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Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

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Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#21

Post by consoomer »

I had a rough patch for a number of years. What helped me was reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (translated by Gregory Hays). I don't think it's for everyone, but I read it at the right time in my life so it hit just right.

It gave me a different way of looking at things. I guess in a way, I started to see myself almost in a third person.. I got my stuff together and made big changes.

Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#22

Post by markus_zhang »

Financially, my parents helped me out. I fucked up pretty badly. I was never really broke but I didn't get a diploma and was too depressed to get a job.

Mentally, I never walked out. It was a symptom of a much deeper problem that still haunts me today.

Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#23

Post by pknomad »

nadermx wrote: post #6

Think of where you want to be in your 30's. Start from there and plan every step backwards. Then do the hardest part, actually follow through.

I never thought of it that way; that's an interesting way to see the problem.

Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#24

Post by Workaccount2 »

Ilasky wrote: post #19

Currently finding my own path and one bit of advice that I thought was incredibly helpful is from Dr. Stutz. The advice is a bit new-age-y, but I think it rings true nevertheless. It’s about working on your “life force”[0], which can be represented as a pyramid with three sections: body, people, self. Start moving your body, getting good sleep, eating well. Then focus on your connections with others, developing frien…

There is nothing New Age-y about that advice, it's about as generic as life advice can possibly get.

Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#26

Post by itsafarqueue »

This is life, regardless of age, it just feels more pronounced in your 20s. The exceptions are not the rule. There is no arc to life. It’s ok to be lost. Debt is destructive, so try minimise it if you can. Not everyone can. No one has anything figured out, some people are circumstantially lucky and many of those accredit their success to a misguided but materially reinforced superiority complex. Try to find a source of happiness that doesn’t rely on money or someone else. If you can do that, the “way” doesn’t matter. You’re ok, keep going.

Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#28

Post by supportengineer »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #15

Well you are lost because you are associating yourself with the environment and circumstances. You are basically a pilot of a mecha. Thoughts are basically your ai remembering things with a lot of hallucinations. We are sent down to this planet to explore and mine for resources. Just focus on exploring, and the data that you collect will automatically be synced up to the super intelligence. That is your core job. You…

You could make a whole religion out of this idea.

Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#29

Post by aj7 »

1. Most people in this situation, including myself, suffer from some slight mental illness. This tends to get better, ON IT’S OWN, with time. 2. You are unaware of how young you are, and how much time and opportunity there is. All the “grind it out” advice below is correct. Be productive and work your way up. You are a late bloomer. 3. You can learn something useful from almost experience and job. Be sure to graduate to something new at the proper time. 4. Your reverses, bad choices, bad experiences of your youth will become increasingly irrelevant, EVEN IF THE MEMORIES REMAIN VIVID. 5. While I do not want to emphasize competition, I was able to surpass people who were much more successful than me professionally in other areas, like investing. I chalk this up to the non-coddling effects of having to solve real life problems without a secure professional cocoon like tenure or a government pension. Take heed. Difficulties provide compensatory skills to those who work earnestly.

Re: Ask HN: Those who were broke and lost in life in 20s. How'd you find way again?

#30

Post by pancakeguy »

I was down bad and started throwing ideas at startup accelerators until I got money to work on one. Motivation to spend all of my time working on ideas came from anxiety about my future. I know Im capable of building something cool and useful, my biggest fear is never giving it my all, then looking back and feeling like I wasted a good hand in life.
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