This founder’s letter to his younger self has life lessons everyone needs to hear

Photo credit: Pixabay.

Dear my younger self,

I’ve spent many hours sitting on this chair, staring at my laptop, and endlessly pointing the cursor on the tabs in my browser. I am a morning person but I often stay up late putting people’s minds into design, turning their dreams into visible pixels, and crafting a better online journey for my clients.

Yes, you guessed it right. I really love what I am doing right now. I am very happy working as a UX designer.

I remember the first day I jumped into design. I was a sophomore and I didn’t really like attending classes, so I decided to be a freelance graphic designer. It’s been 10 years now since I dedicated myself to design.

As I evaluated my first two decades of living, I realized the mistakes I’ve made, looked back at my career journey, and asked myself, “If I could go back and talk to my younger self, what advice would I give?”

What people said was right. As you get older you’ll become wiser. I’ve actually learned a few things.

Don’t trade your happiness away

I’ve seen thousands of dollars fly into my PayPal account for manipulating shapes and colors in just a few days. I was able to buy the latest gadgets that adorn my collection cabinets. And like every designer’s dream, I could afford the latest Macbook, iPhone, Leica, or even Panerai Luminor. I’ve lived the dream life like in a fairy tale.

But I realized that being busy earning money created a big hole in my life and that all of it was just temporary and perishable. You cannot live with just your Macbook, iPhone, and virtual friends on social media. You need to get together and interact directly with other people—in real life.

It kind of sounds corny that money isn’t everything. We all know this. It also sounds cliche if I say that there are so many things you can’t afford with money.

But let me tell you this: Maybe you can buy a luxury bed, but money will take away your sleep. You can buy medicine but not health. You can buy a Rolex but not time. And If you think that money can buy you a position, you’re absolutely right. But remember that you can’t buy respect.

Feel free to fail a lot

Designers love to create something out of nothing, but you’ll feel embarrassed with your own design sometimes. People can also say that your design is not sublime enough to get into the Dribbble community.

If you don’t learn something every time you fail, then all you will have done is fail.

Just ignore those haters. Do everything you want to do, even if it sucks. Ideas don’t come out fully formed because they only become clear as you work on them. So whatever it is, just start, be bold, and don’t worry too much.

Be careful of praises and flattery

Expand beyond your limitations

Choose a boss, not a company

You are nothing without your friends