What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore?
Recorded Reid Hoffman said elsewhere, not written here
The challenge of a big, over-arching vision is that it's hard to know where to start. And your biggest opportunity will change from year to year. Technology changes. Competition changes. You change. My advice: Just start. Find a single unmet need that nudges the world closer to where you believe it's going. And if you hit a dead end, pivot.

Hoffman's own Medium publication, Reid Hoffman on Medium source ↗

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Abby Wambach United States international footballer, 2001–2015
I stayed on the path out of fear, not of being eaten by a wolf, but of being cut, being benched, losing my paycheck. If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing it would be this: "Abby, you were never Little Red Riding Hood; you were always the wolf."
Recorded Barnard College commencement address, Radio City Music Hall, New York, Speakola, 16 May 2018 source ↗
Derek Sivers Founder of CD Baby; author of Anything You Want
Yeah, anybody asks me about it, my advice was always, do not do it. In fact, it still is. Somebody just asked me last week, I was like, do not do it.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 23 April 2023 source ↗
Wole Soyinka Playwright, poet and novelist; Nobel laureate in Literature, 1986
I just say, “Follow your instincts.” Don’t feel you have to follow the paths of others, because you may not be temperamentally fitted for it. And so you’ll just harm yourself and your cause and others. But just follow your instinct, and don’t ever pretend to be what you’re not.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 3 July 2009 source ↗
Frederick W. Smith Founder and long-serving chairman of FedEx Corporation
The most important piece of advice that I could give them is to take advantage of the tremendous reservoir of knowledge that’s out there today. Spend some time learning how the world has evolved. There are a lot of good lessons in history, and other peoples’ experiences in the past, that could be exactly the solution to the problem you’re looking for.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 23 May 1998 source ↗

More from Reid Hoffman

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Question Who do you turn to when you need advice? Relationships
Well, that all comes from your network. And so even today with, well over 300 million people on LinkedIn, most people have yet to learn how to use their network, in order to ally with their network, in order to find the right economic opportunities. And that’s one of the things that I’m still working on.
Recorded Academy of Achievement, Academy of Achievement interview, Mountain View, California, 1 April 2012 source ↗
Question What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise? Craft & work
Our culture lionizes entrepreneurs who navigate daring switchbacks in their career. Steve Jobs was admired not just for Apple, but also his detour to found Pixar. Elon Musk is revered for helming Tesla AND SpaceX. But don't be distracted by other people's winding paths. I believe you should celebrate your single-mindedness, and stick to your own overarching idea — for as long as it holds your own fascination. In my experience, that could last your entire career.
Recorded Hoffman's own Medium publication, Reid Hoffman on Medium source ↗
Question What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months? Money & investment
This is going to sound a little strange, but my trainer started recommending that I add moringa leaf powder to my tea. That’s actually added a rich antioxidant, anti inflammatory and a little bit more substance such that drinking tea now feels a little bit like a snack and is super healthy.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 1 June 2018 source ↗

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