If I Were 22: Office Edition

As you may have noticed, a lot of people have been joining the “If I Were 22” discussion. People like Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Suze Orman have been sharing advice they’d love to give their former, likely dumber, selves. Some of the advice was insightful – such as the quote from author Deborah Gregory: “Be humble enough to ask for help. And have the humility to know when you are derailing yourself.”

Others, like Richard Branson, have gone the humor route. His response was “I would have loved to have known that Sir Tim Berners-Lee was going to invent the Internet, so that I could have invented LinkedIn – not to mention Google, Twitter and Facebook!”

Me too, Rick. Me too.

The point of these discussions is to share what you have learned with others to possibly spark something inside or give a worthwhile message– or at least give someone a good chuckle.

Our company, Computhink, is full of very smart people who have experienced a lot in their lives, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity to ask them:

What do you wish you knew at 22?

“Always live in the moment. Like when the White Sox win the World Series, don’t expect it to happen again anytime soon.” – Steve Harnden, Marketing Director

“Take full advantage of the lucrative offers you receive and retire at 40.” – Walid Siriani, Senior Global Channel Manager

“That I would get old.” – James Sivis, President

“That the diaper genie was a waste of money. Really though, that the wisdom would come with time and experience – I didn’t need to know everything.” – Sharon Miller, Channel Specialist

“How irrelevant certain things were and to not sweat the small stuff.” – Erica Strausberger, Account Executive

“Keep doing what you’re doing because you’re having a great time.” – Joe Wharram, Executive Vice President of International Sales

“That not everyone thinks the same as me. I wish I knew to always listen first, because everyone’s opinion provides another point-of-view which allows you to grow mentally as a professional.” – Brent Vignola, Accounting Manager

“Make use of valued time.” – Abdul Majeed, Technical Support Engineer

“Live by a budget and invest more. Boring I know, but live by no regrets.” – Daniel Danguilan, Account Executive

“I wish I knew there was no shortcut to wealth and one can only succeed with hard work.” – Fazal Khader, Director of Technical Support

“I wish at 22 I would have bought a thousand shares of APPL stock. One share of Apple stock in 1980 was $2.75. Today that one share is hovering around 630 dollars per share.” – Michael Conn, Director of Business Development

“To focus more on things that really matter in life.” – Sue Huwaij, HR & Sales Administrator

It seems we have a few jokesters and some philosophers. Hopefully, this gave you a glimpse into some of the people at Computhink. It’s easy to get swallowed up and only see our product, but behind that handy document management software are real people working their behinds off to improve the way people work. We have a team from all over the world with different skills and opinions. These factors create the perfect combination for a successful company – and some great advice.

So the question is, what would you tell yourself at 22?

About the Author:

Kelsey Joza is the Marketing Coordinator at Computhink. She may be new to the professional world, but that doesn’t stop her from creating some ridiculously awesome social media campaigns. She is enamored with all aspects of marketing, whether it be research, growth hacks, or brainstorming the next big thing. She thrives when she’s able to be loud and not wear shoes, and in her spare time she loves to write about herself in third person. She can be reached at kjoza@computhink.com or on any Contentverse social media platform.