
Ask HN: What do you wish you knew in your early twenties? - AndriusSutas
I ask this question to people in my life who, by my standards, &quot;made it&quot;. It&#x27;s usually a person who successfully sold his startup, is leading research field expert or otherwise distinguished in his career (e.g. a president of huge corporation).<p>The question is vague for a reason - to not bias the person. I am interested to hear about everything: technical, financial, social, professional, etc. My thesis is that while we cannot look forward in time (well, not yet) it is easy to look backwards and connect the dots. Hence, I ask this question to learn what&#x27;s ahead and get prepared for it now.<p>There are few things that usually come up, for example: be humble, work backwards from end-goal, hard work is basis for most things, it&#x27;s often worth scarifying short term goals for a longer term pay-off, learn to appreciate simple things in life.<p>So, HN audience, what do you wish you knew in your early twenties? It would also be great if you could tell how old are you, where you are now, how long it took you to get there and how.
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lscore720
In advance, sorry for the long-winded response. My answer: once you have
enough money to allow you freedom in life (different definition for everyone),
you're set and do not need a penny more - with the exception of funds for
charitable purposes.

I earned a business degree from a top program. I don't mention this to boast,
but rather because this was an unknowing introduction to the greed hammered
into young college students' lives before their minds have fully matured (not
to mention the media and literally everywhere else you look/hear). I entered
the real world with a limitless need for more - see George Carlin's view on
"stuff". It just becomes habit.

Fast-forward to the market crash - suddenly, unemployed, broke after failed
idealistic business attempt, and negative net worth (food stamps suck). Did I
mention I bought a condo at the exact peak of the market with almost $0 down?
My area of specialization was financial planning/wealth management and I found
myself bankrupt. Don't get me started on the masses who aren't even fortunate
enough to receive a single lesson in personal finance.

Fast forward to last year, when I semi-retired. I'm still pinching myself. I
went through a bleak period in 2009/2010 when I couldn't find work, was broke,
and experienced that all-too-typical loop of becoming less and less hirable. I
finally found a commission-only job as a technology recruiter - that's right,
your favorite professional is posting on HN (let's try and keep it civil,
we're not all the same!). The combination of being broke, hungry, and finally
understanding the value of a dollar & folly of my ways was the perfect
formula. I worked my tail off and saved $ like a madman, which brings me to
this incredible point today.

~~~
dogstraightup
What point is that today? Just curious as I am also a technology recruiter in
my early/mid 20's. Shoot me a message if you can!

~~~
lscore720
Howdy. Just the point I started with in my reply: once you have enough money
to allow you freedom in life (different definition for everyone), you're set
and do not need a penny more - with the exception of funds for charitable
purposes. That'll be different numbers for different people.

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eswat
Don’t back out of anything – shy of walking into a dark alley in downtown
Winnipeg at night – just because it scares you. Your ability to take risks and
just shrug off the bad results will diminish with age.

So use this time to do the stupid shit that scares or embarrasses you. You’ll
think you can keep that youthful, playful and joking spirit you now have
throughout life because that’s what you believe you are. But society will
shape you into its dull, conforming image and it’s hard not to let it happen.
So fight to mitigate it now by experience as much as you can.

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wallflower
That before you know it, you will be a decade older. And if you were partially
insane (according to Einstein's mis-attributed definition) and did the same
thing over and over for years (not just in your career), you've not done much
for you.

Time is the most important thing we all have. How you spend your time
determines if you are investing your time or, rather, as we all do - from time
to time - just wasting it.

Since you are old enough, look at your Gmail account - the old emails from
years and years ago - how many of those people do you still keep in touch
with? projects? ideas? trips? plans? What is still the same?

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Todd
Two categories: now and future. First, future. This is where most people give
advice. Develop your passion and follow it, etc. This is important. You must
dedicate time and effort to becoming good at something--hopefully something
that pays well or can be turned into an asset.

With regard to startups, I suggest working for a larger company for a short
time to learn how larger companies operate, then maybe joining a startup. This
step can be skipped if you have your own ideas or drive. Finally, start your
own. Building an asset that you own part of is the only way to get ahead in a
meaningful way in a shorter amount of time. Note that while doing this, you
should max out a 401(k) or other retirement vehicle as a hedge. This may not
be possible during certain stretches of the startup cycle, but minimize them.

Now the now. Enjoy your youth. That is the one thing you don't get back.
Develop an interest in one or more sports. Exercise. Meet lots of people and
date before or until you settle down. Finish your education. It gets harder
over time. Travel.

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collyw
Your body deteriorates. I still stay fit, which I thought would be enough. I
mountain bike and kayak. These days every time I fall, it hurts. And it takes
a longer time to recover (as do the hangovers). Enjoy the physical advantage
that you have now while you are young as it won't last forever. I say that as
someone in reasonably good shape, just turned 40.

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hackerboos
Previous discussion:

What do you wish you'd known when you were 18? -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1899847](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1899847)

What do you wish you knew when you were 25? -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6756729](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6756729)

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AndriusSutas
Whoa, thanks!

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crikli
Debt is for suckers. Pay cash.

~~~
coralreef
Could you expand on that?

I like to pay with credit card, get air miles.

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eswat
I also try to pay in plastic as often as possible for travel and cashback
rewards. Assuming you pay your card on-time, we’re the minority. For most a
credit card is just a debt machine and if those same people had to pay with
tangible cash they’d probably think twice about spending more than they earn
(which I assume is the sentiment of the OP).

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ljsocal
While it is true that you cannot "connect the dots" looking forward, you can
improve your future prospects by making sure that the "dot" you're on today is
a meaningful one.

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MichaelCrawford
I wish I had known what C's assert() macro was. I spent a lot of useless time
in debuggers. While assert() won't replace a debugger, using assertions
reduces the need for tedious debugging.

~~~
dasq
I love how everyone is all about life lessons, and here you are talking about
asserts :)

