On College Degrees

A college degree is, indeed, important in society today. It represents the skill set one has acquired during 4 (or 5) years of college. However, I do not find it to be necessary. Often times, a young college student does not even realize what he/she wants to do for a living and graduates with a degree they do not even want to pursue. It is more important to acquire a growth mindset (Mindset by Carol Dweck is an amazing book). Most people are trained to have a fixed mindset (if I do not get a college degree, I will not get a high paying job). What one needs is a growth mindset (if I fail to get a college degree, how can I show that I have a good enough skill set to work?) The reason people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, Richard Branson, etc. really excelled and changed the world despite having no fancy collegiate document to show their skill set is because they believed they could do it and they needed to figure out how.

Important but Not Necessary: college degree.
Necessary: Growth Mindset

"Energy and persistence conquer all things." -Benjamin Franklin

On Failure

I find it essential to start with failure. Nobody likes to fail and I will be the first to admit that it is extremely tough to fail. But you have to realize that failure is a necessary predecessor of success. As a matter of fact, I will go as far as to say that the number of failures a person has in life can predict the amount of success they will also experience.

This is not to say go risk everything you have worked for to pursue your passions and dreams as a really passionate music listener since you are so good at listening to music, you should be paid to do it. Take calculated risks. Income is important but if you need to take a pay cut to do what you truly love. Then do it and try to master that task!

The only true way to learn if something works is to try something and see if it fails and if it does fail, then try to improve it.