Sometimes intelligent people like to tell you what you can and cannot do with your life. Remember that only you can decide what’s best for yourself...

In my senior year in college at Penn State, I decided to take a writing-intensive course taught by a very tough professor. Everyone kept telling me that he was a mean-spirited, tough-grading old man who wouldn’t make the course any fun.

It turned out they were right about the professor, but wrong about the class - it was one the best classes I ever took. It would also turn out to be one of the most influential...

After my final project was handed back to me, there was a note from the professor asking me to have a chat with him after class. Once everyone left the professor asked me frankly, “What do you plan on doing after college?”

I told him that I was interested in broadcast meteorology and was going to try and get a job as a TV weatherman. He stood there for a while and scratched his beard, thinking of the right words to say.

“Can I tell you something?,” he asked, “You’re very smart and make a great story teller when it comes to weather, but I don’t think you’ll make it on TV.”

I stood with a drained look on my face while he went on to say that I tend to go into too much detail about subjects and that I’d find the life of TV ‘too constraining’. He added that I’d be more suited in being a teacher or professor for weather rather than get into media.

I left his class in a daze. Over the next several weeks, I would analyze the very reason I went to college in the first place.

Now normally, the only people whose opinions really mattered to me are my parents, my family, and my wife (or girlfriend back in those days). But, because he was such an intelligent, respected professor at the university (who rarely gave advice), and since he’s watched the progression of hundreds of students before me, I did respect his opinion.

Ultimately, I decided to pursue what I really wanted to do, not what he thought was BEST for me. Turns out, it was a smart decision.

Now, for those of you getting advice from your parents, teachers, mentors, I encourage you to listen well. They have all guided us through tough times and can oftentimes lead us away from making bad decisions in life.

I want it to be known that I don’t hate the professor for telling me what he did. He was simply giving me advice and it turns out he wasn’t too far from the truth. I often find that there’s a lot to say and never enough time to say it (hence why I usually talk like an auctioneer when I do the weather).

In fact, I want to thank that professor for that conversation we had some 9 years ago. Every time I wrote a resume or cover letter for a job, his words of advice gave me even more ambition to prove him wrong and make my dreams a reality.

Believe in yourself, not what others believe...