My advice to be successful if you’re a teenager watching YouTube right now…

What's up you guys, it's Graham here. So it seems like a large part of my audience are all teenagers or people like in high school. Sure, some in middle school or like people not quite 18. I get asked all the time, like what can I do when I'm still at high school? Or what's a recommendation for me? I'm not quite 18; what's my recommendation to like help get ahead? This is my video addressing all of those questions, and this is my advice for you.

My first piece of advice, no matter what you want to do, is start doing research on it and learning as much as you can about it. Chances are, if you're watching videos like this, you're already starting to do that. You already started to pick up things that you know you want to get into, and you're interested in them. Continue that! The good thing is that it costs you zero money; that's right, it's entirely free. Pretty much anything you ever need to know has already been posted online for free firsthand by people who've already done exactly what you want to do. All you need to know right now is just how to use Google; that's it! I'm actually being pretty serious here; pretty much everything you will need to know is already on Google and YouTube. So like, whatever you want to do, YouTube it and Google it and start learning as much as you can about it.

Even for me, like I was trying to do like stucco repair last week and I have no idea how to do stucco repair. So this is like YouTube's stucco repair how-to. Done! Like 30 minutes later, I know how to repair stucco! So, chess or whatever you want to do is already online. Even if you’re broke, as long as you have access to the internet, you can learn everything. So that's the good thing: you don't need to spend any money learning something; just spend some time searching for what it is you want to do.

Also, there are forums out there that you can go on for people who are doing exactly what you want to do. You could just talk to them online and ask them questions. Most people that are like on forums and stuff, they're just there, and they enjoy like typing out their experiences and stuff like that and helping and sharing. So like, that's my first recommendation: learn as much as you can.

Now, my second piece of advice is to then go and actually get first-hand experience doing what it is that you want to do. I know it's like this way for me at least, but it's like you can read everything online, and you can understand all the concepts of it. Like, even like it makes sense, and you understand the theories behind it—how it works—until you actually go and start doing it, it doesn't quite register in your brain. Even when you go and do it, you’re like, "I know all of these things, like I do, you know, read all about and I should know how it works," but then you do it in person, it's like learning it all over again.

It's somewhat similar, I guess, like driving a car straight. You could be really good at driving that car straight, but then you put it in reverse, and then it's like, it's the same but kind of different. You have to like get used to driving in reverse. That's kind of what it's like to read something online versus like actually going and starting to do it in person. So that’s why I recommend getting some first-hand experience doing what it is that you want to get into.

What are the best ways to do this, by the way? To actually go and reach out to people who are doing what you're doing and just say something like, "Hey, listen, I'm like 16 years old, 17 years old, and I just want to learn as much as I can about this business, and I'll do anything. I'll sweep floors, I'll get coffee, I'll help out, I'll work for free. All I want in exchange for that is just to learn." That's probably one of the best things you could do, by the way, to like get your foot in the door. Just volunteer your time and work for free, and in exchange for that, you start being around people who are doing what you want to do.

For me, that was one of the best ways to learn, is just to be around other people who are doing what you're doing. Even if they're not like holding your hand and like teaching you, "Here's step one and here's step two, and then you do step three," that very rarely happens. But it’s just good to be around people that are doing what you want to do and just seeing how they work. You learn so much just by being around people that are doing that because you're like a sponge; it's like absorbing all the information—seeing how they talk to other people, seeing how they've managed this business.

And again, it doesn't matter what industry it is: like if you want to be a real estate agent, go into a real estate office and say like, "Listen, I'll work weekends for free. In exchange, I just want to like see what you do and like how you work, and like I just want to help out. I'll do anything." Something like that really goes such a long way, and it's probably one of the best ways to learn. So I highly recommend, no matter what business you want to be in, start getting some first-hand experience. Because like I said, you can read online as much as you want, but until you actually start doing it, it's not quite the same.

Now, my third recommendation is then to try as many different things as you can. Like, let's say the real estate example; let's say that you go and volunteer and you start working weekends helping out a real estate agent. You realize like, "Holy, real estate sucks! I hate real estate! I hate the clients, I hate the houses, I hate putting up signs, I hate all that!" You know? And then you discover very quickly that it's not for you, and you can go and try something else.

And then not only that, but maybe you find something you like a little bit better than real estate. Maybe you discover, like, "I actually prefer renovating properties, and I want to be like a contractor and I want to do that instead." Or maybe you discover, "I want to trade stocks instead of selling products online." There are so many different things out there, and that's one of the big advantages to being young—stuff. You have the time to then go and try as many things as possible.

So you want to go out there, you want to get experience; we want to try different things until you find the one that you really like, that you really want to stick with, and you want to dive headfirst into that.

So, my fourth piece of advice is to go and take risks. That's one of the things about being young: you have very little to lose and very little to haul. If you try a high-risk business and you fail at it and you don't make any money, chances are you're not gonna be out that much. It's not like you have like a house and like kids and a wife and all of these expenses to pay, and all like, you know, a lot to lose. Chances are, when you're young, you pretty much have nothing to lose and really only everything to gain.

So, like now is actually the perfect time for you to start a risky business and do something with a high failure rate, and just give it a shot! Because again, like if you're not going to do it now, it's only gonna get harder as you get older. You're only gonna get more obligations; you're only gonna have more expenses. Right now, probably like when you're watching this, is probably one of the best times for you to actually try something that's risky!

And maybe you succeed at it; maybe you don't. But every failure is something that you could really learn from and grow from, and then take that to the next step on the next thing you decide to start.

So that is my fourth recommendation: just being young, you have very little to lose. Now is your chance really to start something risky with a high failure rate. Give it a shot! I mean, you never know!

So that's pretty much it. Those are my four recommendations. The first one is to learn as much as you can. The second is to then go and get some first-hand experience in it. The third thing is to try as many different things as possible to really figure out which one you like the most. And the fourth is to go ahead and take some risks; you never know! You might get lucky, and you may end up like, you know, making like a billion dollars off some IPO or something like that. Like, you know, go seriously, go for it while you're young!

So, as always, you guys, thank you so much for watching! If you haven't already, feel free to click subscribe. I'm making a lot of videos lately, and if you enjoy them, click the little subscribe button. Also, feel free to add me on Snapchat and Instagram; I post pretty much daily. So if you want to be a part of that, feel free to add me. Thank you again for watching, and until next time!