Persevere towards pursuing your passions

Take every opportunity to make each day memorable

Take (calculated) risks and leaps of faith

Try something new, personally and professionally

Have no-contact hours.  Work/life balance is imperative

Ask questions and write down the answers

Remember the weight of words

Expect a dynamic mixed-mode, mixed-data future

Get new skills whenever possible, and never assume you’ll know when and how they’ll be useful to you

Don’t be an a*hole, to anyone, anywhere.

It’s never over, keep going

Life is a journey and time is not linear

Find work that you find is meaningful and hopefully do it with people you like

Relationships matter so make sure to foster them

Don’t be afraid to reach out to others – whether it be to ask questions, ask for help, or to just connect with someone

Get to know and learn from those in your profession whom you admire, most especially in your early years

Try to build and maintain a public persona of your own, one that makes you feel comfortable

Remain active and stay connected with others in both your professional and personal life

Present, write, publish, join. Your best work is done getting ready to interact with colleagues, students and audiences

Never stop learning. Work experience, travel, educational-type institutions, libraries, museums, family, friends and colleagues are your teachers and mentors

Be adaptable and resilient

Stay loyal to your code

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know

Misery is optional

Think outside the box

Try things to see breadth of options and don’t be afraid to follow the less clear path

Talk to everyone you can about their journeys

Change should be viewed as our friend and not our enemy

Following your passions allows for fulfilling and satisfying life choices

It’s never too late to follow you passions and build the career you want

Appreciate the whole person that you are — it’s very easy to silo different aspects of your life and miss how each role you play is integrated into who you are and what you find satisfying

Remember that you are a part of a community – find your posse, find mentors, and pay it forward!

Knowing what you want to do and setting out single-mindedly to do it is a wonderful way to go about life, but there are other ways that work just as well

Taking a few classes in a PhD program does not make someone an expert in survey research, despite what they may believe.  This means that there will always be work for survey methodologists in academic research settings

Do not be afraid to try new things, to stretch your abilities, and to reach out for mentoring and assistance along the way

Read everything that Don Dillman has ever written

Most of what I have accomplished has been “because of”  and “with” other people including nearly 40  PhD students who have taught me new skills and the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center staff.  I think of them as  my teachers!

Learning and addressing new things is the constant in the life of someone who is going to be successful in survey research, as well as other fields of work