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Ask HN: Advice to your younger self

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31–40 of 112 posts

Re: Ask HN: Advice to your younger self

#31
post #29
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the add on?

Second this, learning multiple languages is generally seen as a good thing, opening your mind to different ways of solving problems, no?

It’s helpful to specialize at least. One should at least have a primary that they know in and out.

Re: Ask HN: Advice to your younger self

#32
post #26

Big life changes (like marriage, having kids) will change your life, and it's OK that your priorities won't be the same as they were before.

You know, I think about this and it's kinda sad that my priorities will have to change and have changed. My younger self won't be happy with my current priorities.

Re: Ask HN: Advice to your younger self

#33
post #19

There are diminishing returns to preparation: focus less on preparation (to include going to prestigious institutions and working for prestigious companies) and more on launching, learning, and iterating. This is true in business and a variety of other fields. As an add on: learn one programming language really well, and resist the urge to spend time learning new ones!

Why the add on?

I'd say for me the way that 'overpreparation' has manifested itself is in trying to learn more languages, at the expense of expertise in one or two.

Re: Ask HN: Advice to your younger self

#39

You aren't busy. You just feel busy. Find time to do interesting things, because once you have kids you'll find out what being busy actually means.

Parents don’t own being busy or stretched for time. Regardless of what commitments you have you can be busy or not and you are in control of that - yes even parents are in control of how busy they are.

Re: Ask HN: Advice to your younger self

#40
Drinking and chasing women won't seem as fun when you look back on it. I'm not saying don't do it, in fact, I'm saying the opposite. Drink, chase women and do it hard, but quit much earlier.

Also don't listen to anyone else's idea of what you should do who who you should be. Following your own instincts and succeeding is sweet, following your own instincts and failing, well that just builds better instincts.

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