What advice would you give to your younger self at the start of his career?

I knew a seaman (E-3) with over 12 years in. The CO advanced him to E-4 against his wishes, so he deliberately did something to get busted back to E-3.
He went to Vietnam on PBR's (river boats). I really liked the guy; he was from Louisiana.
.

 

Here it is; I found it. @Jenn72 may be interested in this subject. I've had several people tell me I'm full of manure when I bring up the subject of "Leading Seaman". They were on a separate list in Washington and didn't have orders cut with Seaman that had under 6 years service. The Leading Seaman had between 6 and 20 years service.
`
In the United States Navy, the position of leading seaman is usually that of the seniormost seaman (E-3) in the division. The rank equivalent of a leading seaman is a petty officer third class (E-4), although the leading seaman only has the authority of a PO3, not the rank. The leading seaman position is usually used when a PO3 or PO2 is not available.
~
United States In the United States Navy, the position of leading seaman is usually that of the seniormost seaman (E-3) in the division. The rank equivalent of a leading seaman is a petty officer third class (E-4), although the leading seaman only has the authority of a PO3, not the rank.

 

The advice I would give would to make sure I got rid of all demons before getting out here in the road. Stay away from drugs and bad women. I'd also tell myself to keep an open mind. Learning never stops.

 

I'll go along with the "stay away from drugs" advice.

 

He’s right. If you were trying to grow your business, bad women would seek to distract you from your goals. But it’s not just bad women that you have to contend with, people that you consider friends can be cool when you’re not about anything but as soon as you get ahead and start making gain, it’s these friends that try to pull you back down.

Do not hesitate to stand alone.

 

You're right about that man....those bad women, or "sack chasers," they can derail you so fast. If you marry the one of those bad women, it's going to make for a lot of stress on and off the road. How many drivers end up with a wife that drain the bank account or run off with an entanglement?

 

I used to hop out of cabovers , grab the hand rail and hit the ground running
Never touching a step, my dad said "one of these days you're gonna wish
you hadn't done that. I put loud exhaust on my truck, bike and pickup.
He said one of these days you're not gonna be able to hear good.
He said some other stuff about money and females but I wasn't listening.
I hate it when he was always correct.

 

Never play poker with a man named Doc
Never eat at a place called Mom's
Never work for a company that "treats you like family".
And never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

 

Go to law school.

 

“Invest 5% more than you’re planning on”