The days are long but the decades are short (2015)

This is better than most of these "tips for a good life" lists, but I feel like it too misses a certain level of overarching consistency. Almost every item has a situation in which the "correct" thing to do is exactly the opposite of what is recommended. How do you make that decision?

As with all of these lists, I always wonder whether this is what the author thinks now, after attaining success, or if these principles are what they relied on during the process? Or perhaps even what they wish they did now that they have more time to think about it?

A commenter below mentions "life is not an optimization problem" -- but isn't it? You're fundamentally making decisions every day that balance your constraints against your goals, interests, and passions. If you just let your life go by without making some real decisions, won't you just regret what you didn't do later?

The reason you have to optimize like this is because a lot of these principles, should you attempt to leverage them to make a decision, provide contradictory advice. Part of this is due to the subjective terms (ie, definitions of extreme vary), but if you're going to use this list as a template or an inspiration, eventually you have to resolve what these things mean to you. I certainly haven't figured that all out and don't expect I ever will; I don't see how anyone could without having experienced all possible things.

All that being said, there are definitely some items that are clearly beneficial and don't put you in decision making paralysis, such as 18 or 24. But there are others that leave me more confused, such as "Don't waste time" or "Don't worry so much". How am I to know if an activity is time wasted until after I do it or if worrying is excessive or warning me about a real issue?

Finally, if you don't identify as neurotypical, what items apply, don't apply, or apply differently? How do you live your life if what everyone else says to do doesn't (seem to) work for you?

Not trashing Sam's thoughts here for sure, but I've read dozens of these things and never came away without having more questions then when I started.

The day is slow, Friend, but the Decade will be fast

Spend less time adrift

Be kind when it matters

Be kinder when it does not matter

Time > Money, Spend it well

Everything will pass, just stay your course

Always Do or Learn new things

Forgive, Forget, or at least Let Go

Say "Thank You" thrice

The day is slow, Friend, but the decade will be fast

"Life is short. And life is long. But not in that order": https://youtu.be/SNgyEmYyQF4

"how to succeed: pick the right thing to do." How do you know it was the right thing? Because you succeeded.

Discussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9454440

There is something about these lists that just doesnt work. They absolutely dont help for me. I have thought they do at many times in my life but reading one again I’m like, ”what?”. This isnt even remotely actionable for me, its just some mad random philosophical collection. It LOOKS good but it lacks something very fundamental. I wish I could see exactly what it is thats missing. I have kind of found what that is now in my own life, if just barely, but I’m not clear enough about it to verbalise it even for myself. Maybe when I can completely see it I can write a blog post of my own :)

I would say this list would not have helped the author at all in accomplishing whatever it is that he has. I may be wrong but I have really tried to believe it :)

32) Be a doer, not a talker.

I try to be a doer, and I'm often frustrated at work by talkers, but the feeling is tempered by this:

26) Don’t screw people and don’t burn bridges. Pick your battles carefully.

Articles like this seem almost calculated to be maximally devastating to lonely people.

And another person younger and more successful than me.

But well, the article is from 2015, so maybe I got a few months to make it big :D

> Making money is often more fun than spending it

One of my teachers in college said: "life is not an optimisation problem"

Just live it. Doesn't stress if it's optimal.

This is still one of my favorite pieces of writing. I try to re-read it at least once a year.

I think you should categorize them into: 1. Most important 2. Important 3. Not important It's a long list, they're mostly meaningful. I feel some are subjective to personal opinions.

"Every man has two lives... the second one starts when he realizes he only has one." - Confuscious