Here are my rules:
1. Don't worry, be happy. 2. If you don't use it, you loose it. 3. Take some chances
....richie
Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
211–220 of 269 posts
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#212At 27, there is one thing I've learned that would have been quite helpful at 22:
"I'm not ready for that yet" is the magic word for a lifestyle of stagnation and missed opportunities. You're right! You're not ready, but the thing is, you never will be unless you just do it.
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#213-You ARE ready. Don't worry that it doesn't feel like it.
-"Long Term" is shorter than you think.
-Follow YOUR interests, not someone else's.
-Make sure you get the paperwork right.
-Money doesn't make people happy. It just makes some problems go away. Don't confuse one for the other.
-Listen to the "grey hairs", but don't just blindly follow them.
-When it seems like everyone else is being stupid, you might be right. But you're probably wrong.
-Never count on being smarter than everyone else. You're not.
-Luck is a handy substitute for knowledge. But you have to purposefully acquire either.
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#214a few thoughts:
- don't be intimidated by people who are a few years older and a lot cockier.
- don't worry about having a job / making money. Just get by and build the skills you want. Take risks. Money is easy enough to earn and should not be the primary concern at first.
- Avoid financial over-extension. No credit cards, avoid loans, etc.
- 30 is the new 20. Seriously.
- This sounds cliche, but "ship lots of stuff". Iterate.
- When you meet cool/talented people, collaborate on a small project to get an idea of how strong they are. The real stars will jump out at you.
- Find an obsession and seriously try to live it for at least 2 years. Doing that gets harder and harder the older you get.
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#215I used to think I could sum up life in a blog post.
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#216Don't cry over anything that can't cry over you.
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#217- Shiny things are nowhere as much fun after you get them as before, even if they have some value. So yes, that Kindle or iPad or whatever will have a real use, and you will be marginally happier with it than without, but not as much as you think - You can talk yourself into (or out of) anything. The only difference between smart people and other people is that smart people do this with bigger words and more complex…
For now, you are what you do. Gonna heavily disagree with this one... This is an attitude that turns us into machines with expected outputs rather than people. We humans spend a lot of time limiting ourselves by placing labels on ourselves and limiting our perceptions by labeling others. Discard the labels. Do not try to fit a role. You might program computers, but you are not a programmer. You fly planes, but you ar…
Great comment, thanks.
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#218- Shiny things are nowhere as much fun after you get them as before, even if they have some value. So yes, that Kindle or iPad or whatever will have a real use, and you will be marginally happier with it than without, but not as much as you think - You can talk yourself into (or out of) anything. The only difference between smart people and other people is that smart people do this with bigger words and more complex…
Great comment. A few thoughts from an older guy on naive assumptions made by younger people: 1. That your buddies will always be there in the clutch - many times they won't (a good test: whether they will value your friendship over, say, an opportunistic money grab - many people, in my experience, fail this test). 2. That you can succeed with corner-cutting (the easiest way by far to really learn something and to adv…
Still in my 20's here:
1. Pareto's 80/20 principle is your friend. The closer you are to perfection the harder and more time consuming it is to get closer to perfection. There are big gains in enhancing weaknesses. At 80% I drop the ball and pick up another.
2. Prioritize: Big blocks first, pebbles last. Every block I put down, I feel lighter and I feel less intimidated and more motivated simply for the fact that no block will be bigger than the last.
3. Experience over stuff. Stuff are perishable but experiences are forever. Moreover, stuff will weight you down financially and emotionally.
4. Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed.
5. Slow change is sure change.
6. Everything in moderation, moderation included.
7. Always ask "why" more than once and follow the money. Most people are not truly aware why they do what they do.
8. The truth will set you free but it will hurt like a b*tch at first. Be a man and take it.
9. You are not as good nor as bad as you think and things are not as good nor as bad as they seem.
10. Even the crazy has a valid point of view. You would agree with him if you had similar genes and past experiences. (caveat: opinions are different from facts)
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#219- You owe nothing to your employer.
- If you give more than 2 weeks notice, you are sucker
- Your employer will not be loyal to you
- All healthy public companies gross a minimum of $200k per employee. This means you should NEVER feel guilty about insisting on the salary that you feel you deserve.
- Working for other people SUCKS
- If your closest friend is a woman, and you want to date her best friend, ask her first. Just do it, life will be easier.
- Confidence is more important than any other skill.
- Learn an alcohol, Wine or Whisky, and become fluent enough in it to fill those awkward gaps at networking events. (Warning, you'll take sides, and if you go whisky, the wine people will annoy the hell out of you with their pageantry.)
Re: Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?
#220Avoid debt, Save money, Give generously, Live frugally. If you have debt already, then pay it off as fast as possible. Go crazy to pay it off- rice and beans, beans and rice. When you're done paying off debt, then save vigorously (before paying off debt, make sure you have ~$1000 in the bank for an emergency). But if you have no car payment, no school debt, etc, then you can save soooo much money. When you've saved a…
I'm going to emphasize what david and many others said: Avoid debt whenever possible.
Being in debt feels like slavery (for example, I can't quit my job or get some unpaid vacations because I'm in debt).
Not to mention there can be some unforeseen catastrophes: a former coworker had her money frozen during the bank crash of 2002 (in Uruguay and Argentina), and had her credit card maxed out. She became almost homeless and now swore off credit.
Savings work in reverse: they allow you freedom - to take time off, to start your own company or even to indulge.
Being generous also feels good.
And lastly, the advice about stuff vs experiences posted here and higher in the thread is very good as well.
A disclaimer: I don't believe in being a luddite, and there are things I value A LOT - for example, having my own car after not having a car for 28 years - but the marginal improvement from an old clunker to a newer car is nowhere near as no car vs any car, and the same happens for Iphone 3 vs Iphone 4 or whatever - I'm not advocating having no cellphone or car or whatever, only that the difference between brand A and brand X where the price is substantially higher is probably not worth it except as an indulgence.