Ask HN: What advice would you give your younger self? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What advice would you give your younger self?

33 pointstitusblair44 comments

If you could travel back in time what advice would you give your younger self?

A few things: ---------

- He/She is not the ONLY one. There will be more. Move on.

- Something bad happened to you but it is not the end of your life. Shit happens. You will see worse.

- Life is easy right now. Trust me. It only gets harder from here on BUT you can choose how to make it better.

- Life is all about the choices YOU make (some exceptions). So stop blaming this and that and focus on what YOU can do to get where you want to be.

- Don't hurt anyone, physically or emotionally. You will regret it some day.

- Money is great but you will also need time to spend it. Know how to find that balance. Too much money with no time = no money.

- Learn to Save. Save even if it is $50 a month. They add up pretty fast.

- Live life. Don't wait till "I will hit big tomorrow. let me wait to enjoy life till then". Just do it now within your means.

- Listen to people with experience. They do have something to offer. At the end, do what you think is best for YOU.

- Be selfish. Take care of yourself before you do for others. Remember the announcement in a flight "Put your own mask before helping others"

- Go the extra effort to keep people/friends close to you who actually care about you. Get rid of people who don't value you.

- Spend some time every week/month learning a skill. Whatever that is. Even if it is for an hour every week/month. Learn something new.

Here's a few:

- Companies won't be loyal to you when times get tough for them. At the hint of blood in the water, start looking for work, quick. It's much harder to get the next job when you're already unemployed.

- Don't let 'we can't afford to give you raise/promotion' be the reason you don't get one for years. If you prove yourself and they tell you no, start looking for a company that can afford to appreciate you. Or else you can get stuck at the same level for a long time.

- The video game industry is fun, but has terrible issues with work/life balance issues and letting you do your own thing in your spare time. Focus on getting your own games out there, and how to charge money for them, while you're still young and energetic with tons of free time, instead of trying to break into the game industry.

- The dentists can tell you you have no cavities for years while your enamel is slowly eroding, and then once it erodes just enough to get a hole, everything becomes expensive, temporary, and unpleasant. Drink unsweetened tea instead of soda and coffee, brush more, and get things taken care of sooner rather than later.

- Your 'starvation' strategy of losing weight stops working when you're stressed out for months on end and your willpower drops. Low carb actually works for you despite what you might read, use that to keep your weight down before it gets too high.

- It is bronchitis, not just a bad cough. Find a doctor who isn't an idiot and will prescribe you something to take care of it before you lose your scholarship.

- Women aren't as smart and perfect as you think they are, and they will talk to you and even date you if you treat them like normal people. Start going to more low-key social events to get yourself used to talking to them. Also, don't get stuck on any one girl and ignore others.

1.-Workout and keep that habit for the rest of your life. It will help you with your self-esteem, health, dating and will keep you living and looking younger.

2.-Do not be afraid to talk to girls and be confident.if there is anything girls do not like is guys who are not confident.

3.-Don't waste your time. You can never get back time. Finish school or find something that you are good at and turn in into your career.

4.-Don't expect life to be easy there will be ups and downs. always realize that the good times will turn into bad times and viceversa

Forget that B2C startup idea, go straight to B2B. That's where the money is.

Stop eating animals sooner. The same pleasure you get from eating that bacon burger, you'll get from other foods. Just give it a few weeks to adjust.

Call your grandma more often, while she's still able to recognize you.

And what is going to replace bacon? The physical manifestation of god's mana on earth? If there is something nearly as good that won't kill me quite as quickly, please do tell! Otherwise I am willing to give up a couple of years in my 80s for bacon now!

I didn't mean to challenge your attachment to bacon. I was just saying that I would tell my younger self that I would get the same pleasure I used to get from bacon from other foods (as I've been a doing for the last decade). I don't really care that much about living a little longer either. I realized that I'm happier not supporting the industry that exploit animals.

1. Don't go to law school. At least, not if it costs (your) money.

2. Don't be an asshole, even when people are assholes to you.

3. Stay for that 5th year of college.

4. Corporate loyalty isn't a thing, don't feel bad about looking for the next opportunity when you feel you're ready.

5. Go to the gym more, shithead.

6. Travel as much as you can. And after you have kids, keep going.

7. Stop swearing so much at the office. Just kidding. Ass.

8. Have a good time... all the time.

9. As long as there's sex and drugs, I can do without rock and roll.

10. Never put more than 7 items on a list.

> Stay for that 5th year of college.

Why?

Because the first 4 were great, educationally and socially, and there isn't much opportunity in life to enjoy that with the relatively lesser responsibilities of college life. If I could do it again, I'd have picked up a second major and stayed the extra year.

tl;dr I had an awesome time at college.

1. You are more capable then you give yourself credit for.

2. Run your own race. Don't worry about where other people are.

3. Ignorance is a prerequisite for learning. Cultivate ignorance.

#2 is something my grandmother always told me when i was young. still remember it and try to practice it today.

1) Just show up. 80% of the time it's just showing up.

2) There is no such thing as "downtime" ... when you think you have free time, you should be planning.

3) Be patient, and deliberate. Consistency wins over intensity.

I'm not old enough to have that much of a younger self, but here goes:

-Eat less. For god's sake.

-Seriously, put less sugar in your diet (I still need to do this in the present...)

-For crying out loud, practice. Just, practice.

-Don't spend so much time doubting yourself. 90% now is better than 100% never, and if you don't just start doing it, never is when it'll happen.

-Once you get a handle on Linux, ArchLinux is the way to go.

-Learn Scheme. It's fantastic.

-Keep track of those old disks. You'll regret losing them one day.

Why is ArchLinux better than Linux in your opinion?

Not better than Linux, but if you know what you're doing, it's the best distro out there.

Obviously the implication is that the advice would change your life.

Me? I'm happy as I am right here, right now. Sure some things could have been avoided, but no doubt I'd replace one set of mistakes with another.

Things could always be be worse, perhaps even terminally worse. I'd change nothing. I'm in a good place, and on average I've created more happiness than harm. I can live with that.

Stop worrying about how old you are. It doesn't matter what Evariste Galois did by the time he was twenty; that won't help you do a thing. Only doing things helps you do a thing.

On that note, virtually everything anyone enjoys was made or influenced by humans. Humans write novels; humans make statues; humans make books about nature walks. You're a human; you can make things.

-Don't say no to opportunities that take you out of your comfort zone. Embrace them and remember the variety of experience when you are younger pay dividends later when you are even more risk averse.

-Take your passions seriously. If you find something that interests you, go for it all the way even if you're tired, lazy, busy.

-Be the one who initiates things with regards to social and business relationships. It's okay to get burned but keep leading by example.

-Stop living in your head. It's great to have an imagination and think steps ahead. However until you can make it a reality, your head becomes your biggest obstacle.

-Make exercise and other healthy habits a part of your routine. No, you won't be a robot. You'll actually be sustainably developing your sense of discipline.

-Following the money may leave you stuck with just a number but no further prospects. Make sure you're keeping yourself marketable and taking side gigs to keep yourself sharp.

- Don't bother with her (De..). That shit's not good for you.

- Don't work so much. That shit's not good for you.

- Don't eat/drink so much sugar. That shit's not good for you.

- Don't be so sedentary. That shit's not good for you.

- Don't deprive yourself of sleep. That shit's not good for you.

If I may name more than one:

1) yes, beat those two fuckers to a bloody pulp, totally worth it.

2) Go out with girls more. Actually - start dating at all for fucks sake! Don't just sit near this useless peace of junk.

3) Take your chances and opportunities, every chance can be the only one.

I have no advice as I am no wiser now. Seriously.

If we asked your younger self the same question, would we have got the same answer? "I am not wise" ?

If no, then you're wiser than most commentators according to Socrates :-)

Don't date that one girl.

Quit trying to be productive every minute.

There's nothing wrong with working hard, but take the time to create memories every month. You only get to be 24 once.

Stop telling yourself you're an introvert. You are an introvert, but telling yourself that over and over is making you much more introverted than you really are.

Thanks for maintaining all of those great friendships. They're still great friendships!

Learn more about actual business.

Stay in touch with people you care for.

Learn a martial art and stay with it.

Keep a work life balance, once you break a relationship its over.

Have more children!

- Almost nothing matters.

- Be mindful.

- Maintain your health, ruthlessly.

Marry the smart girl, not the hot girl.

She can be hot too, what I have found most importantly is how does she identifies herself.

So hot girls want to stay hot, even when they get older. That means clothes, shoes, hours in the bathroom...

If she self identifies as smart, it mean hours reading, studying.

Which is important to you?

Don't neglect your education so much. Test scores will only get you so far.

The only thing that matters is having a child that has a healthy child (that has a healthy child)

After deep dive into genealogy this became an unexpected clear moment. With out creating life that creates life nothing matters

"Sell those stocks you were gifted immediately, like you want. Holding them so as to not be rude (or some nonsense) will cost you half their value."

Other than that, eh, no real regrets.

Wait 6 months to buy that condo. The market is about to crater.

Oof! This one speaks to me in Seattle's silly real estate market.

Doing good in school is more important than partying and playing video games. There is time to do those things in the future, school is really a one time thing.

People matter. Don't be a jerk. Learn how to deal with other people in kindness rather than abrasiveness.

just mine, in order of importance:

- there is a time for all, don't mix things, time for tech, time for friends, time for girls

- dont be hurried, everything has it's own time the more you are slow the best you consolidate what you are doing (whatever it is)

- be open to the unknown

"Hey Bitcoin is actually going to be huge! That thing you have going on with mining bitcoin, keep doing it. Drop out of school if you have to, get a job, buy more computers, invest everything you own into mining more Bitcoins. And sell everything before 17 November 2013."

Keep going, everything's going to work out, very well in fact.

Say yes to more things that felt uncomfortably hard.

I wouldn't dare...I was too cocky

Floss. Floss every goddamn day.

Don't be such a nerd.

get a job

so this site is reddit now ?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com