Must-Read Book Review: 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know by John Hawkins
As parents, we sometimes get so wrapped up in teaching our kids the really big things in life that we tend to overlook some of the little things. And these days life is much more “big” than “little”. Each time I speak throughout the U.S. I hear from overwhelmed parents and millennials wanting to know how to cope in such a world.
In addition to suggesting prayer, I’m also going to tell people to buy a copy of John Hawkins’ new guidebook, 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know.
Hawkins’ answers questions about everything from Friendship, Love, to Success, Money Matters and literally everything in between.
Here’s a sampling of some of the chapters:
Friendship (“You will become like the people you spend the most time with” and “Don’t loan money to your friends.”)
Career (“Getting fired or laid off isn’t the end of the world, sometimes it’s a blessing” and “Don’t take any job that only pays commission unless you’re an expert salesman”)
Self-Awareness (“You are not a victim” and “You will likely find that your parents are right about a lot more than you think”)
Success (“You beat 50% of the people by just showing up, another 40% by working hard, and the last 10% is a dogfight” and “Ironically, successful people tend to fail a lot more and ask more questions than unsuccessful people”)
This book also offers handy old-school advice like, “Lefty is loosey. Righty is tighty” (something I say to myself every time I unscrew anything), and “Here’s how and when to tip.” (Do you know how much to tip a manicurist, baggage handlers, valets?) John provides some very sage advice, lessons most of us end up learning the hard way such as, “Dogs are fantastic animals, but they are much more expensive and time consuming than you’d think.”
Although I’m far from being a ‘young adult’ I’m not ashamed to say I learned a few new things from John’s book. On a business level, I poured over his chapters on “Success” and “Money Matters”, mainly because as the owner of a semi-successful website I wanted to read all I could about success from the owner of a mega-successful website, RightWingNews.com. He writes about everything from the importance of signed contracts (something I recently had to re-learn the very hard way) to ‘Compound interest is your friend’.
I especially enjoyed reading John’s common sensical perspective on life, including Chapter 12 ‘Live Life to the Fullest’. Whether you’re a busy student or a busy grown up, it’s always good to be reminded to enjoy life as you’re living it or you’ll live to regret it.
Parents, not only do I highly recommend you buy a copy of this book for all the young adults in your life, but I also suggest you buy one for yourself. It’s a good reminder of the “new age” issues our youth are dealing with in this super fast, tech-absorbed world. I wish I’d had a “life reference book” like 101 Things when I was a young adult, or even as a young parent. It’s not too late for you.
Buy on Amazon HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Things-Young-Adults-Should-Know/dp/1632991330/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496194139&sr=8-1&keywords=john+hawkins
