Message to New Grads: Go All In

I recently published a post explaining two things I wish I had known at age 22. For those of you just graduating from college this month, I thought I’d also share one thing I’m glad I did know at 22: whatever you’re tasked with, go all in.

When you’re in school, you max out at 100%. Most problems are well defined and have finite solutions. In the real world, the sky is the limit, and this realization can unleash an unbelievable sense of ownership, ambition, pride, and possibility.

In retrospect, my attitude, work ethic, and curiosity--more than any innate “smarts” or school degrees--are what have opened doors to new opportunities, promotions, mentors, and personal growth.

Out of school and into your 20s, you will inevitably come across peers who have figured out ways to cruise through their jobs, doing the bare minimum, and still collecting their paychecks. They may think (and you may be tempted to agree) they have outsmarted the system. But actually they are the ones losing out on crucial foundational years.

In her eye-opening TED talk, “Why 30 is not the new 20,” clinical psychologist Meg Jay issues an important wake-up call to twenty-somethings. The idea that our 20s are a “throwaway decade” has become a dangerous fallacy that many young people may come to regret once it’s too late.

Even when I didn’t get the job I wanted (as explained in the previous piece) or was asked to do something seemingly menial, unglamorous, or just too hard, I’ve always given 150%. In my worst moments with bosses I liked the least, I did not give up, complain, or slack off. I sucked it up and stayed late, pulled all-nighters when necessary, learned to ask for help only when I couldn’t figure it out myself, and basically did whatever it took to make my boss and my team look good.

In addition to delivering on what’s been asked of me, I’ve also gone beyond, constantly asking myself, “What else can I do?” This mindset led me early in my career to think bigger and proactively suggest new ideas to the team--certainly not all of them good or accepted, but almost always appreciated. Even if I had gone out the night before and was exhausted, I always made sure to be at work before my boss and stayed after she or he had left. As a result, I built incredible trust and relationships, and got to be a part of strategic conversations that allowed me to understand the bigger picture and ultimately play ever-bigger roles.

Leaning in early in your career doesn’t mean that work is the only thing you do at the expense of everything else. At 22, I made time to hang out with friends, see my family, explored new hobbies, and took time off to travel (my favorite trips were to Tibet, India, Morocco, and Italy). But work always remained a priority because I knew I was ambitious and investing in myself.

It can be counterintuitive if you are stuck thinking in the short-term, but if you really want work-life balance over a lifetime, leaning in as much as possible early in your career may be the smartest thing you can do. You will obtain valuable experience and contacts that will pay dividends throughout your career. Great work, professional relationships, and learning experiences compound over time, much the way money does.

Investing $100 today creates much more value than investing $100 a decade from now (this is why it’s smart to begin saving for retirement early). The same rings true for your time, energy, and focus. Starting early lets you earn the right to manage a team and have people to delegate to when you have to leave work early to pick up your kid from school.

So don’t rest on your laurels and don’t do “just enough” to cruise by. Do the most you possibly can today, and you’ll thank yourself tomorrow.

Caveat: this post assumes you don't have financial obligations at 22 beyond student loans, such as supporting children, parents, and/or other dependents. If you do, I know the decision is much more complex and necessarily focused on the “here and now.”