• What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20

  • A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World
  • By: Tina Seelig
  • Narrated by: Gwen Hughes
  • Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (202 ratings)

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What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20  By  cover art

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20

By: Tina Seelig
Narrated by: Gwen Hughes
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Publisher's summary

Major life transitions such as leaving the protected environment of school or starting a new career can be daunting. It is scary to face a wall of choices, knowing that no one is going to tell us whether or not we are making the right decision. There is no clearly delineated path or recipe for success. Even figuring out how and where to start can be a challenge. That is, until now.

As executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Tina Seelig guides her students as they make the difficult transition from the academic environment to the professional world, providing tangible skills and insights that will last a lifetime. Seelig is an entrepreneur, neuroscientist, and popular teacher, and in What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 she shares with us what she offers her students' - provocative stories, inspiring advice, and a big dose of humility and humor.

These pages are filled with fascinating examples, from the classroom to the boardroom, of individuals defying expectations, challenging assumptions, and achieving amazing success. Seelig throws out the old rules and provides a new model for reaching our highest potential. We discover how to have a healthy disregard for the impossible, how to recover from failure, and how most problems are remarkable opportunities in disguise.

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 is a much-needed book for everyone looking to make their mark on the world.

©2009 Tina Seelig (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

What listeners say about What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20

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A worthy read...

has some little nuggets or gems that I think are nice and makeup positive contribution to anyone's life it would be a good book to give to a young person or an older person either way good little book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Really good

Just what I needed to hear, honestly surprised that the reviews arent higher as the books filled with nuggets of wisdom/sounds advice for future career paths

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Solid reading

Good book to read for ideas and innovations. Many of the anecdotes are very helpful, and some ideas overlap with another book written by Dr. Seelig, inGenius. Some of it feels like a self help book, which will be helpful to some readers and will deter others. A worthwhile read for the suggestions on refraining, exceeding expectations, and how to conduct yourself around others.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not worth it for most

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Really weak content for most people. Unless you are a teenager I am not sure how you would benefit from this work.

Any additional comments?

It is not worth the money.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

barely learn things

I gave up with one hour left. nothing new In This book. though what the book says is probably right and useful, but it is talking about everything without going deeper, neither anything new . with one example after another, I could not see authors points. poor structure and weak argument makes the experience miserable. and why would you name that title while no explanation of why these points should be learned by young 20s.

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1 person found this helpful

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Reader is too distracting.

What disappointed you about What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20?

The reader of this book's cadence was just too distracting to get into the information. It ended up distracting me so much I had to just stop. Listen to the sample prior to downloading.

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just wrong in general

really wrong in so many ways, you can tell she has no real success experience, so why should anyone listen to the writer

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Great first chapter. Stop there

What disappointed you about What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20?

The first chapter had some interesting allegories that are both inspiring and thought provoking, then Ms Seelig seems to run out of steam.

At one point she actually brags that she is not qualified to write a book but is doing it anyways.

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