Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#21

Post by marssaxman » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 7:41 PM UTC

dylanhassinger wrote: post #2

start a blog. pay off your student loans ASAP and dont go into any more debt ever

Do people still read blogs? I had one for about a decade, but I stopped maintaining it because it felt like the whole scene had faded away around me. When I stopped publishing, nobody seemed to notice.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#22

Post by baccheion » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 8:23 PM UTC

schappim wrote: post #13

baccheion wrote: post #5

Increasing dopamine (at D1/D5) in the nucleus accumbens shell increases motivation. Start taking a multivitamin stack and trying to create a startup ASAP. 401k

How does one increase dopamine (at D1/D5) in the nucleus accumbens shell?

Motivation: SEMAX (+ selank + alpha-GPC), selegiline (+ memantine), uridine monophosphate (+ DHA), acetyl L-carnitine (+ alpha-GPC + Na-R-ALA), beta-alanine..

A multvitamin, D + K, and chelated/TRAACS magnesium supplement are usually recommended when taking nootropics.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#23

Post by pasbesoin » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 8:46 PM UTC

Guard your health. Your health comes first.

You won't enjoy anything else as well, without your health. And over the medium and long term, you won't accomplish it without your health.

You will be offered, or coerced into, all sorts of compromises. "Future payoff" is a ploy.

Very often, your intuition will warn you before conscious thought catches up.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#24

Post by GFischer » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 10:43 PM UTC

Don't get into debt. Manage your finances carefully. Exercise more and eat healthier. Learn to cook.

I can't stress the part about debt and finances enough.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#25

Post by CM30 » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 10:43 PM UTC

Get working on your startups/side projects now, since your university/looking for first job years are those where you've got the most free time. There's a reason so many founders and online creators are uni students; they've got way too much free time, access to a bunch of other bored people in the same situation and none the paycheck related stress associated with a full time job.

Also, learn more about programming. It's not as hard as you may think it is, and the more you know about it, the more possibilities open up for interesting side projects and jobs in the future. God, the amount of things I'd probably have built by now had I really got into programming back in my 20s (or teens).

Then again, you know what? If I was gonna give any advice to my 20 year old self (assuming the course of history didn't change too much), I'd probably be more practical and say:

Get making videos and posting them on YouTube/livestreaming sites, since that's where the money and fame will be in a few years time. People don't care about text as much as they used to.

As well as provide them a nice list of companies to buy stock in for the future.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#26

Post by itronitron » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 12:41 AM UTC

don't sit down in a chair at a hospital while your wife is pregnant

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#27

Post by mettamage » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 6:11 AM UTC

Don't study psychology it's a trap. If you really want to learn more about humans maybe do acting or anthropology or sales or more meditation/loving kindness.

Study computer science (I kind of accidentally did this).

Don't diversify academically, try to start up a company instead.

Your people skills, while they can be improved, are better than you think. A lot of people tell you that your people skills are bad. They are more wrong than you think, in a lot of cases it's not poor people skills that lead to a lack of good judgement with regards to people. It could be e.g. different value systems.

Meet as many people as you can and assess their energy and who they are in an instant. Become friends with the people you like. You're pretty good at this. Be prepared to let some false negatives (FN) go, maximize meeting truly positive (TP) amazing people.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#28

Post by wimgz » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 12:19 PM UTC

Don't choose a job for the money.

Choose a problem you want to solve, and work on this on the long term.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#29

Post by himlion » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 1:06 PM UTC

marssaxman wrote: post #19

Don't get married; you will regret it. And for heaven's sake don't get married again; you will regret that even more. This advice may not scale.

I'm married and enjoy it, guess it's not for everyone.

Re: Ask HN: If you are 30+, what advice would you give to your 20-something self?

#30

Post by coachydev001 » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 3:40 PM UTC

Try new things because it gives you the opportunity to see your blind spots. If you feel uncomfortable taking action in some area, then that's a good place to start. But also be kind to yourself, and start small. Don't beat yourself up with stories. And finally, unless you get something in your own experience, don't believe it. Opinions are a dime a dozen. Whenever possible, investigate the truth about something yourself. It's much more fun that way :).

Oh yes, and take personal development very seriously, and work towards becoming more aware of who you are at every level. Invest in yourself when you're young, don't be stingy about it. Compounding interest works for personal growth too.