Gary Vaynerchuk Urges Young Professionals to Embrace Exploration Over Early ‘Success’

In a recent LinkedIn post, Gary Vaynerchuk discusses the immense pressure young people feel to have their careers figured out early, arguing that this anxiety can be detrimental to genuine self-discovery and long-term success. Vaynerchuk, known for his candid business insights, shared his perspective on the common misconception that being in one’s twenties or thirties means one should already be established.

He opens by contrasting his own early career path with the expectations placed on today’s youth:

Do you know what I was doing at 25? Stocking shelves in my father’s liquor store.

Vaynerchuk identifies a primary concern he has for young professionals: the belief that they have fallen behind or made a mistake if they haven’t achieved a certain level of career success by a specific age. He contends that this mindset is a significant obstacle.

The Perils of Premature ‘Settling’

According to Vaynerchuk, the moment an individual believes they have failed or are lagging, they are likely to falter. He emphasizes that true innovation and discovery are stifled when one remains fixated on how they arrived at their current position, rather than exploring future possibilities.

Vaynerchuk suggests a radical shift in perspective for those feeling this pressure:

What if, instead of worrying, you tried telling yourself: I’m 25. I can take the next 5 years to taste sht!*

He elaborates on this idea by proposing a period of diverse, short-term experiential learning. This could involve trying out various roles or entrepreneurial ventures, even if they are unconventional or seemingly unrelated to a long-term career path.

Embracing a ‘Tasting’ Period

Vaynerchuk illustrates this with examples of how such a period might look:

I’ll be a cook for six months…
I’ll flip garage sale items for six months…
I’ll start a sneaker brand for six months…

The core of his argument is that by the age of 30, after such an exploratory phase, an individual is still young and has gained invaluable experience and self-knowledge. He dismisses the societal notion that one must have their life completely planned out by their late teens or early thirties as “ridiculous.”

Challenging Conventional Timelines

Vaynerchuk points out that those who rigidly push the idea of needing to have everything figured out by a certain age are often still navigating their own uncertainties. He asserts that the prevalent anxiety and impatience among individuals under 30 are counterproductive.

You haven’t even started!

This powerful statement, Vaynerchuk suggests, should be a mantra for young people. He encourages them to resist the external and internal pressure to conform to conventional timelines, advocating instead for patience, exploration, and a willingness to experiment without the fear of failure. In his view, this period of tasting and learning is not a setback but a strategic advantage for future success.