What I Learned from Interviewing Beto O’Rourke
A few months ago, my friend and I created a new web-series called In Their 20s, where we interview influential people to discuss what they were doing in their 20s.
Michael and I created In Their 20s to share the best advice and success stories with our friends and peers. Our list of influential people include CEOs, Doctors, Business Leaders, Celebrity Chefs, Fashion Designers, NBA Legends, Poets, and even 2020 Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.
We’re humbled to have had an opportunity to interview Beto O’Rourke, considering how influential he is to not only people in their 20s, but to people of all ages.
Beto is a super genuine guy, and he even went much longer than the time we were expecting to have with him. We asked him some very authentic questions about his 20s, and he shared with us some of the best advice he had for people in their 20s.
Here are the best lessons we learned from our interview with Beto O’Rourke:
1. Have multiple passions in your 20s
Beto O’Rourke was in a band in his 20s, where he was able to create some of the best memories of his life. Beto enjoyed playing music with his friends, and even considers music to be whole another language.
In a candid moment, Beto reflects on how difficult it is to continue having a passion like music while juggling other important adult responsibilities. He longs for the experience of collaboration in musical creation with his friends, but also realizes how difficult it can be to organize “jam sessions” with his old band buddies.
“If you are free of responsibilities and a level of accountability [in your 20s], you should always choose to pursue a passion. As you get older, it’s difficult to find the same amount of time for your passions”
He recommends giving yourself permission to set off on an unexpected path in your 20s because there are less penalties for pursuing passions while you’re young.
2. Take as many risks as you can in your 20s
In the beginning of our interview, Beto shared how he’s seen so many people squander at the opportunity to take risks and chances in their 20s because they are too comfortable with a certain lifestyle and routine. He feels that people on a specific track in life are less likely to take risks and try new things.
“The balance of taking risks and getting high reward is much easier to strike while you’re in your 20s”
With this in mind, it may be more difficult to take a risk when you’re out of your 20s, due to the fact that you may have more responsibilities.
“If you don’t expose yourself to enough life perspectives and risks you’ll become a very narrow person”
3. Develop a strong work ethic in your 20s
In college, Beto had to quickly learn how to juggle schoolwork, a job, and a varsity sport. With the exception of some of his recent campaigns, he shared with us how his college years were some of the most exhausting years of his life. Beto credits his strong work ethic to the time he spent multitasking while in college. In his 20s, Beto O’Rourke learned the value of hard work.
“When you’re in your 20s, your mom isn’t around to wake you up and tell you to go to work or tell you what the consequences will be if you don’t.”
When it comes to hiring people to work on his recent campaigns and organizations, Beto rarely looks for people who will be the most proficient at the job, instead he looks for people who are able to “work their heart out.”
4. It’s okay to make mistakes in your 20s
Making mistakes in your 20s is always healthy. Mistakes lend people with opportunities to learn about who they are, and how to put themselves in a better place for the future. While speaking about mistakes, Beto shared a very interesting quote that went something like this:
“In your 20s, know who you are and learn who you aren’t”
You don’t learn much from doing things “the right way”, instead you learn through making mistakes. This is a crucial lesson for people in their 20s to remember.
Overall, Michael and I really enjoyed having Beto O’Rourke on our web-series. He shared great advice that people in their 20s can benefit a lot from hearing. The whole objective of In Their 20s is to share the teachings and lessons of influential people for everybody to hear. We were very thankful to have had the opportunity to host someone as influential as Beto O’Rourke on In Their 20s.
Watch our full interview with Beto O’Rourke on YouTube at In Their 20s and Learn more at www.intheir20s.com
