Falling Behind

Episode 16 of The Young Leaders of Tomorrow is hosted by Theo Nguyen, who discusses the gap experience creates between your peers and you.

The Young Leaders of Tomorrow features the amazing tales of young entrepreneurs, innovators, and activists who are defying expectations and making a name for themselves. Hosted by Julia Zucchi and Theo Nguyen, this podcast interviews outstanding young people who are changing the game, taking risks, and breaking boundaries. Each episode, we highlight their achievements, the challenges they've faced, and the unconventional paths they've followed to reach their destinations. We'll also share some of our own experiences and insights on crushing school, staying motivated, and changing what you believe is possible. We make tomorrow’s leaders, today’s stories. A new episode comes every 2 weeks.

Our Website: https://www.the-young-leaders-of-tomorrow.com/

Transcript

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Hello and welcome back to the Young Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast, where we aim to inspire you and share stories of success. I'm Di Wynne, and today's episode is about taking that chance before it's too late. We all have regrets, and we can learn more from them than we realize. It's never too late to begin, but at the same time, it's never too early either. Like many of you, I compare myself to my peers. There are many differences between the most accomplished people I know and me. But the most notable is the time they've had. The few more years they've had compared to me when I started my journey for success makes such a difference. Anyone can start a project or apply to be a leader, but we will never get back the time we could have used. No matter how hard I try to push past it, the lack of experience is a huge gap between my role models and me. Many high achieving people are influenced by someone like their parents from a young age, and while I'm not an exception to that, I sometimes wish I was pushed harder, put into more programs, and had the same head start as others. This episode is for telling you to just begin. Try something new, no matter how half baked the idea is. In the end, maybe it won't become anything, but that experience you earn truly matters. And who knows, it could really become something great. Our first episode with Isabella is about the project she started as a freshman and has continued for many years. I promise that no matter how cringy and unprepared you feel now, you'll look back and be glad you tried anything at all. Don't wait because you don't think you're ready. Start it and prove you're ready all along. There are times when you're just out of it and need a break. Make sure to do so as to not burn yourself out, but if you're driving for too long, just try one thing. Every step is a step to feeling stronger, more accomplished, and confident. I've been in moments where time slows and months go by without progress, but every effort I made was the progress. Being a successful young person takes blood, sweat, and tears, but don't dread what you haven't even begun and be someone who tackles the challenge. Overall, those feelings leave you grappling for as many opportunities as you can to catch up. A recent conversation with a friend got me thinking. He's a senior and he told me he wished he were doing as much as I was when he was a freshman. I told him about my thoughts about falling behind, to which he responded by imagine how he feels seeing someone younger than him doing more. We idolize and compare our lives to others without understanding how they also compare themselves. The most accomplished person you know has regrets about what they couldn't do. You're not alone in the struggle. The main takeaway from this episode is to stop worrying about what other people have done and to start your own adventure. Doing this will set you free and lead you to accomplish more than you believed possible. From what you may have already done, maybe there's someone out there thinking they haven't done as much as you yet. The important thing is you did anything at all. Thank you for listening to the Young Leaders of Tomorrow. Please contact us if you have an initiative or just yourself to spotlight. We would love to have you on. See you next episode.