Over Focused

He’s told us how to start a business and how to save the newspaper industry. Now he tells us (too late) how to be a college kid.

From Mark Cuban:

Got this email today, and decided to share it and my response as a message to college kids out there that are pretty much the same as I was. Here you go:

Mark, I was in the group that listened to you speak at the XXXX. And I need some guidance, dude.
I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced addictive behavior before, but I’m sure you’ve got an idea of what it would be like. Now I want to specify that I’m not addicted to drugs or alcohol or any of that junk. I’m addicted to adventure. Of pushing physical boundaries and experiencing new things.

But man, it’s killing me right now. I can’t focus on anything that I need to do. I’m a full-time undergrad and real estate agent (among other things), and this desperate search for adventure is not driving me toward my goals; it is crippling me. Before you had the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, how did you maintain focus on the things you needed to do?

My Response:

You are still in school. You don’t need to have all the answers or focus on one thing. You should be trying a lot of things until you find the one thing you really love to do and are good at. When that happens, you will be able to focus.

Being focused at 21 is way over rated. Now is the time to screw up, try as many different things as you can and just maybe figure things out.

The thing you do need to do is learn. Learn accounting. Learn finance. Learn statistics. Learn as much as you can about business. Read biographies about business people. You don’t have to focus on one thing, but you have to create a base of knowledge so you are ready when its time.

You will never know when that time will come. But you can be ready when it does.