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Why you should take your 20's seriously

jasonevanish.com

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Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#91

Post by marquis »

guylhem wrote: post #87
marquis wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I could agree but a) 4 years old are just as exhausting (the first year is actually the easiest in terms of time you have available) and b) adoption is increasingly more difficult. I have friends who just adopted a baby after 5 years of tests and checks and more checks. Foster care is another option, it's easier to 'sign up' and you can get school-age kids, who need just as much help as an adopted kid.

Interesting - when does the exhaustion function reaches a maximum ? I thought it was the hardest in the first 4 years. (regarding the difficulties of adoption, they could be compared to the outsourcing cost :-/ foster care is a great idea, but may not work for people who want to have "their" kids)

To put it simply: exhaustion becomes superseded, or exchanged in kind, by fun as kids gain more ability to communicate and comprehend the world around them. It's up to you as the parent to decide what is fun and what's not: an engaged parent is going find almost anything fun when their kids are involved and equally engaged, tantrums aside!

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#92

Post by scott_s »

mediocregopher wrote: post #61
derwiki wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are programming/rock climbing overlapping interests everywhere or more so in the Bay Area? The problem solving aspect of climbing (particularly bouldering) always appealed to me, and I always see programmers at the climbing gym. But it seems like a disproportionately high number of programmer friends (compared to other friends) climb in SF.

Where I am (not SF) there's definitely a large showing of programmer/climbers at the local gym. I think a large part of it does have to with the problem solving aspect (hell, we call them problems even), but for me it has more to do with it fitting in with my life a lot more cleanly then any other sport does. I don't have to change into a uniform or put on a whole mess of gear or anything of that sort (when I'm going…

There's more to lifting than counting while sitting down! Strength training that has a focus on powerlifting and Olympic lifting are very different than the bodybuilding focus that tends to pervade most gyms. CrossFit is something to check out if you want more fun strength training.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#93

Post by milroc »

milroc wrote: post #79

Concepts like this seem very specific to obtain a certain desired lifestyle rather than advice on how to live. 1) Don't put off your career: While I agree it mainly correlates to two things. a. Spend as much time as you can doing what you have a drive to do. (e.g: setting yourself to be financially above or where you were when you grew up, trying to start a band, or trying to create the next major startup). c. Make s…

Advice on how to live is simple: 1) Learn (travel, fail at something, shadow someone) 2) Prune (decide what is worth learning (e.g does learning another programming language add much value compared to learning about the behaviors of a market or larger ones like learning about a girl))

I'm definitely going to look into this book because it seems like it helps people work on pruning which I believe is the hardest part of life.

However I feel that you (Jason) may have taken away some wrong things from the book because: "This is how most successful people I know have built their careers, and it always starts small." While this may be one of the largest pipes that create your definition of success, it is not the only one. People may need the life experience of working as a barista before starting their career for several reasons; or they may want to work at a hostel while traveling for several years to learn more about the world. The rate in which careers develop vary greatly from person to person and at what point; why base it on the average successful individual?

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#94

Post by brr »

irahul wrote: post #68
diego wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with what cletus says. I'm 43 years old today. Some things just feel uninteresting because I started doing them too young. Interestingly programming is not one of them, I have been doing it for 30 years. On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever [in case you care: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEgfe4cYuU ]. It still feels pretty new to me. I know 25-year-ol…

> On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever OT(as far as the OP is concerned) questions from someone who is considering taking up climbing. 1. Isn't what you are doing in the video called bouldering? 2. Do you usually climb in your jeans? I am wondering does it allow you required flexibility? 3. Do you work on your core for climbing or climbing works your core? 4. What would yo…

In case you're interested in the another climber's answers:

1. Yes. Bouldering is one type of rock climbing.

2. Very occasionally. It does limit flexibility somewhat, but I wouldn't skip climbing because I forgot my shorts.

3. Both.

4. They're great. Just make sure to get outside eventually!

(edit: formatting)

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#95

Post by scott_s »

irahul wrote: post #68
diego wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with what cletus says. I'm 43 years old today. Some things just feel uninteresting because I started doing them too young. Interestingly programming is not one of them, I have been doing it for 30 years. On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever [in case you care: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEgfe4cYuU ]. It still feels pretty new to me. I know 25-year-ol…

> On the other hand, I have been rock climbing for 7 years and I'm better than ever OT(as far as the OP is concerned) questions from someone who is considering taking up climbing. 1. Isn't what you are doing in the video called bouldering? 2. Do you usually climb in your jeans? I am wondering does it allow you required flexibility? 3. Do you work on your core for climbing or climbing works your core? 4. What would yo…

Find your closest climbing gym and show up. I have very limited climbing experience, and only in gyms, but it's one of those things that it's just easier to show up.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#96

Post by LVB »

guylhem wrote: post #69

I disagree with a lot of the comments - and with the article point. We should not think about taking any age seriously or not, but of the bigger picture instead, ie one's goals in life. Unfortunately, they are not written down for you, and they can be quite hard to find. There are various algorithm that may work, but all I see in the article and the comments are basically 2 opposite proposals : - plan A: explore in y…

Fortunately for men, there is no age limit

Maybe. Some newer evidence shows older fathers are more likely to pass on genetic mutations.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044481270457760...

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#97

Post by genwin »

enraged_camel wrote: post #70
flyosity wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a 29-year old male who spent his 20s building a career I love and now has a 6-month old daughter, so this quote: > Don't waste your 20's "building a career". You've got your 30's and 40's and 50's to do that. Don't be in a rush to have kids too soon. Doesn't really make sense to me. If you don't build a career and finances in your 20s, you either can't afford to have a kid in your early 30s or you have one and ca…

Pretty much. People need to start thinking about their career the moment they get their first job. This means planning out what kinds of skills they need to pick up to advance, opening a retirement account and putting as much money they can into it (compound interest), and never take anything for granted. Those who don't do these things in their 20s are basically going to be 10 years behind everyone who did.

Compound interest at 1% risks losing principal, and inflation is probably > 1% now anyway, so that you lose money on savings. Money spent (rather than invested) in one's 20s offers greater opportunity for enjoyment than when in your 60s, when your choices are more limited, if you even reach your 60s. A balanced approach is best.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#98

Post by flyosity »

randomdata wrote: post #73
flyosity wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a 29-year old male who spent his 20s building a career I love and now has a 6-month old daughter, so this quote: > Don't waste your 20's "building a career". You've got your 30's and 40's and 50's to do that. Don't be in a rush to have kids too soon. Doesn't really make sense to me. If you don't build a career and finances in your 20s, you either can't afford to have a kid in your early 30s or you have one and ca…

are at a higher risk of birth defects From everything I have read, the risk doubles. That may sound like a big deal, but quoting from memory, it doubles from a 0.5% chance to a 1% chance, which is still exceedingly low odds. I'm not sure that risk alone is enough to warrant holding back on having children later in life.

I know two couples who waited till their mid-30s to have children and after various miscarriages they both delivered boys with Down Syndrome, so was that worth partying in their 20s? No.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#99

Post by nckbz »

What's the point? I'm 24 years old. Education was expensive, so I worked my way up as a programmer and web developer right out of high school. I've worked at some pretty big corporations and now I'm looking to buy a house while my friends are just getting out of University with junior developer positions while living at home. My co-workers are all around 10-20 years older than I am. I've made senior developer, but I won't be able to move into any type of management positions for another 5-10 years just because of my age. There's no additional advancement or benefits to a slightly early head start on a career. People who give advice like this probably don't remember what it was like to be this age.

My advice? If you have the chance to see the world, have a cool college experience, or the opportunity to do something unique with your life follow through with it.

Climbing the corporate ladder in any field at any age is difficult at best, but doing so at twenty? Probably one of the main drives behind talented 'kids' joining startups now days.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#100

Post by andreipop »

I find your desire to "build a large company" interesting - I shared this until I realized that almost nobody gets out of bed in the morning because they say "I want to build and run a large company" - this is fundamentally unsustainable. Instead finding problems you care about or find interesting might be more motivating and put less pressure on your psychological well being. This helps you get rid of the time pressure you seem to be feeling and will bring a new sense of focus and purpose.
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