- 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.