Real world ABCs: Your code of conduct for life.

Excerpt from the book: 101 Tips for Graduates: A Code of Conduct for Success and Happiness in Your Professional Life, Checkmark Books

Ais for Adult: You’re an adult now for the rest of your life.
As an adult, people expect you to look, act, and dress professionally
and appropriately. It does matter what people
think of you now. Maintaining your individuality is
great—and encouraged. But a certain amount of conformity
and maturity in appearance and behavior is expected.

B is for Better: Be better than you need to be. You are a work
in progress—become a student of life. Be someone for
whom good isn’t good enough. Look for new ways of
doing things, and don’t be afraid of change. Strive to
improve yourself professionally and personally every single
day.

C is for Control: Take control of your life; don’t let life control
you. Decide what you want. Don’t be wishy-washy. Life is
not a dress rehearsal; every decision you make will either
move you toward your goals or push you away from them.
Make good decisions. As comedian Tim Allen once said, “If
you don’t make decisions in life, life will make decisions for
you.”

D is for Dream: Dare to dream. Dare to dream the impossible
dream. If you dream it, you can create it; it depends on
what you’re willing to do. Don’t listen to people who try to
destroy your dreams. Most likely, someone tried to spoil
theirs and probably succeeded. If you don’t think dreams
are possible, ask anyone whose impossible dreams came
true. They’ll tell you dreams really do come true.

E is for Enthusiasm: Enthusiasm matters a great deal.
Enthusiasm is contagious. Infect the people you work
with; create a more pleasurable, meaningful work environment.
If you aren’t enthusiastic about what you’re
doing, consider doing something else. Life is too short to
curb your enthusiasm.

F is for Failure: When you fail in school, you are held back;
when you fail in life, you are set back. Failure is temporary
and is nothing to be embarrassed about. Some of the
greatest victories are a result of the worst defeats. Everyone
faces personal struggles, failures, and moments of truth. Be
a student of your own failure. There’s no shame in failing;
the shame is in not trying.

G is for Give: Be known as a giver, not a taker. Make a difference
in someone’s life; pay a compliment, do something
nice, and volunteer. When you give to simply give, with no
strings attached, you always end up getting more back. Try
it and see for yourself.

H is for Happy: If you can wake up every day and be happy
with yourself, your relationships, and your job, you are living
life at its best. I know it isn’t easy; there’s always something
to gripe about or problems that get in the way.
Abraham Lincoln once said most people are about as
happy as they make their minds up to be. Don’t complain;
forget about your problems. Make your mind up to be
happy.

I is for Invest: Invest in your future now. Just because you’re
making money doesn’t mean you have to spend it all.
Learn from the millions of people who wish they had
invested their money rather than thrown it away. Don’t
spend more than you earn; spend less. Stay out of debt and
invest in yourself.

J is for Joyfulness: Find joy and meaning in everything you
do. Find joy making others joyful; make your day by making
someone else’s day. Call the store clerk, the driver, or
the receptionist by name, and ask about his or her day.
Then watch the response you receive. Reach out to others
and make a personal connection; then feel and see joyfulness
at its best.

K is for Knowledge: You may be done with your formal education,
but some of your best lessons are yet to be learned.
Become a lifelong learner; be a student of life. I heard this
saying years ago: The more you know, the more you know
you don’t know. The older I get, the more I understand it.
Know that you don’t yet know all you need to know. Seek
knowledge and learn something new every chance you get.

L is for Listen: There is a reason we all have two ears and
only one mouth. Use yours proportionately. Listening is
more than hearing. You are responsible for getting what
someone’s telling you, so listen carefully.

M is for Mistake: Make mistakes; make lots of new mistakes.
It’s the best way for you to learn. Don’t be afraid—everyone
makes mistakes. Let your mistakes get you down. Take
some time to grieve over, not gloss over, what you learned
from your mistake. Then get back up, and strive to never
repeat the same mistake.

N is for No: Know how to say no. Say no to overindulgence,
say no to risky behavior, say no to your bad habits, and say
no to the toxic people you meet. Know when and how to
say no and mean it.

O is for Opportunity: Opportunity sometimes knocks very
quietly. If you listen, you will hear when opportunity
knocks at your door. Pay attention to everything you see
and hear. Take risks, seize opportunities, and create your
own good fortune.

P is for Patience: Like Rome, your career won’t be built in a
day. Everyone starts somewhere, and everything takes
time. Although it may be difficult to understand now, you
really will enjoy and appreciate what you have much more
if you have to work for it and toward it. Patience really is
a virtue. Be patient. The best is yet to come.

Q is for Quality: Put a stamp of quality on everything you do.
Seek quality relationships, buy quality clothes, eat quality
food, get a quality job, be a quality person, turn in quality
work, and think quality thoughts. Remember, it’s not
quantity you want; it’s quality. Live a quality life.

R is for Reputation: Your permanent record, for the rest of
your life, begins now. Think about what kind of person
you want to be known as in your personal and professional
life. A gossip? A backbiter? Someone who will step on
others to get where he or she wants to be? Think of your
reputation as your little shadow, because it will follow you
4 101 Tips for Graduates
wherever you go. Take care to cultivate a reputation that
you can live with for the rest of your life.

S is for Success: Success isn’t measured by the title you
have, the money you make, or the value of your possessions.
Success is what you make of your life. If you compare
yourself to others, you will always fall short. Compare
yourself to your goals and desires; you have everything you
need to succeed.

T is for Thankful: Be thankful; appreciate the opportunity to
work, and do your best, regardless of the position. No job
is beneath you. Any job that’s legal is honorable and probably
pays you more in a month than people in many parts
of the world make in a year. Be thankful for your health,
your family, and all the goodness you see every day.

U is for Understanding people: Understand that people matter;
all people. Always remember the people who helped
you. Always try to help others. Treat everyone with respect,
regardless of status or position. As you mature, you will
come to realize that it’s not who you know but who you
are.

V is for Values: Identify your values; know what’s important
to you in life, and never compromise the things you value
most. Take a stand for what you believe. If you stand for
nothing, you’ll fall for everything.

W is for Willing: Be willing to stay late, come in early, skip
going out for lunch, or whatever it takes to get the job
done well and on time. Most important, be willing to start
at the bottom and work your way up; everyone has to start
somewhere.

X is for “X”traordinary: Some things happen for no reason
at all, with no warning and no explanation. You can think
you’ve got the world in the palm of your hand, but when
something unexpected happens, you learn you do not.
Never become so smug that you think you’re infallible.
You are not. Live your life and go for your dreams, but
never take your health, your family, your country, your
job, or anything for granted.

Y is for You: You are enough. Don’t focus on those who have
more than you; help out those who have less. Don’t feel bad
for what you don’t get to do; be glad for what you get. Don’t
live your life regretfully; envision a bright future ahead.

Z is for Zoom: Get ready, get set… zoom! Enjoy the ride of
your life. There’s a wide-open road ahead of you now; follow
the road to your dreams.

BY SUE MOREM

http://www.suemorem.com