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Why you should take your 20's seriously

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Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#141

Post by shardling »

derwiki wrote: post #47
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…

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.

It's everywhere. I've known a lot of physicists and programmers/engineers who climb, and I'm in Kentucky.

I've always heard the problem solving aspect put forth as to why it's so popular with these types.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#142

Post by jonstjohn »

grecy wrote: post #40

Ugh. I've been having this conversation a lot lately. > Your 20′s lay the groundwork for success in the rest of your career. Can also be said as: While in your 20's, you should start living like you're in your 30's, 40's and 50's, so you can do that and only that for your entire life. I completely reject that way of thinking. There are many things we all want to do in our 20's we will not want to do later in life, wh…

Absolutely agree with you. I went on a wild adventure through my 20s, spending time in Alaska, working as a baker, managing an organic farm for several years - living for the most part from the seat of my pants just following what felt right.

I'm sure I sacrificed some aspects of a 'career' because of it but I had an incredible life experience. And when I turned 30 I met the love of my life, finally committed full time to developing software (after a number of fits and starts) and never looked back.

I never spend a day feeling like I 'missed out on something'. Rather, I'm really enjoying my life where it is at right now, cool career, wonderful wife and 2 1/2 year old son.

I do kind of look forward to when my son gets a little older though so I can get a van and take him on some wild adventures ;)

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#143

Post by steve-howard »

willholloway wrote: post #64

I have a different take: College Years, 18-23: This is the time to just be. You can treat college as a stressful strive-fest for meaningless grades, or you can treat it like a 4-5 year vacation. Optimize for gentleman's C's. You still get all the social and class benefits. 23-30: These are your prime productive years. This is the time to amass your fortune. 30 to death: Travel, play golf, foster community and friends…

It really just depends, doesn't it? We all regret some things, and we probably fail to appreciate some things we've done right.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#144

Post by jevanish »

icesoldier wrote: post #85

The issue I have with seeing life advice posts is that I've begun to see this dichotomy between "follow your heart" advice and "follow your head" advice. And I personally have a split between the two: my degree is in CS and my current job is in programming, but by "pie in the sky" dreams involve writing and performing music. I happen to have more knowledge in the former as a consequence of my degree, but I didn't rea…

Have you thought about trying to find the intersection of the two? Is there a company or something you can work on that takes advantage of both skillsets?

I think the real challenge in life is to get heart and head in alignment. It's not easy, but who said it would be?

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#145

Post by jevanish »

saryant wrote: post #123
purplelobster wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great post. I also consider myself very lucky, much the same way as you. I've had some setbacks, but nothing that couldn't be handled. I also feel this pull from these two lifestyles, the "boring" stable desk job, or traveling the planet, code whatever I want and live life like there's no tomorrow. My fiancée is two years older than me (27), so that puts some pressure on getting kids and settling down fast. I've mana…

Other than being single, I'm in the exact same position as you. I'm pulled between building a career and travelling the world. I graduated last spring and spent the summer backpacking in Asia before starting a boring desk job. I live with my parents still so I'm saving almost all of my income. Now I'm seriously considering quitting in six months and heading back to Asia until I figure out what I want to do. My job is…

Life is too short to do something you hate. Do whatever you need to to find out what you're passionate about. Building a career around that will be 100X more fulfilling.

As Steve Jobs said, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#146

Post by enraged_camel »

genwin wrote: post #97
enraged_camel wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>>Compound interest at Huh? I'm not talking about a savings account here brother. I'm talking about retirement investment accounts like 401k and IRAs. In their 20s, the majority of those investments should be in stocks, which on average gain 9-10% per year. The compound interest on that is humongous.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#147

Post by chris123 »

You should enjoy life, love, learn, teach, travel, and have fun from zero to death. The 20s are no different. I for one had an absolute blast in my 20s, did well financially, and didn't take myself "seriously." Different strokes for different folks. People should just plain think for themselves and NOT take themselves too seriously, IMHO :)

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#148

Post by hyperbovine »

flyosity wrote: post #98
randomdata wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In whose opinion? It may shock you to learn that parents of children with down-syndrome frequently do not view it as the life-ruining event you make it out to be.

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#149

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: Why you should take your 20's seriously

#150

Post by drumdance »

kahawe wrote: post #120
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…

I more or less just came into my 30s and I spent my 20s pretty much exclusively on computers, studying and working and playing. Computer were pretty much 95% of my life. Last time I changed job, I more than doubled my after-tax salary and I have not once had to go through the process of really applying; whenever I showed up to HR things were pretty much decided already in advance, they just had to keep up appearances…

The upside of having a good career is you can use the extra money to pay for therapy. I've done it off and on for the last 15 years and have really gotten a lot out of it.
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