Advice is something we all need at different points in our lives. Advice is also different based on the circumstances. So today, I want to provide you with a good list of advice that I have received or things I have learned to help you out in most situations.

As always, the only story I am authorized to tell is my own. Your life and your story may be different, so I can’t expect to know every single circumstance you go through. But I can offer advice on what I’ve been through and that’s what I want to do. Here it goes:

• Writing advice– How a paper should be structured: Introduction- tell me what you’re going to say; Body- say what you’re going to say with evidence; conclusion- restate what you said. The introduction is getting people familiar with your paper, including necessary context. For example, my thesis was about early baseball history. My introduction started with the origins of baseball in the United States. The body of your paper is what you actually want to say. Back to the thesis example, the body of my paper was all about how early baseball progressed through the decades until the creation of the World Series as an annual event including changes, rules, and teams. The conclusion wraps it all up nicely. In my thesis, I did a brief snapshot of the future as a summary. A big thing I’ve seen is that you should not be introducing any new information in your conclusion. It’s the end.
• Writing advice– “If you can’t imagine yourself dropping the mic after your last sentence, then your conclusion needs to be stronger.” This is the advice that I live by when it comes to writing. It makes my writing so much better and stronger. It doesn’t have to be some mind-bending, jaw-dropping statement. Going back to my thesis as an example, I used the paper to write about mainly 19th and very early 20th century baseball. Much of the content of the paper was about the changes that shaped baseball in its foundational period. My ending sentences are “Much like it did in the nineteenth century, baseball has a way of bringing people together to enjoy the game. Some things truly never change at all.” It’s a nice, wrapped up ending.
• Hobby advice– “Find three hobbies you love: one to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative.” The one that makes you money can be your job (like history for me). The one to keep you in shape can be any version you prefer. For me, I don’t like running. So I don’t run. I bike when I want to get some cardio in. I dance. I do bodyweight workouts and some weighted workouts. As for a creative hobby, I paint, I do some calligraphy, and I do some other crafts. I have friends who are musically inclined, and I have other friends who are great photographers. Hobbies help balance you out.
• Work advice– Do something you love. I know this seems really basic, but it saddens me how many people are in careers and jobs that they hate. It doesn’t have to be your dream career, but you should enjoy what you do.Every job I’ve had has been something that I have enjoyed. For example, I do not ever want to work in food. So I have never had a job in a food service. Has that ever stopped me? No. Sometimes it can limit my options, but I would rather do something I enjoy. In my opinion, you shouldn’t get off work and complain about what you did. I get complaining about people or scenarios, but the work itself shouldn’t always be complained about. Having bad days is one thing, but if you come home every day and you’re complaining about the same thing, then you’re in the wrong career.
• Life advice– Find what makes you happy. Again, I know this is really obvious and basic. But this is seriously so important. In high school, I played soccer. It was different, and not many other girls did it. In college, I concentrated in psychology even though many of the friends in my major didn’t. This often meant that I didn’t know anyone in my psychology classes. I wrote an entire thesis on baseball history. Why did I do all these things? They made me happy. Simple as that. Life is too short to be unhappy.
• Money advice– Live within your means. Again, obvious. Spend money only when you can afford it. I’ve even read somewhere that you shouldn’t buy something until you’ve got double the money. So if something cost $100, you should wait until you have at least $200. That way you know you can afford it.
• Money advice– Save up when you can. Pay your bills, take care of groceries and gas, allot some for other spending, and save what you can. It will add up, I promise.

I think that’s it for now. So hope this advice helps in some way! As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or comments.