazed at how much wealth you can amass starting to put money away early on in the stock market and gaining control of your spending early on. Real estate in the BEST parts of town is another great investment. <\/span><\/p>\nDiversify your skill set<\/h2>\n
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Don\u2019t wait for permission<\/h2>\n
Follow your Gut and\/or Intuition<\/span><\/h2>\n
Travel Often<\/h2>\n
Start your own business<\/h2>\n
Follow your dream<\/h2>\n
Finally, don\u2019t take life so seriously<\/h2>\n