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Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

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Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#61

Post by dougmwne »

caslon wrote: post #52
pyuser583 wrote: post #39

Exercise! Can’t emphasize this enough! Makes you happier and healthier. Also a harder habit to adapt later in life. Don’t do drugs, gamble, drink, or watch tons of porn. Do read. Books. Not kindles. Books. Be part of a regular community. That could be church, a sports team, chorus, etc. Invest. Put money in an SP500 index fund. Especially if retirement accounts available. Don’t be an asshole. If you need therapy, get…

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-parents-children.html As many as one in eight (13%) Polish parents may regret having children

That's a bit of a special case there as Poland is unlike any other western country.

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#62

Post by viraptor »

dougmwne wrote: post #59
quiffledwerg wrote: post #42

Holy heck lots of boring adult advice in these comments on how to be sensible. Get wild, just don’t make permanent mistakes like taking hard drugs or getting killed in a car accident. Apart from that, break all the rules kiddo.

Yeah, all this damn investing advice. Don't suffocate your youth with frugality. You will have decades to chase money and career and the money will come much easier later. Spend it, but aim it on improving yourself or opening new doors in your life, not on vanity. Invest in yourself now, the index funds can wait a few years.

It's not about frugality. Just getting in the habit of thinking about finances can help a lot. It's not like throwing a $100 (adjust for your location, habits, etc. it can be $10) into a fund every month will take a lot of time or is likely to displace some other activity in your life. You can review it once a year and add some piece of information each time - how to max your retirement fund, how to switch bills around to save fees, etc. But if you start late, you may need to learn everything at once and realise you have minimal savings, no buffer for an unlucky event, and catching up will take thousands a month now.

Doing the minimum on financial habits will not stop you from improving, opening new doors, or doing other things.

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#63

Post by kristiandupont »

chuckdotis wrote: post #11

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

I partied quite hard and I don't regret that.

It can obviously be a bit hard on the body and you should avoid getting addicted to alcohol or other substances, but I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with it..

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#64

Post by logosmonkey »

behnamoh wrote: post #27
buss wrote: post #12

Hire 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…

How about cardio activities? I think those contribute more to getting rid of unhealthy fat and cholesterol, but I may be wrong.

I think both are important. I love running and started it first but ended up injuring myself and couldn't run for a number of years. Lifting fixed the issues I had and allow me to run consistently. The body you build with weight lifting is, in my opinion, a more aesthetically pleasing one as well.

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#65

Post by lykr0n »

kristiandupont wrote: post #63
chuckdotis wrote: post #11

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

I partied quite hard and I don't regret that. It can obviously be a bit hard on the body and you should avoid getting addicted to alcohol or other substances, but I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with it..

Same & Agreed. Be aware of what you're doing, and make sure you can realistically be sober 10 out of every 14 days. Dependence/Addiction needs to be avoided at all costs.

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#66

Post by andreskytt »

buss wrote: post #12

Hire 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…

Lifting, triathlon, marathon, cycling - any sport, really - with a good trainer. You’ll get fit, you’ll have fun and you’ll gain a sense of accomplishment. Especially the endurance sports also tend to have a strong spiritual impact on people as it really exposes your strengths and weaknesses, can be very similar to meditation etc. The role of the trainer is to keep you moving at a reasonable pace towards whatever your goals might be without hurting yourself.

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#67

Post by jakelazaroff »

cloudyglider wrote: post #16

Start 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 interview…

This is so important. I recently went through old computers and made a web archive of every website I’ve ever worked on [1]. There’s still so much missing, though, especially from high school and college. I wish so much that I had had the foresight to save these things in advance, rather than trying to recover them years later.

[1] https://jake.museum

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#68

Post by marethyu »

pyuser583 wrote: post #39

Exercise! Can’t emphasize this enough! Makes you happier and healthier. Also a harder habit to adapt later in life. Don’t do drugs, gamble, drink, or watch tons of porn. Do read. Books. Not kindles. Books. Be part of a regular community. That could be church, a sports team, chorus, etc. Invest. Put money in an SP500 index fund. Especially if retirement accounts available. Don’t be an asshole. If you need therapy, get…

> Do read. Books. Not kindles. Books.

Do you mean physical books are better than ebooks? Why is that?

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#69

Post by saaspirant »

wombatpm wrote: post #38
mostertoaster wrote: post #8

Get married, have multiple kids.

Finally some real advice. Go out, meet people, fall in love. I had my first child at 30. Would have been a lot easier at 25

>Would have been a lot easier at 25

What do you mean?

Re: Ask HN: What is something important I should start doing in my 20s?

#70

Post by stillblue »

pyuser583 wrote: post #39

Exercise! Can’t emphasize this enough! Makes you happier and healthier. Also a harder habit to adapt later in life. Don’t do drugs, gamble, drink, or watch tons of porn. Do read. Books. Not kindles. Books. Be part of a regular community. That could be church, a sports team, chorus, etc. Invest. Put money in an SP500 index fund. Especially if retirement accounts available. Don’t be an asshole. If you need therapy, get…

Why is reading a book functionally different than reading a kindle?
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