Every so often, someone asks the “younger self” question: “What advice would you give…”
I’ve never had a good answer. Usually dodge the question. “No advice. I needed to figure things out for myself, make lots of mistakes.”
But in the past month, something hit me.
My younger self would LOVE the current remote work options. As a twenty-something, I was an introvert. I was the last person to speak in meetings, and I felt anxiety around people I didn’t know.
If I’d been given the option to work from home, I would have seized it. You mean, I get to avoid the uncomfortable stuff, skip the commute, and still get paid to do my job? Sign me up.
I think it would have gone pretty well. I would have been able to focus, and I could have connected my work to a greater purpose. For those first few years, when I was capturing process models and analyzing improvement opportunities, I would have cranked out more quality work.
So what advice would I give my younger self? Ignore what you think you want and get into the office.
With three working decades in the rear view mirror, I know what the younger me would have missed. I wouldn’t have forged relationships at the same pace and with the same depth. As a result, when the going got tough, I would have quit. Probably bounced around a bit. I’d have missed out on lifelong friends.
I also wouldn’t have learned the business outside my functional area. And I wouldn’t have really understood the nuance of the culture. Most of that learning happened when someone was generous with their time outside of a meeting or I observed someone model a behavior.
That led to so many opportunities to learn and grow and take on new challenges… opportunities that wouldn’t have happened had I been locked in on zoom calls wearing a collared shirt and my flannel pajamas.
I understand why people want flexibility. I would have jumped on that train. But the older I get, the more I go to the gym and eat vegetables and dollar-cost average into index funds. I do these things not because they pay off in the short-run; certain behaviors have outsized downstream payoffs.
Sometimes life situations dictate the need for more flexibility. And your younger or current self might have different priorities. Today, companies offer a range of policies.
Still, I’d tell my younger self to get in the car and go. Every morning. Rain or shine. Whether you want to or not.
I can hear my rebuttal. “It’s just not the way things work anymore. You didn’t have mobile phones and slack and video.”
The older me would counter with a few questions: Where are you going to learn the most? What’s going to put you in the best position to succeed? Where will you find fulfillment?
My younger self would roll his eyes. “Okay, boomer,” I’d say under my breath.
In the end, though, I’d like to think that my younger self would come around. He’d figure out that the quality and depth of relationships mean everything to him. He’d just have to figure it out in his own time.
