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&lt;p&gt;The 84-year old founder of BP Capital Management told Business Insider that he wouldn&#39;t mind starting from scratch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As he recounts during his interview, T. Boone Pickens told an audience of &quot;drifting off&quot; young grads at St. Stephens &amp;amp; St. Agnes that he&#39;d trade spots with anyone of them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;&#39;Right here [snap] I&#39;ll trade with you,&#39;&quot; he recalls saying at the commencement address. &quot;I said I&#39;ll come and sit there and put on your graduation hat and you take this and you get the airplane, you get the ranch, whole deal. I said you are in the spot I&#39;d like to have. To be 18 years old, to be you and start out again.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though Pickens doesn&#39;t have to worry about starting over any time soon, he does have a pretty strong opinion on how young people should begin their careers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&#39;s some of the wisdom he shared with BI, on what he believes are the keys to success:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Good education&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pickens&#39; definition of &quot;education&quot; doesn&#39;t necessarily mean &quot;higher education,&quot; but rather learning your trade and learning it will.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;I don&#39;t believe everybody has to go to college though, not at all—some people it doesn&#39;t fit, and there are other skills that can develop. But an education in whatever you choose to do, you better know what you&#39;re doing.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This goes hand in hand with Pickens&#39; mention of how he was never bailed out by anyone when his business had trouble as an entrepreneur. Knowledge and expertise, like capital, is a resource, and no one&#39;s handing it out. You have to go get it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pickens&#39; most important take away: don&#39;t depend on formal education to give you the skills you need to succeed. Learn from everything—especially people who you perceive are smart.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Working hard&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Have a work ethic…that&#39;s going to get you most of the way there,&quot; says Pickens, who also remarks that you &quot;reap what you sow.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He advises that you not pay too much attention to the money you make right away, but focus on the big picture: loving what you do overall. &quot;Some of the days are great, and some of the days are not so good—but it&#39;s all fun.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As for finding opportunity in the recession, Pickens&#39; doesn&#39;t think hardship has to be a big deal. &quot;I was born in the Depression,&quot; he says, &quot;and people ask me, what was the Depression like?&quot; But I didn&#39;t have anything to compare it to, it&#39;s all I knew.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps new grads can take a chapter from Pickens&#39; book and simply keep working hard and looking for opportunities to shine. Psyching yourself out about a bad economy only uses mental energy—which is better spent learning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Taking care who you get advice from&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s great to listen and learn from others, but there is such a thing as taking too much advice from others. Pickens&#39; father told him to only take counsel from a person that fits three pieces of criteria: those you think are smart, those who don&#39;t have a conflict of interest with you, and those who love you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don&#39;t think a would-be advisor is too bright? &quot;Don&#39;t spend any time listening to them,&quot; says Pickens, &quot;Move on.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Smart, but not sure they&#39;re on your side? &quot;Are they telling me one thing, but they&#39;re telling me that for a reason? Maybe they&#39;re too smart,&quot; says Pickens.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Third (and perhaps most importantly), do they love you? It&#39;s important to listen to those who truly have your best interests at heart.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pickens certainly fits all his own criteria—he smart, has no reason not to give sound advice, and seems to have a soft spot for young people. So would you take his advice?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do you think he&#39;s dead on or out of touch? Tell us in the comments!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;--Cathy Vandewater, Vault.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read more: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.businessinsider.com/t-boone-pickens-could-get-rich-all-over-again-2012-9#ixzz266KIIGOl&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;T. Boone Pickens Would Trade Places With Any Kid In America And Become A Billionaire All Over Again&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/blog/job-search/required-summer-reading-for-recent-unemployed-graduates/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Required Summer Reading for Recent (Unemployed) Graduates&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/blog/job-search/attention-millennials-the-most-important-thing-you-can-do-for-your-career/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Attention Millennials: The Most Important Thing You Can Do For Your Career&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Cathy Vandewater

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