Ah, the folly of youth. Thinking that at 30 one has figured out the secrets of a well lived life.
Thaths On Wed., 17 Aug. 2016, 7:43 am Udhay Shankar N, <[email protected]> wrote: > Which parts of this list do you agree (or disagree) with? > > Udhay > > http://blog.samaltman.com/the-days-are-long-but-the-decades-are-short > > The days are long but the decades are short > > I turned 30 last week and a friend asked me if I'd figured out any life > advice in the past decade worth passing on. I'm somewhat hesitant to > publish this because I think these lists usually seem hollow, but here is a > cleaned up version of my answer: > > 1) Never put your family, friends, or significant other low on your > priority list. Prefer a handful of truly close friends to a hundred > acquaintances. Don’t lose touch with old friends. Occasionally stay up > until the sun rises talking to people. Have parties. > > 2) Life is not a dress rehearsal—this is probably it. Make it count. Time > is extremely limited and goes by fast. Do what makes you happy and > fulfilled—few people get remembered hundreds of years after they die > anyway. Don’t do stuff that doesn’t make you happy (this happens most > often when other people want you to do something). Don’t spend time trying > to maintain relationships with people you don’t like, and cut negative > people out of your life. Negativity is really bad. Don’t let yourself > make excuses for not doing the things you want to do. > > 3) How to succeed: pick the right thing to do (this is critical and usually > ignored), focus, believe in yourself (especially when others tell you it’s > not going to work), develop personal connections with people that will help > you, learn to identify talented people, and work hard. It’s hard to > identify what to work on because original thought is hard. > > 4) On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. > And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what > you do for your work. Work very hard—a surprising number of people will be > offended that you choose to work hard—but not so hard that the rest of your > life passes you by. Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do > professionally. Even if you miss, you’ll probably end up in a pretty good > place. Figure out your own productivity system—don’t waste time being > unorganized, working at suboptimal times, etc. Don’t be afraid to take > some career risks, especially early on. Most people pick their career > fairly randomly—really think hard about what you like, what fields are > going to be successful, and try to talk to people in those fields. > > 5) On money: Whether or not money can buy happiness, it can buy freedom, > and that’s a big deal. Also, lack of money is very stressful. In almost > all ways, having enough money so that you don’t stress about paying rent > does more to change your wellbeing than having enough money to buy your own > jet. Making money is often more fun than spending it, though I personally > have never regretted money I’ve spent on friends, new experiences, saving > time, travel, and causes I believe in. > > 6) Talk to people more. Read more long content and less tweets. Watch > less TV. Spend less time on the Internet. > > 7) Don’t waste time. Most people waste most of their time, especially in > business. > > 8) Don’t let yourself get pushed around. As Paul Graham once said to me, > “People can become formidable, but it’s hard to predict who”. (There is a > big difference between confident and arrogant. Aim for the former, > obviously.) > > 9) Have clear goals for yourself every day, every year, and every decade. > > 10) However, as valuable as planning is, if a great opportunity comes along > you should take it. Don’t be afraid to do something slightly reckless. > One of the benefits of working hard is that good opportunities will come > along, but it’s still up to you to jump on them when they do. > > 11) Go out of your way to be around smart, interesting, ambitious people. > Work for them and hire them (in fact, one of the most satisfying parts of > work is forging deep relationships with really good people). Try to spend > time with people who are either among the best in the world at what they do > or extremely promising but totally unknown. It really is true that you > become an average of the people you spend the most time with. > > 12) Minimize your own cognitive load from distracting things that don’t > really matter. It’s hard to overstate how important this is, and how bad > most people are at it. Get rid of distractions in your life. Develop very > strong ways to avoid letting crap you don’t like doing pile up and take > your mental cycles, especially in your work life. > > 13) Keep your personal burn rate low. This alone will give you a lot of > opportunities in life. > > 14) Summers are the best. > > 15) Don’t worry so much. Things in life are rarely as risky as they seem. > Most people are too risk-averse, and so most advice is biased too much > towards conservative paths. > > 16) Ask for what you want. > > 17) If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should > probably do it. Regret is the worst, and most people regret far more > things they didn’t do than things they did do. When in doubt, kiss the > boy/girl. > > 18) Exercise. Eat well. Sleep. Get out into nature with some regularity. > > 19) Go out of your way to help people. Few things in life are as > satisfying. Be nice to strangers. Be nice even when it doesn’t matter. > > 20) Youth is a really great thing. Don’t waste it. In fact, in your 20s, > I think it’s ok to take a “Give me financial discipline, but not just yet” > attitude. All the money in the world will never get back time that passed > you by. > > 21) Tell your parents you love them more often. Go home and visit as often > as you can. > > 22) This too shall pass. > > 23) Learn voraciously. > > 24) Do new things often. This seems to be really important. Not only does > doing new things seem to slow down the perception of time, increase > happiness, and keep life interesting, but it seems to prevent people from > calcifying in the ways that they think. Aim to do something big, new, and > risky every year in your personal and professional life. > > 25) Remember how intensely you loved your boyfriend/girlfriend when you > were a teenager? Love him/her that intensely now. Remember how excited > and happy you got about stuff as a kid? Get that excited and happy now. > > 26) Don’t screw people and don’t burn bridges. Pick your battles > carefully. > > 27) Forgive people. > > 28) Don’t chase status. Status without substance doesn’t work for long and > is unfulfilling. > > 29) Most things are ok in moderation. Almost nothing is ok in extreme > amounts. > > 30) Existential angst is part of life. It is particularly noticeable > around major life events or just after major career milestones. It seems > to particularly affect smart, ambitious people. I think one of the reasons > some people work so hard is so they don’t have to spend too much time > thinking about this. Nothing is wrong with you for feeling this way; you > are not alone. > > 31) Be grateful and keep problems in perspective. Don’t complain too > much. Don’t hate other people’s success (but remember that some people > will hate your success, and you have to learn to ignore it). > > 32) Be a doer, not a talker. > > 33) Given enough time, it is possible to adjust to almost anything, good or > bad. Humans are remarkable at this. > > 34) Think for a few seconds before you act. Think for a few minutes if > you’re angry. > > 35) Don’t judge other people too quickly. You never know their whole story > and why they did or didn’t do something. Be empathetic. > > 36) The days are long but the decades are short. > > > -- > > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) >
