Major life transitions such as leaving the protected environment of school or starting a new career can be daunting. It is scary to face a wall of choices, knowing that no one is going to tell us if we make the right decision. There is no clearly delineated path or recipe for success. Even figuring out how and where to start can be a challenge.

As head of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Tina Seelig’s job is to guide her students as they make the difficult transition from the academic environment to the professional world-providing tangible skills and insights that will last a lifetime. Seelig is an entrepreneur, neuroscientist, and wildly popular professor and in What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 she shares with us what she offers her students -provocative stories, inspiring advice, and a big dose of humility and humor.

This audiobook is filled with incredible examples, from the classroom to the boardroom, of individuals defying expectations, challenging assumptions, and achieving unprecedented success. Seelig throws out the old rules and provides a new model for reaching our potential. We discover how to have a healthy disregard for the impossible; that we don’t have to be right all the time; and that most problems are remarkable opportunities in disguise.

Part Maria Shriver’s Just Who Will You Be and part Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture, this book is for everyone looking to make their mark in the world.

Gwen Hughes