If my 10-year-old self got her way, I'd be riding my bike and catching bad guys for a living. Just like in the hugely popular American TV show Pacific Blue – which no Americans have heard about. "Thankfully" for my parents, I instead enrolled in a 5-year combined master's program in communication technology engineering (similar to computer science) from NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), without knowing what an engineer actually was at the time.
I later understood that as an engineering student, I would primarily learn methods. Methods for solving problems at rapid speed. To figure out things without knowing much about the problem ahead of time.
I didn't know I would embrace entrepreneurship, but at some point, it became clear that I wasn't cut out to sit and learn from someone preaching in front of a sea of detached students. Instead, I would learn the most from doing. I would exchange heavy theory for prestigious leadership volunteer positions that kept me busy.
As I submitted my master's thesis exactly ten years ago, I reminisce about my university days and can't help but think of the advice I wish I could have given my past self. Given the entrepreneurial path I ended up taking, here are ten tips I would have loved to give myself at the start of university:
1. Learn to do the most important task first every day.
"Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them. They seem to make little difference on any given day and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It is only when looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent." (James Clear, Atomic Habits)
I wish I'd been consciously building good habits and thought of what I did with a compounding mindset. Given all my volunteer work, it was easy to start my day responding to messages and resolving blockers for others, while what really mattered was ensuring that I made progress in my studies or moved some other significant task forward. Opening up the large bricks called books to start studying was less tempting than checking off easy tasks that would help others and get me to inbox zero.
It's easy to choose what's simple and familiar and not actually tackle what will move you forward because it's uncomfortable and/or unknown. Instead, what I should have done was to write down what's most important for the following day and start the next day doing that first. No checking email or social media until that task was complete. One good tip is to ask: What would this look like if it was easy? First, imagine a task as simple and easy to defeat feelings of inadequacy. If you can manage to do that, illusory superiority takes over.
2. Find a deeper reason why YOU want to learn each subject. This will help boost your motivation and follow through.
"The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right." (James Clear, Atomic Habits)
I wish I had looked for a way to make the subjects attractive by understanding how to apply the learning or found excitement from the learning journey.
This wasn’t something I mastered until the very end: When we had to choose what to write our master's thesis about, I reflected on what I wanted to learn. At the time, I needed to learn how to sell, specifically to hospitals, as the startup I was part of at the time was doing that. I, therefore, narrowed my thesis to how to sell non-medical innovation to the Norwegian healthcare sector and interviewed startups selling to hospitals and each of the four procurement departments across the Norwegian healthcare sector. My conclusion was that it's only possible to do this with someone in the procurement department jumping through hoops and skipping some red tape. A story for another day…
Not all subjects are equally exciting and fun, yet you must pass them for your degree. Motivation is the key to effective learning. Discovering the deeper reasons behind your studies will ignite your curiosity and fuel your desire to excel.
3. Seek other creators and makers among your student peers and collaborate with them.
"Surround yourself with the dreamers, the doers, the believers, and the thinkers. But most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don't see it yourself." - Edmund Lee
When I hung out with my close friend group, we mostly talked about parties, boys, and gossip. Later as I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey, I learned of many classmates interested in similar things, but we had yet to meet/talk about that. I wish I had attended hackathons, learned about emerging technologies, and spent more time conversing with like-minded and curious students. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for my friends and our fun, but I could have made more out of the valuable student network I had access to. For instance, I only met my Megacool (pun intended) co-founders towards the end of and after university. I can't help but wonder what shenanigans we could have done if we had gotten together while we were still all in uni together.
Learning is enhanced through collaboration. Seek out like-minded individuals who share your passion for creating and building things. By working together, you can explore new technologies, engage in hands-on projects, and push the boundaries of innovation.
4. Prioritize getting the school works out of the way to free up time for actual learning vs. perfecting for top grades.
"Whatever circumstances life brings you, you will be more likely to succeed and find happiness if you take responsibility for making your decisions well instead of complaining about things beyond your control. Psychologists call this having an "internal locus of control," and studies consistently show that people who have it outperform those who don't." (Ray Dalio, Principles)
Similarly, Barack Obama recently said in an interview when asked about his most important career advice for young people:
"Just learn how to get stuff done. I've seen at every level people who are very good at describing problems, people who are very sophisticated in explaining why something went wrong or why something can't get fixed. But what I'm always looking for is, no matter how small the problem or how big it is, somebody who says, "Let me take care of that"".
Bias for Action is so significant and valued that even Amazon has it as one of its Leadership Principles. It's easy to complain and pinpoint what's wrong, but few have the guts to do something about it. Embrace a proactive mindset that empowers you to overcome challenges and make a real impact. Don't wait for others to do things for you - do them yourself.
I love this mindset, which I'm actively looking for when hiring, as it separates great from good. I've hired over 100 people in recent years, and I have NEVER looked at or asked for anyone's grades. I've only looked at their portfolio of initiatives and tried to understand their role in achieving those.
Given my entrepreneurial endeavor, I have never used my grades for anything. What I should do instead is to free up time:
To learn new technologies that the curriculum is too slow to adopt.
To develop product sense by studying successful and unsuccessful products.
To learn to lead and motivate others through experiences from volunteer organizations.
These skills will become more critical as I scale as an entrepreneur.
5. Asking for help is a strength and not a weakness.
"You can imagine—and kick yourself with regret—how much more you could have achieved if you had asked for help more often." (Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter, The Earned Life)
I was one of the lonesome Macbook wolves in the sea of Windows laptops. It was 2008, Macbooks had yet to become cool, and all our coding classes were made for the Windows ecosystem. I spent more time setting up programs and debugging why things didn't work than coding and learning. In retrospect, I should have sought out the other MacBook wolves and gotten as much help as possible to spend time learning. This resulted in me falling far behind in my software development skills compared to my peers. Or I should have gotten a Windows laptop instead...
Never hesitate to seek assistance when needed. Recognize that asking for help is a sign of strength rather than weakness. Embrace the opportunity to learn from others and leverage their expertise to accelerate your growth.
6. Prioritize sleep.
"Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day" (Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep)
I had a very social time at university. I definitely believed that I could sleep when I was dead. We would usually party 2-4 days/week. Although super fun, I wish I could have understood the importance and impact of good sleep and prioritized it. The consequences were weekends spent recovering with a head that spent an unnecessarily long time doing school work and instead craved to watch The Office and Parks & Recreation for the nth time.
7. Don't give too much space to worry about what other people think about you/what you do.
- "When you're 20 you care what everyone thinks
- When you're 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks
- When you're 60 you realize no one was thinking about you in the first place."
(Winston Churchill)
Why do we even care what other people think? You have to live your life and let them live their life. The truth is that you put waaay too much thought into what you think others are thinking vs. what they actually think. This worry kept me from asking questions in class to avoid looking stupid. Going out when I was tired. Drinking when I didn’t feel like it.
I remember worrying about how I looked, whether I was smiling enough, funny enough, or supportive enough. People only remember how you make them feel. I should have focused on being a good and supportive friend and not worried about the rest. This is easy to say today and hard for anyone at the time to put into practice due to a lack of maturity and confidence.
8. Be curious and ask questions.
"Curiosity makes everything new. It invites exploration. It makes everything play. Most of all, curiosity is going to help you "get good at being lucky." It's the reason some people see opportunities everywhere." (Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Designing Your Life)
In 2010 I got my first smartphone and discovered iTunesU. Talks from Stanford and MIT on Entrepreneurship swept me away. I am trying to remember precisely how I learned about it. Still, I would listen to inspiring entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg describing how they expanded to Europe, built products rapidly, and won over Myspace, daily as I walked to and from campus. This was when the first seeds of entrepreneurship were planted within me. I knew I wanted to become an entrepreneur rather than a management consultant (which most of my peers are today).
Remain curious about new technologies and the people around you. Embrace a lifelong love of learning and be open to new ideas and perspectives. Be the one who asks the most questions. Show interest in those around you. Through curiosity, you will continuously evolve and broaden your horizons.
9. Build friendships for life. Be a giver and help others succeed.
"As Samuel Johnson purportedly wrote, "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." (Adam Grant, Give and Take)
"When I have asked successful people to characterize the fulfillment they get from pursuing an earned life, the number one answer by far is some variation of "helping people."" (Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter, The Earned Life)
Be the most valuable person they have met by being a giver. I've previously written about why paying it forward is so important and instilled in me from an early age. But it wasn't until I met Khe Hy, who told me about Adam Grant's Givers and Takers, that I became aware of how powerful this mindset is and noticed all the doors it had opened for me. For instance, my first real hyper-scale startup experience as VP of Business & Marketing at Dirtybit materialized from helping others succeed.
10. Start my entrepreneurial timer
"He said that 90 percent of all first businesses fail. Ninety percent of all second businesses succeed, yet 80 percent of business owners never try a second time." (Carmine Gallo, Talk Like TED)
Most importantly, I wish I had started a company while still in school. While I had my student loan to keep me “safe” and "endless time" for trial and error. I did join my first startup during my fourth year, which allowed me to learn on others' dime, but it wasn't my company.
We need to try several times to succeed. We learn from our mistakes. All successful entrepreneurs have multiple attempts under their belts. Therefore, I wish I had started my "timer" earlier to increase my learning.
Given the entrepreneurial path I took, you might ask: why did I even finish my degree? Honestly, I was not mature enough at the time to even ask myself such a question, as it was the only way I knew forward.
What would I have done if I had the choice of going to university all over? Most importantly, my university experience gave me a safe space to mature and grow into who I am today. It gave me a toolbox of methods to solve problems. It gave me lifelong friends and an incredible network. And I became an entrepreneur and grew as a leader.
I would still have enrolled but listened to my advice above: build strong and productive habits, find deeper motivations, collaborate, focus on real learning, seek help, adapt to challenges, prioritize sleep, let go of judgment, nurture curiosity, be a giver, and to start my entrepreneurial "timer" sooner. Note that my answer may come from a position of privilege: Norwegian universities and colleges are more or less free, your costs are driven by the cost of living, and the government provides very manageable student loans — especially compared to the American equivalent.
Lastly, I would have thought more about life in terms of rocks, pebbles and sand:
A special thanks to
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