What Kelso Knows about Work

What Kelso Knows about Work In case you havent heard, Ashton Kutcher recently wowed the world by appearing super mature, extremely articulate, and in general, a grown-up. During the MTV music awards, he dropped some knowledge on a bunch of screaming teens and the rest of the world went a little nuts, marveling that the same guy who headlined Dude, wheres my car? welches espousing values that sounded decidedly mora richtung X than anyone wearing a sideways trucker hat ought to. Most of what he said was told to many of us by wise parents, mentors and friendsits worth noting that teens, as a group, tend not to listen to this kind of advicethat is unless its coming from Mila Kunis BF. So whatd he have to say? Read on1) Opportunity looksa lot like hard work. While its true that he didnt come up with this bit of wisdom, it sure sounded a lot more convincing coming out of his wry grin than it does making the rounds on Facebook in e-card format. But underneath the cliche, this is as true as its ever been. With technology getting more accessible and simpler to use, it can be easy to think that really hard work has no place in this world. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Nose to the grindstone, one foot in front of the other, and head down can make even more impact in a workforce thats increasingly social, chaotic and automated.2)Never quit your first jobuntil you have your next job. Ashton (Chris) Kutcher outlined the jobs hed been working since he was 13 and explained how he would never leave a job until he had another job. Hes the ultimate passive candidate Seriously though, in todays economy, this is advice that makes sense for just about everyone but especially entry level job seekers, who can be pretty starry-eyed about their market worth in a shaky economy.3) I never had a job that I was too good for. This one didnt go quite as viral as the others but it was MY favorite . As you climb the career ladder its easy to forget the jobs that got you therethe bosses who seemed awful at the time but taught you so much the mandatory tasks that seemed draining but gave your day structure the scary paycheck-to-paycheck existence that showed you the value of moneythese all have importance. With freelancing and contingent work becoming more common these days, most of us willhave to go back to our roots, doing menial tasks at startups, working late into the night on a side project. Bottom line? If Ashton Kutcher can sweep up Cheerio dust, you can for SURE finish that spreadsheet.4) The world is made up of people no smarter than you. The truly inspiring part of Kutchers speech was something that no one ever told me I had to learn it for myself. Its easy to look at luminaries and think that they know more than you do. There are plenty of people in the business world who will say That wont work, we already tried it. But while its important to learn from the experien ces of others, its also crucial to realize that your ideas and concepts are as valuable as anyone elses.5) Dont live a life, build a life. Creating your own destiny sounds like something a young, beautiful person would say, but that doesnt mean its not true. Instead of clocking in and out of a job that doesnt satisfy with people that dont appreciate your contributions, more and more job seekers are looking for alternative ways of working. Building a life is a far cry from just living life. When youre working 40-80 hour work weeks, it can get very easy to forget that.Watch the whole speech here.