From my experience, these are things I wish I had known, not should have known, at 20. As Rod Stewart said, "I wish that I knew what I know now... when I was younger."
Things I Should Have Known at 20
51–60 of 163 posts
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#52This list highlights the one lesson I see repeated in almost all advice about life: "Be an Extrovert, and if you aren't, act like one."
Exactly. Fake it till you make it.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#53The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone. Find people that are cooler than you and try to be even cooler than them seems like a particularly terrible command to give in general. So many of the people I admire the most just don't care so much about image. And I've met too many p…
This comment is all negative. I can't stand that. There is no one way to interpret a piece of writing, and I wish people didn't act like just because they were curmudgeonly in their reading, other people were as well.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#54The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone. Find people that are cooler than you and try to be even cooler than them seems like a particularly terrible command to give in general. So many of the people I admire the most just don't care so much about image. And I've met too many p…
I feel a no true scotsman coming on, but are those people actually cool? Or are they just posers? I read the advice not as "spend time with people who have a well engineered social image" but "spend time with people who are genuinely more interesting, knowledgeable, capable, effective than you are".
Intelligent people can translate the most idiotic sentences to be meaningful and articulate. That's great and all, I do it too. Just know what you're doing.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#55The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone. Find people that are cooler than you and try to be even cooler than them seems like a particularly terrible command to give in general. So many of the people I admire the most just don't care so much about image. And I've met too many p…
The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone.
I've heard this sentiment before and I don't get it. If it makes you feel better to have authors qualify every sentence with "In my opinion ...," you ought to simply imagine it there, not force that kind of timid writing on everyone else.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many adults talk about Alice being cooler than Bob? Furthermore ambitious and laid back? am·bi·tious (adjective) 1. Having or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed. 2. Intended to satisfy high aspirations and therefore difficult to achieve. laid back (adjective) 1. Relaxed or unhurried. 2. Free from stress; easygoing; carefree.
That apparent contradiction is really what makes cool so hard. It's not just about being amped up at 10 or being a bump on the log at 0. It's about being a 10 at where you're going while you make it look like you're at 0. You kick ass, but you make it look like it's easy and you're not trying. One of the best entrepreneurs I've ever worked with had that quality. The guy was focused like a laser on where he was going,…
Agreed.
The image I carry is of a special forces soldier in movies/tv: "the situation is not what we prepared for. crap. okay, let's move forward with our skillset."
Trying to emulate this in bad situations seems to always work out to my benefit, even though I'm not being shot at. Accept your situation, and start problem solving from it, not from what you expected. This is an amazingly important skill and gives what results in the air of relaxed and unflappable. That is what I think the author is labeling as cool.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#57The list is all phrased as commands. I can't stand that. There is no one way through life, and I wish people didn't act like just because it worked for them it will work for everyone. Find people that are cooler than you and try to be even cooler than them seems like a particularly terrible command to give in general. So many of the people I admire the most just don't care so much about image. And I've met too many p…
Agreed. I find myself increasingly annoyed by the tone of people who have discovered that the Great Secret of Life is having kids/getting up at 5AM/exercising for hours every day/eating nothing but meat and vegetables, and if you don't do that you're a pathetic specimen who will never amount to anything.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
That apparent contradiction is really what makes cool so hard. It's not just about being amped up at 10 or being a bump on the log at 0. It's about being a 10 at where you're going while you make it look like you're at 0. You kick ass, but you make it look like it's easy and you're not trying. One of the best entrepreneurs I've ever worked with had that quality. The guy was focused like a laser on where he was going,…
I guess one of the reasons that being a "cool kid" does not appeal to me is that I'm not as interested in appearances/image.
Can't one be cool without being concerned about appearance?
I think coolness is about how one responds to situations, esp those unexpected.
Think about how people talk to gate agents when their flight gets cancelled. Those that are reasonable and rational are cool (as in cool headed). Those that yell are not. They also tend to get more of what they desire while not making enemies.
The definition of cool should not be stuck in a 15 year old's perspective of jocks vs. nerds.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#59And don't forget sunscreen.
Re: Things I Should Have Known at 20
#60I thought this was going to be BS, as I do all numbered lists [1], but it's actually pretty good. Here's a TLDR, but the elaborations on each point are worth reading: 1. The world is trying to keep you stupid. 2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. 3. Read as much as you can. Learn to speed read with high retention. 4. Connect with everyone, all the time. 5. Don’t waste time being shy. 6. If you feel we…
> 1. The world is trying to keep you stupid.
> 2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you.
> 3. Read as much as you can. Learn to speed read with high retention.
> 4. Connect with everyone, all the time.
> 5. Don’t waste time being shy.
> 6. If you feel weird about something during a relationship, that’s usually what you end up breaking up over.
> 7. Have as much contact as possible with older people.
> 8. Find people that are cooler than you and hang out with them too.
> 9. You will become more conservative over time. For this reason, you need to do your craziest stuff NOW.
> 10. Reduce all expenses as much as possible.
> 11. Instead of getting status through objects (which provide only temporary boosts), do it through experiences.
> 12. While you are living on the cheap, solve the money problem.
> 13. Learn to program.
> 14. Get a six-pack (or get thin, whatever your goal is) while you are young.
>15. Learn to cook
> 16. Sleep well
> 17. Get a reminder app for everything
> 18. Choose something huge to do
> 19. Get known for one thing.
> 20. Don’t try to “fix” anyone.
My addition: don't make shallow lists like this.