Don't be afraid to experiment, but "partying" should be kept to a minimum and only for socializing. Also, avoid debt as much as you realistically can. If you're taking out loans for school, don't be afraid to pick up a flexible part time job doing retail or waiting tables (this helped me keep my student loans much lower than they could have been).
Source: personal experience
Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
11–20 of 160 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#12Hire a trainer and learn how to weightlift. You may have been a nerd like me that thought weight lifters were wasting time on vanity, but as you age your body will betray you. You need to learn how to stay fit or you will end up with myriad health issues and end up unhappy.
A trainer is essential for a new lifter. It is easy to hurt yourself, and you need to work on good form for years before it becomes second nature. You will look good (you won't look like a meathead), feel good, and your bones and heart will stay strong into middle age as your peers get fat and unhealthy.
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#13Crunches. When you hit your 30s it's like your body just doesn't care anymore and explodes in size unless you take care of yourself.
Crunches builds abdominal muscle but body weight is affected only by cardio.
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#14Therapy - learn how you think, learn where your blind spots, implicit assumptions, and tendencies are. Learn this before you learn you need it.
Exercise - helps you think better, helps you feel better, helps you emotionally. Find something you like doing - I do power lifting and yoga - and get in the habit of doing it daily.
Explore - odds are your career isn’t really going to take off until your late 20s at the earliest, because frankly until then you’re just not going to be very good. Spend the time to learn everything you can from everyone you can and try anything you can - experience now pays dividends later. Accept that you’re young and inexperienced, be humble, don’t pretend you know what you’re doing when you don’t, and you’ll come out of this decade miles ahead of where you start.
Oh, and - you’ve got 60 years ahead of you, statistically speaking. Probably no more, probably no less. Plan accordingly.
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#15Travel when you’re young. Get a working holiday visa in Canada, australia, Japan or UK. Go live.
Wonder if they'll raise the age limit past 30 due to Covid locking down borders for almost 2 years
I wouldn’t be surprised if they do. Australia is desperate for foreign skilled labour and I am sure Japan and New Zealand are similar. You will need to wait till early 2022 for easy entry into any of these places.
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#16Start writing things down. If you have a terrible memory like me you might regret not documenting more of your life, especially because so many things happen in your 20s. I've started a weekly journal in my 30s and I'm so happy that I did.
It's also worth doing the same for things at work. Having a few stories written down about features you've implemented or bugs you've fixed may help you get through a few interviews.
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#17Crunches. When you hit your 30s it's like your body just doesn't care anymore and explodes in size unless you take care of yourself.
Crunches builds abdominal muscle but body weight is affected only by cardio.
Body weight is affected mostly by what you eat. Muscle mass from lifting is a great way to stay lean. Cardio helps too.
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#18Think for yourself, don't take for granted what others are saying. Prevalent opinions in society can be wrong. Herds aren't always right.
Learn as much as you can.
Be curious.
Start investing early.
Read. This will get you an edge against most people today.
Enjoy life.
Be kind.
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#19Keep in mind that you can die any day, always be ready to meet Our Lord
Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?
#20Start saving for retirement. Every $100 you can put in to your retirement savings per month will come back to you at least 30-40 times over when you retire at 65 or may be even earlier.
it doesn't seem responsible to promise people 9% returns in perpetuity! a lot of the time this advice is given to people who are paying higher rates on debt, which also seems troubling.
That's a very good point about debt. If you have any debt where the interest rate is above a reasonable investment rate of return, pay off that debt before putting money toward retirement.
Speaking of debt (to more directly answer OP's question), pay off your credit card, in full, every month. If you can't do that, you need to adjust your lifestyle downward until you can.