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I don't have a career to start over. 

But perhaps if I had to redo college or high school over, I would make different choices. I don't think they'd be life changing and I'm not upset with where I am but to experience a few more things. On the other hand, if I had to redo things over, I may not have gotten interested in finance and real estate. Originally wanted to be a doctor, but in my high school we had these things called "SLCs'" = small learning communities. I wanted to be placed in the STEM one, but by accident landed in the business slc - I couldn't switch out. Had a teacher that taught us some intro finance and investment principals, I realized finance was more interesting to me than medicine ever was. Would much rather be an Investment banker than a doctor, banker turned into real estate developer my first year of college.

 

If I could go back knowing everything I know now, I'd work so many odd jobs in middle school/ high school and dump every single penny into Bitcoin when it was under $1 per coin, then sell at the peak. But who knows.. butterfly effect could make that a mute point

“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” - Nassim Taleb
 
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I had a second thought on this, not an answer to the question, but a related thought...

When you are new/young/in school/etc... It is really easy to look at people 5, 10, 15, 20+ years into their careers and be "wowed" or amazed. Especially when someone has reached the point that they have a personal "bio" like on a corp website or listed in program (like a NAIOP lunch, etc.). Those bios, and even LinkedIns (and of course resumes/CVs), only show a well manicured highlight reel of a person's life and career.

They don't capture the failures, lost opportunities, bad deals, nights (or weeks/years) spent worrying about getting jobs or executing deals, or any of the other "hard stuff" that EVERYONE actually goes through. The reality is that you are probably not that different from those "very successful" people at your age/stage of career. Now, clearly, not everyone makes it to the "top" or some other position that gets idolized (which on WSO the bar is so low that could be analyst at Blackstone LOL). But, there is no reason any one is really not set up for that same potential. Not everyone went to a "target" school (a bullshit concept anyway), nor started at a "megafund", or obeyed any other "must follow" rule who is really successful years later. 

Keep all this in mind when thinking about or judging your own path....  

 

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