 As a father of two kids I often find myself asking what advice would I give my children at age 10? What books would I get them to read before 17? What would I tell them at age 20? Just a few days ago I was reading something about parenting when I came across a quote which goes something like this. It is easier to build up a child than it is to repair an adult. With what I know about life, no better way to say it than that. While some people wake up late and finish well, the race of life is often in favour of the people who wake up early. It's almost always better to know some truth when you're in your 20s than later in life. And that's why in today's video I'll be sharing with you some very important advice I would like to give my children before they are 20. 1. Do silly things before you know they are silly. I started in the business world when I was 21 and for eight years I was there in the jungle trying many silly things. I had my first business breakthrough when I was 29 and it was after then I discovered that the advice everyone was giving me wasn't the best. Here's what happened. I was too stupid to think deeply enough about my decisions. I had a dream and that's it. Nobody else mattered to me. I wanted to get out and try stuff. At 30 I was wise enough to know that the decisions I made at 21 were seriously dangerous and that's what happens with most people. Most people don't try silly things when they are young so when they are old enough like 35 they can easily see the tendencies of failures and then the fear of failure keep them from trying. At 20 years you're probably naive about many kinds of stuff and that's fine. You probably have many unrealistic dreams and again that's just what you need. Now that you're young follow your heart and try stuff. You'll make several mistakes but those mistakes will make you smarter and the smarter you are the closer you'll be to succeed. Do silly things now that you're young because those silly things will lead you to some mistakes and a few failures which will in turn make you smarter. Two, nurture your mind more than your body. The most apparent thing about being young is your physical strength. As a 20 something year old you're healthy and can jump here and there but beyond that you have a mind that can conquer the world and you have to invest in that mind. I started reading self-help books when I was around 17 and that is probably the best thing that ever happened to my life because it's easier to believe that you can achieve greatness when you're young than later in life. I proceeded from self-help books to business books then biographies and history books. The more I invest in my mind the better my life. Take your personal development seriously, more seriously than anything else. Yes, more seriously than your academics. You see one day when I was in the polytechnic we had the examination for one of the toughest courses in our class within the next few days and there I was reading think and grow rich. One of my friends came to me and asked, are you out of your mind? No, I wasn't out of my mind. I valued my mind and knew that reading and learning about money is what I had to do, even if I had an examination. This is not to encourage you to do what I did but to tell you how vital self-development should be to you especially when you're young. Three, don't think people know what you are capable of. At 21 when I announced to my family that I wanted to build my own company everyone thought I was crazy and as I later discovered they were right. I was out of my mind. It was okay because most people don't know what a crazy man can achieve. Most people who you'll come across in your life's journey will be pessimistic. They would tell you a million reasons why you can't achieve your dreams and their reasoning will sound as though they know what you are capable of achieving. No, they don't know anything about you, instead they are telling you about themselves because most people have never achieved any significant success in life they think you can't. Please don't listen to them, go for your goals. Four, the best way not to fail in life is to fail. I've made more mistakes in the last 12 years of my life than most adults in the world. I've experienced some horrible situations and failures that most of my mates have never tasted but also have more success than most people in the world. That's the irony of life. If you keep your life you'll lose it. If you avoid mistakes you'll make mistakes. If you avoid failures you'll fail. As a young person the only single way to avoid failing in life is to fail. Don't be too careful. Don't overthink things. Don't wait too much. Don't worry too much. Get out and get your hands dirty. Get out and get your hands dirty. Take action. Move. Pursue. Yes if you're proactive you'll make more mistakes than most people but you'll also have more success than most people. The best way not to fail in life is to fail a lot when you're young. Five, say no to entitlements. In the culture which I grew up in it's normal for parents to still help their children financially at the age of 30 even till 40 if your parents are rich. At 20 I knew that was going to destroy me. At 21 I announced that I wanted to stop getting any financial aid from my parents. Not just that I never wanted the government to help me in anything nor did I ever want to have employers help me with a job. I started expecting nothing from no one except partnership of course. One of the biggest problems in our world today is the entitlement mentality. Most people point fingers at other people. They blame the government, blame their employers and blame their parents. Now is the time to stop all that nonsense. Nobody owes you anything and earlier you accept this reality the better your life will be. Again it's always more comfortable and better to raise a strong child than to rebuild adults. It's easier and better to understand life and get serious when you're young because the older you get the more challenging your metabolism becomes and the fewer risk you're willing to take. Do silly things now. Take as many risks as you can take now because you have nothing to lose now. Invest time in your mind. Separate yourself a few minutes every day to read and learn. Don't think people know what you're capable of because they don't. They advise you to take it easy because they have always made life easy. The best way to keep your life is to lose it. The best way to succeed in life is to fail massively. Stop expecting people or government to solve your problem. They won't. Seek partnership and investment from people. Seek corporation and people's wisdom. But never fold your hands and wait for someone to help you out because no one will. If this video makes sense to you don't forget to subscribe to our channel. We love you.