Doyin Richards

Is this thing on?! I’m still alive y’all. In fact, I’m 50 years old today 🎂

Here’s what I’d tell my 20yo self now that I have lived for a half century.
⁣
#𝟭 - 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘀: I heard this a while ago and it’s so wise. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘴, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦. I’m not talking about travel, either. ⁣
⁣
#𝟮 - 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱: If they wanted to text/call you, check in on you, be there for you, etc., they would. If they’re not doing it, it’s because you don’t mean enough to them to put in that effort. Act accordingly with that information.⁣
⁣
#𝟯 - 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲: I started a business from scratch at 46, got divorced at 48, found love at 48, and entered graduate school at 49. There’s no rule saying we can’t go after our dreams at a certain age. Don’t let anyone talk you out of it.⁣
⁣
#𝟰 - 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀: If you’re unfamiliar with the “curse of the mountaintop” it’s when you climb a mountain and instead of celebrating your accomplishment, you look off into the distance to see bigger mountains that others have climbed and instantly feel inadequate. I’ve realized there will always be people who have more money than me, more accolades than me, are better looking than me, etc. but there will never be another me - and I’m damn proud of the 𝗺𝗲 I’ve become.⁣
⁣
#𝟱 - 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀: Most of us would write a bad review for a company that did us dirty before praising a company that went above and beyond for us. If someone made you happy, tell them! Doing so will elicit more of the behavior you want, so don’t withhold that validation.⁣
⁣
#𝟲 - 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗢𝗞: I’m not saying it will be easy, but it will be OK. I made it to 50 years on this planet by knowing everything in life is temporary, including the s**t storms we endure.⁣
⁣
If you’ve read this far, thank you for being here on this journey with me. Cheers to another 50 years ✌🏾

(PS - I’m way more active on Instagram. Follow me there if you haven’t already)