- Embrace a healthy lifestyle now. It's much easier to stay in shape than it is to get in shape.
- Embrace life-long learning. You're 18. You might be going to college. Don't think you're going to learn all you'll ever need to know in your field after going to college.
- Understand that experience is often the best teacher.
- Understand it's okay to make mistakes. Problems arise when you repeatedly make the same mistakes.
- Pay yourself first (retirement savings). At least 5%. Yes, retirement seems forever away but it's important to get saving now.
- Try as much as possible to own things. It's nice to have things that you're not paying to keep.
- Don't worry about what everybody else is doing. You need to discover who you are and find your own path. Once you've figured that out, you can tailor this advice to help you on your path - and part of tailoring is discarding.
Fortunately I don't have a problem with not making mistakes, I made a great deal of them (and many more to come) as I have been trying various online ventures for 7 years now (from youtube and freelancing to startups). And in the end some of those ended up working so well I make more than most of my school teachers do per month.
Finally, I wish I knew how not to care about what others think of me. I'm trying to find a way not to worry about it, but I'm still trying to figure it out. I think this will go away with age, as it is with most bad experiences we have in life; the cure to those experiences is to relive them again and again and realise it's not as bad as we make it up in our own heads.
As far as not caring what others think of you - I believe it comes with age. As social animals I believe we evolved to care a lot about the feedback from others while growing up since that helped us get along and survive in our tribe/clan. As we get older, we're the ones providing that feedback. Plus, survivorship bias makes us think our way must be right. That's why old people get cantankerous.
Be kind to everyone, especially when it's the hardest. It's good for them and good for you. Don't let anger or envy rule your emotions.
If I had choose just 2-3 things to focus on, it would be exercising, eating well, and participating in community, and the rest just tend to sort themselves out. You're 18, you don't have to have your whole life figured out already, just set a good foundation for it.
Health is the basis of everything else, and exercise is a huge component of both mental, physical, and emotional health. Most things in life you can fix later on, and most mistakes you can undo (obviously don't be a criminal or become an addict), but health is the one thing that is really hard to "fix" later on if you don't start & maintain it early enough.
- Only consider partners who complement you as a person, and who can support themselves without you. Teammate, not an obligation. When in doubt, wait. The most impactful decision in your life will be if and who you choose to partner with. When considering partners, seek signal if they will show up to the job each day and are willing to put the work into said partnership.
- Doors close as you get older, some opportunities will only be available to you when you are young, unpartnered, and have no obligations. Take them if you think they’ll bring you joy, be memories that will be life long, or help you grow as a person. You want as many cheap dice rolls as possible, personally and professionally. Be interesting to people who can provide you opportunities.
- Make an active effort to cultivate relationships with good people, but don’t keep people in your life who infringe on you or don't respect your boundaries consistently. Network is everything, personally and professionally. When you make interpersonal mistakes, recognize you have; apologize, commit to do better in the future, and then do better.
- Never stop learning. It is okay to make mistakes with regards to your understanding of the world, subjects, and domains; people worth learning from will not treat you poorly for recognizing and admitting to said mistakes. Find these people. Knowledge is power, being autodidact is a superpower. There is no speed limit. Go broad, dive deep, find gaps, fill gaps, increase context, repeat. Update priors as needed.
- Being healthy takes an active effort. Always live at or below your means. Start investing as soon as possible, your future self will thank you. Most success is showing up, working hard, and luck; you control two out of three. Comparison is the thief of joy; compete against yourself. Chase freedom, not status.
- Be kind, it's mostly free, and you'll regret when you could've shown grace if you had more emotional fortitude and composure in the moment. Life is hard, it doesn't get easier, the challenges simply change. Embrace the suck. If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.
- The days are long but the years are short. Don't forget to enjoy yourself, and spend time with those you love and care about. Happiness is not constant, nor assured. Live your life in a way you can cultivate opportunities to experience moments of happiness and joy.
I let it make me an arrogant jerk, on a giant ego trip. That was... less helpful.
What I would do differently is, I would get over myself - not find my identity in how smart I was. (Easier said, but I would try.)
The world and civilization is extremely fragile. It is not a given. Don't think because everyone is going one way iit's a great idea. Charlatans exist, people are gullible, and precious facts are some of the hardest damn things to get your hands on and decontaminate from spin.
Life is change. Understand that today's friend may not be so tomorrow. Conversely, cherish the rare connection that grows with you, and don't be afraid to say "we might have to diverge down different paths now".
You are legion. You may be one individual to the outside observer, but in you is a machine so adept at change, that you're not even aware of yourself doing it til well into half-life. It may sound silly, but introspect early and often, fear not what you find, and be kind to yourself. You'll thank me later.
In the U.S. you don't need mich to survive. The bare essentials are income or savings enough to cover food, shelter, and mobility. Of those the shelter and mobility will be the most painful, but don't underestimate the force multiplier of good food. Learn to cook. Experiment with tastes and ingredients.
Pay attention to Art! You'll never be completely surprised if you pay attention to what is getting dredged up by the more artistically inclined around you.
Always chase down higher order effects. Much of teasing out the quiet part lay beyond the 3rd-4th order.
And finally, get a really really good bed, comfy pillows, and get good sleep. You'll be amazed the throughput a solid night's healthy sleep yields.
- I'd like to try and get a PhD in physics or math, just for the sheer joy of it.
- I'd drop a few toxic people that I kept hoping would change.
- Read any books, fiction/non-fiction. but read and read often. read newspapers.
- Save $100 a month (never withdraw)
- Try many different jobs - helps you find your gritt!
- the highest goal of child-rearing should be to accomplish a self responsible, capable adult. Preferably of good character and moral virtues, yet let us say these will be signs of our time (collectively influenced.) are you this?
- as an adult, know that the world wants to eat you and shit you. the more beautiful, intelligent, or pationate you are, the greater the lascivious appetites who would feed upon you. Averaging is a safe haven for freedom of will.
- you are both the master of your own destiny, and the tenant/debtor/employee of every external demand you take upon yourself. For some this is liberating, for others a life sentence.
- ultimately to be the fullest of your humanity, be your fullest self. GRIND until you are 30, pace yourself for a decade, and then invest everything in your own infrastructure, and keep it until you die.