
Things About Life I Wish I Had Known 10 Years Ago - uyoakaoma
http://dariusforoux.com/30-things-about-life-wish-known-10-years-ago/
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fao_
I kind of think that a lot of these insights are either pretty flawed[0], or
are only achieved at _after_ a lot of mental struggle. I had a deep depression
in my teens after logically deducing that there was no point to our existence
as a species, nor as individuals. At the same time, telling me that "We, as a
species, just are. Don’t try to figure it all out. Enjoy your journey."
wouldn't have helped a single bit because I wasn't in a state of mind that
would allow me to accept that information.

[0]: "Don’t Complain" is actually stupid advice. If you're in a group of
people and you see something wrong, you have two options: 1) Continue being
unhappy. 2) Speaking out about it (i.e. complaining). Other people might have
the same concerns, and you might actually spark something off that helps
people to change it. Either that or you have learned that you will always be
unhappy in that group, and it is worthy to change it. In addition, complaining
itself can be extremely cathartic, and can help that spark that enables you to
think through problems and flaws.

"Don’t Care About What People Think" \-- my criticism of this is divided into
two points: 1) If you care about what people think, you are not in a position
to readily accept this information, thus this advice is pretty worthless. 2)
There are some circumstances where caring what someone thinks allows you to
improve yourself. Of course, "Don't care about what most people think unless
they happen to give very good advice or have 10x more experience than you at
the task you're attempting" isn't as memorable as the soundbite that they
bulletpointed. Point (1) also applies to "Get Comfortable With Being
Uncomfortable".

"Take More Risks" \-- "Risk" can be divided into three categories. "Physical
risk", "Financial risk", "Mental risk". I assume that they don't mean "That
car's going slowly, you can make it if you run", and I also assume that they
don't mean "Pour all of your life savings into this quack's venture". Although
the "Don't be such a wimp" part makes me question this assumption.

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rbrogan
#17 Rest before you are tired

Time really is a constraint. It does not make much sense to try to work all
the time in order to achieve your goals. As programmers, we really ought to
get that there are constraints and trade offs to things.

I would add to the list -- "Don't go it alone. Get other people involved, even
if you don't have to."

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yial
When I was younger, I used to put the same Socrates quote on everything I
could, almost to fetish level.

This list I think is actually quite good, it's surprisingly wise. As I've
gotten older, I've stopped thinking of 30 as very old. (though I haven't quite
gotten there myself.)

This life for me comes at a point of transition in my life, both personally
and professionally... and at least for me it makes me seriously think that I
am doing the wrong thing currently.

Also, for what it's worth, I think the first newsletter I've signed up for
after reading something and not by accident during an account creation.

Except for 13, about the money, whenever I read that I always think that comes
from the luxury of having needs met, but I will avoid delving into some Maslow
debate.

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artmageddon
> Except for 13, about the money, whenever I read that I always think that
> comes from the luxury of having needs met, but I will avoid delving into
> some Maslow debate.

"Having money's not everything, not having it is."

-Kanye West

~~~
emjoes1
"When you have money you never think about it. When you don't have money it's
all you think about."

-Unknown rich person

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Kenji
I don't know why this got flagged. I vouched. I think it's valuable advice.
The only thing I disagree with is rule number 7. Don't say 'thank you' all the
time. Be grateful, but show your gratitude with actions. Always saying thank
you and never doing anything about it is weak.

