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Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

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Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#141

Post by badpun »

caymanjim wrote: post #46

Not that 25yo me would listen to any advice (I'm 45 now and I still won't listen to any advice), but my advice would be: forget about your career goals. Move to an island and be a bartender/scuba instructor/tour guide/beach bum. Get tan, get laid, and enjoy your 20s. Or 30s. Or the rest of your life. Or you can burn yourself out in thankless failed startups, soul-sucking corporate offices, and an endless stream of hi…

> get laid

That is mostly valid if you're at least decent looking and have a personality that's conducive to getting laid (social, outgoing etc.). Otherwise, you could set yourself up for frustration and misery.

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#142

Post by Slaul »

Ftuuky wrote: post #136
pm90 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+100 to fitness. Especially since its much easier to get fit when you're younger. Maintaining the same level of fitness is much much easier than having to achieve it later in life.

Do you think a 29 y'old skinnyfat is too late to get properly fit?

The best time to start getting fit is always yesterday. It is never too late!

Checkout /r/fitness on Reddit for some example beginner routines that were helpful when I first started out.

It's really easy to get overloaded with information when first starting out. Keep it simple, figure out what works for you.

I love heavy lifting so I focus on squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc but I also make sure I do at least 30-60 minutes of cardio to finish off a session at the gym to keep my heart in good shape too.

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#143

Post by sloaken »

comeongoon wrote: post #80
sloaken wrote: post #45

At 25, (just before turning 26), I had been working for a startup for 5 years. I lived in an apartment with my brother who was in school. Kind of had a girlfriend. Good savings (10 - 20K). Car that had aged faster than it should have, it was like 8 years old, but was more like 15 in issues. I was burnt out at work. Too many long hours. I would go to work and I could not motivate myself to do anything. Went to my boss…

Go on.....:) I'm 25 and curious.

After reaching Maine, I realized I did not enjoy my trip as much as I should have. I was just obsessed with getting there, by bike, no rides. So I left by bud visited Niagra falls, had a great time at the Youth Hostel there. But it was cold, took another bus to Cincinatti.

Rode from there to Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and finally Memphis where I met another friend. Flew back then rode to Key West. In the end it was a great feeling to accomplish. I had many fun stories to tell for years to come.

Part of my decision to do the trip was the idea if I did not, when in my life could I. I had enough money, and was not worrid about finding work. When I was ready to look for work, the company I had left was on its dying gasps, closed by March. They had a lot of great people there, it did not fail because I left. But that is a different story.

It took me a few months to find a job, did contracting, making more money than I know what to do with ... so after working 9 months, and turning 27, 2 friends and I traveled to NZ and Aus for 6 months ...

My biggest regret was not getting a work visa and staying in Australia. Since I did not have one I would have had to leave, get the Visa and return.

Instead I went back to contracting, turned 28, tuored UK for 2 months, by bicycle of course. Then settled down to a real job ... house ... wife ... kids ... laid off etc etc

But I alwasy cherish the choice I made to quit and start seeing the world by bicycle.

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#144

Post by NightlyDev »

Currently 25.

Been developing a game as a one man project for the last 11 years, dropped out of school at 18 and started to focus 100 % on the game.

Been going very well, but I'm in constant fear of things changing like they did in early 2010s when a lot of players moved to mobile and thereby really dragging down the average play time per visit.

I should probably really try marketing and throw together a couple of other services and see what sticks, so I don't have to worry that much about entertaining people.

Not sure if I'm regretting dropping out of school(electronics) as my GF just got her master's degree in software development, mostly by just having fun, and her current company seems like fun and nice place to work with superb food, benefits, hardware and so on.

I'm currently earning quite a bit more than most developers, and I sure can get more or less all the work related toys and tools I want, but I'm not sure if the extra stress is worth the extra money and toys. The income tax is also really high in Norway so... Maybe a normal job would be better.

If shit hits the fan and it's game over, then I guess I might get a job as I have 11 years of professional experience with advanced systems. I've never had an IT job, so I have no idea if I would get a good job or how well I'd compete with others though.

Money is nice and fun, but it isn't everything.

And one lesson that has become very clear to me so far: gamers are most likely the worst customers in the world. The amount of people who tries to gain the system by using eg. chargebacks or just has no respect as "it's just a game and I needed money for something else" is really high compared to every other business type, at least based on my and PayPal's experience. Also, don't use PayPal. Use something with 3Dsecure.

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#145

Post by gravy »

Hi everyone, thanks a lot for the advice. You have no idea how valuable it is to me and everyone else in the same boat (and neither do I, time will tell). I think my biggest takeaway so far is to take advantage of my youth, which I think is something I never really thought of since I'm as old as I ever was.

My biggest disappointment is my cubicle software engineering job. I'd much rather have a web development job since I seem to want to stay up all night making websites and web apps but not at all excited for work. I will start working towards fulfillment and not simply hoping the days pass faster.

Again, thanks for the advice (and future advice!)

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#147

Post by kotrunga »

NightlyDev wrote: post #144

Currently 25. Been developing a game as a one man project for the last 11 years, dropped out of school at 18 and started to focus 100 % on the game. Been going very well, but I'm in constant fear of things changing like they did in early 2010s when a lot of players moved to mobile and thereby really dragging down the average play time per visit. I should probably really try marketing and throw together a couple of ot…

What game are you developing?

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#148

Post by z0r »

stay off your phone in bed. read those books you're collecting. if you're doing nothing at home, clean up a little.

if the question were advice for a 20 year old me, the list would probably be longer. but i think at 25 these 3 things would have paid off in a big way - a lot of not obviously related problems would probably have lessened or disappeared entirely by doing those. and despite the passage of most of a decade, that's the same advice i should be taking now

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#149

Post by caymanjim »

badpun wrote: post #141
caymanjim wrote: post #46

Not that 25yo me would listen to any advice (I'm 45 now and I still won't listen to any advice), but my advice would be: forget about your career goals. Move to an island and be a bartender/scuba instructor/tour guide/beach bum. Get tan, get laid, and enjoy your 20s. Or 30s. Or the rest of your life. Or you can burn yourself out in thankless failed startups, soul-sucking corporate offices, and an endless stream of hi…

> get laid That is mostly valid if you're at least decent looking and have a personality that's conducive to getting laid (social, outgoing etc.). Otherwise, you could set yourself up for frustration and misery.

Not to derail the conversation or fixate on this element, but being in the right place, spending time outdoors/being active (others have touched on fitness), and having a low-stress lifestyle all make anyone more attractive and provide more opportunities. I was being a bit facetious; "get laid" is more of a placeholder for "create some social bonds and have fun."

Re: Ask HN: What were/are you doing at age 25? What would you change?

#150

Post by smofnoopttzzaaa »

voltooid wrote: post #118
smofnoopttzzaaa wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Proposing to my girlfriend of 7 years next month. Advice from an older person here - don't wait until you are 30+ to start trying, if you want to have kids. You will all benefit from having more health and energy when under 30.

Sure health and energy are helpful when raising kids. But what about wisdom and perspective? I would think it really depends on the person and how prepared they feel with respect to having kids - mentally and physically.

In my experience, Extreme sleep deprivation defeated any wisdom and perspective that I might have otherwise had.
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