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The question

What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore?
Abby Wambach

United States international footballer, 2001–2015

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
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."

Barnard College commencement address, Radio City Music Hall, New York, Speakola, 16 May 2018 source ↗

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Sundar Pichai Chief executive of Alphabet and Google
So take the time to find the thing that excites you more than anything else in the world. Not the thing your parents want you to do. Or the thing that all your friends are doing. Or that society expects of you.
Recorded Dear Class of 2020 (YouTube), Google (The Keyword), 7 June 2020 source ↗
Nora Ephron Journalist, essayist, screenwriter and film director
My advice to everyone is: “Become a journalist.” ... if you have a chance to be a newspaper reporter for three or four years — before you do whatever you want to do — do it, because you will know so much.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 21 June 2007 source ↗
Reid Hoffman Co-founder of LinkedIn; partner at Greylock Partners
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.
Recorded Hoffman's own Medium publication, Reid Hoffman on Medium source ↗
Denton Cooley Cardiothoracic surgeon; founder of the Texas Heart Institute
You have to be intelligent, and be able to cope with stress. It is a stressful life, both mentally and physically. Those are the qualities to succeed as a surgeon.
Recorded Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 11 April 1991 source ↗

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