# Advice for 14-year-old Annabelle

- **Episode:** [141](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/141.md) (2024-10-31)
- **Type:** other
- **Tags:** advice, teenagers, career, social-media
- **Time:** 36:16–40:53 (start 2176s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/141?t=2176](https://truthliesandwork.com/141?t=2176)

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[36:16] Leanne Elliott: The other day I'd seen a post, I can't remember what, I think it was on like TikTok or something, and it said if you could sit in a— you get paid a million pounds if you sit in a room with your 14-year-old self, but you tell her what's about to happen. And I was thinking, what, what would I say? And I wouldn't be able to say, like, get it out. And, um, yeah, 100%, I'd say go down exactly the same path because you're at such an impressionable age. And the things that I've been exposed to at this age, um, the bound— that I've been put in positions where I've really pushed my boundaries, it's made me a strong person. It's helped me develop as a person. And I think it was just this whole experience this last 6, 5 years, however long I've been working in practice, it's just been amazing for me at this age. point in my life
[36:56] Al Elliott: So you're in this room with 14-year-old Annabelle. You're not allowed to tell her what's happening, but let's say the rules say that you can give her a bit of advice. So what advice would you give her about entering work?
[37:08] Leanne Elliott: Number one would be try not to be so emotional. That is one big thing for me. I care so much, and sometimes there's things out of control in life. There's just things out of control, but I get so attached to things, and I'll get so upset if something goes wrong or something not in my control, or I make a mistake because we're human, and it really— I really struggle to bounce back from it. And but sometimes you've got to understand, and it's obviously something I'm dealing with at the minute, like you just gotta take yourself out of a situation sometimes and not let yourself get too tied up. That'd be the number one thing— stop getting so upset about things. Another would be just enjoy it. I, I've only just recently started doing that. I was so just hung up in getting through and getting to the end and seeing the final goal. I want to be a chartered accountant, I want to be, I want to be a finance partner, I want to own my own accountancy firm. And I've only just recently thought, why am I pushing so much to get to that end goal when really I should just be enjoying this whole process? Like, you know, just stop focusing so much on where I want to be and just be here and now. Definitely that. And as well, like, I think another big thing is your work-life balance. And people talk about it, such a stigma around it. I think if you find something that you enjoy and you're passionate about But it's, it's, it's part of your life, whether you like it. It's not a work life. You— it is, this is your life, you know. You do what suits you and you work around it. Um, so don't be too hung up on that either. Probably be the, the main— and keep going just when you, when you're having the down days as well. Just keep going. I could go on forever for these. But just keep going, you know, when you hit difficult times. Um, I think obviously that happens when you grow up anyway, that you realize That, you know, when you have a setback, that you will bounce back and things will get better, and it's not the end of the world. Um, but when you have those little setbacks, don't think it's the end of the world and just keep pushing through, and it makes you a stronger person
[38:54] Al Elliott: Probably the most powerful thing that, frankly, anyone can do is networking. And I know that for a 14-year-old, it might be a little bit intimidating, um, finding these people to, to speak to, but But I remember my dad took me into his company for a conversation with the in-house lawyer, which was informative because I was thinking about being a barrister at the time. And he said, don't be a barrister. And I'm sure he had lots of good reasons for doing that, but that basically meant that I didn't pursue that option
[39:29] Leanne Elliott: Yeah
[39:34] Al Elliott: as many people as you can to speak to. If you've got— I mean, maybe not for 14-year-olds, but I'm involved with a university mentoring program at the moment where I mentor law, both graduates and undergraduates, for those purposes, to help them figure out, is a career in law the right thing for them? And if so, how do they do it? So Speak to as many people as you can. When— if you find someone to speak to, ask them who else you should speak to, to expand that network. Search for a day in the life of— hopefully not just sugar-coated stuff, but if you look at enough of them, you're going to get a good idea as to what's involved and whether something is for you. The most important question for anyone who is starting out— I mean, you 14-year-old, it could be an 18-year-old, it could be a 21-year-old. But what we talked about there, about going out and speaking to people and building your own network at an early stage, I think that's— if I had to pick one takeaway, one piece of advice that I'd like to leave people with, it's that. Go talk to other people