What did you lot do in your 20s that made yous successful later? originally appeared on Quora - the place to proceeds and share cognition, empowering people to larn from others and amend understand the world.

Answer by Ron Rule, CEO at As Seen on TV, on Quora:

  1. I talked less and listened more than. Take advice from people who are 10-20 years older than you, not your peers. Y'all don't have the globe figured out yet, despite what you think.
  2. I stopped hanging out with friends from loftier school and started hanging out with successful people. You'll pick up more of their habits.
  3. I looked for small-scale opportunities that were scalable instead of big ideas.The largest and most successful companies don't win past waiting for a world-changing idea to come to them. They win by making minor margins on ordinary things over and again.
  4. I got out of debt. In my early on 20s I was spending too much, but was fortunate enough to plough it around past my late 20s. Every dollar that goes out the door toward monthly payments is a dollar that isn't saved, invested, or bachelor to support yourself while trying something new. You don't need a credit card or a car payment. Live within your ways, and this mindset will carry over into your business. If y'all do nothing else on this list, do this one.
  5. I focused on long term profitability, not dreams of an acquisition.All of these and then-called "startup experts" who tout their successful exits but never ran aprofitable business organization aren't impressive - their businesses weren't sustainable and would take failed if a large successful visitor hadn't bought them out. That isn't a dependable strategy, and business organisation advice from someone who never turned a turn a profit has no value. Accept what they say you lot should do with a grain of table salt, merely listen closely when they're telling you whatnonto do.
  6. I worked regular jobs in industries I wanted to learn about. At that place's goose egg better than a hands-on teaching under the wing of a successful company. You'll come across horrible inefficiencies and policies that don't seem to make any sense. Don't try to change them, only learn why they're there - usually it's for a reason. Larn most the other departments; Become pack orders in the warehouse so you can understand the product flow. Read marketing reports so y'all can get a feel for media expense ratios and volume. Ask your bosses if you lot can sit down in on meetings and then you tin learn more about the business concern and their decision making procedure - usually they'll exist flattered and impressed by your interest.
  7. I always put myself in the position of the client. Try to see where they are coming from. If you lot were the customer, would you lot be satisfied with the production or process? This was one thing that always bewitched me about my industry, and the transition away from those sometime practices is something I'm proud to have been a part of.
  8. I separated my personal and work life. In my first company I hired all of my friends. Information technology's incredibly hard to lead people who run across y'all as an equal and not every bit their boss. Companies need a clear org chart / chain of control. Hire people who are qualified and willreport to you lot, not your friends and family.
  9. I stopped working 24/7. While surrounded by successful people, I noticed they all had one thing in common: they left work at the role. You need a piece of work-life balance. If you're working 24/7 you're doing it wrong.
  10. I hired people who were smarter than me. In my early 20s, I wanted to exist the smartest guy in the room, where I made all of the important decisions and anybody else but executed. That's a adept way to go burned out, and limits your growth to things yous already know. Which isn't much. Instead, yous should surround yourself with people who brand you feel impaired. A adept leader wants a squad that knows nuances he doesn't, and tin can think for themselves without needing direction on every task.
  11. I learned how to spot "fake success". Displaying. Whatever you want to phone call it. That guy yous know who's driving a Ferrari to the part every day and constantly talks about how much money he makes isn't successful, he's an idiot. He'southward spending half of his paycheck on a car payment so other people willrecollect he'southward successful. People who arereallysuccessful are laughing at that guy. Don't listen to him.

I did virtually of these things wrong for most of my 20s and didn't really figure it out until I was almost 30. Now that I'm almost xl, I can look back and see that if I had figured these things out a little sooner I would probably exist retired already.

This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You lot can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: