I was a waiter in Pizza Hut when I was 17.

I worked in McDonald’s when I was 18.

I worked as a student ambassador when I was 19.

I worked as a private tutor when I was 20, 21 and 22.

I worked at Office when I was 22.

I worked as a Med School applicant mentor when I was 23.

I worked as a photographer when I was 24.

I started making money from social media when I was 25.

Today at 26, I work for myself.

I’ve learned a lot in my time working these various jobs, here are the main lessons. I hope anyone reading this can avoid my mistakes.

1. People skills

I had my fair share of assh*le managers in my time.

I learned the hard way that life is much easier if you learn how to get along with all types of people. Not because they deserve your goodness, but because your life is too precious to have toxic relationships.

Drop your ego.

An effective communicator is someone who knows how to engage and be friendly with anyone.

The sooner you learn this, the sooner you realise how important it is.

In medical school, there are doctors known to be the assh*le type. As a student, whenever I meet a new consultant, I spend the first few days learning about the person I’m with and what they seem to like. I do my best to get on their good side no matter what.

They don’t all deserve it, but when I want to go home early, take a day off or do my own thing it really helps being on their good side.

I write nice emails, I show up on time, I compliment them and thank them for however much (or little) they’ve done for me on placement.

In return, my life becomes easier.

2. Controlling Emotions

Islam teaches us to be patient, to have ‘sabr’.

Now that I’m older and I’m trying to build my patience more, it makes sense.

Patience teaches you not to act emotionally and to think rationally.

It’s easier said than done.

How many times have you burst out in anger and said something that you later apologised for and regretted?

We’ve all been there.

If you can learn to bite your tongue you’ll save yourself so much trouble.

If you can learn to bite your tongue AND let go of the incident entirely, you’ll have peace.

It is absolutely possible to emotionally detach from a situation that does not serve you in any positive way, although it does take some training.

Practising patience (sabr) will bring you this skill.

3. Do Your Best

At 17 in McDonalds, I knew I was only there for a short amount of time.

I was a young aspiring doctor, I was only there to make some pocket money.

That thought led me to drop my efforts.

I started doing the bare minimum to get by.

There’s a saying.

If you’re being a sloth (One of the world’s slowest creatures) at work, you will carry that energy everywhere you go. It becomes a habit. A bad one.

When I was 19 working as a student ambassador I was in a team of 150+ students across the university. There was competition to get the best shifts and you had to show your worth. From that job onwards, I have always tried to give 100% in everything I do.

You feel much better when you do.

The habit of working hard, and fulfilling your potential carries through your work, speech and life.

People can spot it from a mile away. Doing your best will open more doors for you. You don’t know where, whom or when the next opportunity will come, so it’s best to always be prepared by doing your best.

In Islam, we are taught to be honest. So honest that when we sign a contract for a job, we must live up to it otherwise we may fall into sin. If you have a day job, you should do your best because it’s your duty.

I think it’s a real shame and a waste of potential to not do your best.

4. Never Make Assumptions

How often do you have 50% of the story but 100% of the conclusion?

It doesn’t make sense to make assumptions, especially when you’re wrong.

I love that quote.

It’s in human nature to fill in the gaps of stories and situations from prior experience, an educated guess. If you get this wrong, it can be detrimental to your life and relationships.

Do not make assumptions.

5. Increase Your Baseline

As you move through jobs and you improve, you will be paid more (I hope).

Every time I make a new salary, I like to make that my new ‘baseline’.

It’s the new ‘minimum’ I will accept for work.

Don’t worry about the number you have, just focus on gradually increasing it. If you’re doing better today than you were a year ago, that’s progress to be proud of.

In my last 9 years of working, I have tried my best to increase the baseline.

I have learnt that the higher paid work is a little more difficult to find, but it exists.

If I had to start from 0 again today, without my social media audience, I now know where to start. When I was 17, the only ‘job’ I knew of were the part-time retail and waiter-type jobs.

Today, I know there are so many more. (Full guide to making money here).

They may not seem the most relevant to your work, but I have learnt the hard way that these are very important to career progression and achieving peace in life.