TRAPPSTR

Letter #22 – Your 20s

Posted on 28. Oct, 2011 by Brett in Etc

Letter #22 – Your 20s
From: Brett Trapp – Oct 28, 2011
To: Brett Trapp – Oct 28, 2001

Dear Brett,

Hey buddy. It’s me, your 29-year old self. I’m writing you from the future (don’t ask me how that’s possible). I turn 30 in a few weeks, and you turn 20 in a few weeks. Happy birthday.

We’ve learned a lot in the last ten years. This is my chance to help you out, to give you some pointers on life. I don’t know everything—far, far from it. But I know a few things, and I’ve tried to learn as much as possible. I’m going to write you 22 letters—one per day (unless work gets crazy). I know you’re busy with fraternity stuff but this is important, so listen up.

I hope you’re enjoying your sophomore year of college. Enjoy college. It’s awesome. Other than high school football, it might be the greatest season of life. It’s great, because it’s a social greenhouse. With one phone call or text message (fyi, “texting” will be big one day), your friends will drop what they’re doing and come hang out. Life won’t always be that way, because life gets busier and a touch more complicated.

You begin your 20s in a few weeks. This is big. Up until this point, life has been scripted for you. Parents and society have laid out a track for you to drive on. That’s all going to change in this decade of life. And your 20s are important. In fact it’s the most important decade of your life.

Think about it.

In your 20s, you build a platform, a foundation. Your 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond, sit on the foundation you build in your 20s. Your career sits on that foundation. Your family sits on that foundation. Your health sits on that foundation. Your future sits on that foundation. Your life sits on that foundation.

“All your big decisions of life are made in your 20s.” That’s what Chris, your future boss, will tell you one day. He’s right.

We have another friend named Jim who you’ll meet in a few years. He calls the 20s the “gun barrel years.” He says that life is like a bullet, and the goal is to hit the right target. The goal is to do life right. Hitting the target doesn’t happen at the end of the bullet’s journey. It happens at the beginning. It happens when the gun barrel is pointed in precisely the right direction.

“If you get the gun barrel right, you’ll hit your target.”

This is the beginning, Brett. It starts right here. Get this part right, and you’ll hit the right target. It’s a big deal. Your life depends on it.

Talk to you tomorrow.

-Brett

P.S. Enron…run.