39 Pieces of Advice I Gave Myself

Jun 16, 2022

Why 39? Because I turn 39 years old today. The advice you are about to read is the advice I have given myself in the last five years. While there were more than 39 pieces of advice I’ve had for myself, these stuck out the most.

This idea is inspired by Kevin Kelly’s post 68 bits of unsolicited advice.

Find a mentor and a coach as soon as possible. They are two different people. Without them, you have only realized 30% of your true potential.
Learn soft skills early—the compound every year with practice.
Writing lets you scale your thoughts and is the only legacy you can leave behind that will retain its value and maybe gain as time passes.
Reading books > listening to books > listening/watching podcasts.
99.0% time, when people are unhappy, they are in an active victim mindset.
You don’t need permission to be successful. If you need it, give it to yourself today.
Take plenty of sleep. A fully rested person is the tortoise compared to a hare running on coffee.
Try to learn something every day.
Listen more before sharing your opinion.
No one can read minds. Over-communication and repeating yourself in a work setting never hurt anyone.
Ask stupid questions but avoid giving stupid answers.
Chase money. There is no harm in it, but don’t sacrifice relationships over it. You can make more money, but you cannot have more relationships as time passes.
Stop thinking about what other people think. No one has time to think about other people.
Everything in this world is a learnable skill. Spend time learning.
You can be successful with any skill. All you need to do is convert a business around that skill.
Confidence is the key, and like any skill, it can be learned and honed over time.
Everyone remembers two kinds of people, i.e., asshole and humble. Learn from both. Don’t worry about assholes too much, as their world will shrink over time.
Like there are only two best times to plant a tree, ten years ago and now, there are only two times to start working on yourself. Yesterday and now.
Run towards things rather than away from things, whether they are experiences, people, jobs, etc.
Be direct but be humble.
No one knows what is going to happen. Don’t follow blindly.
Don’t associate the outcome of your decisions with the quality of decisions when you made them. There is a time between making a decision and its outcome. The longer the time horizon, the higher the chance unknown variables can affect the outcome from when you made the decision.
Drink water. If you think you should drink water, you are already dehydrated.
Being hungry is fine. Starving is the problem.
Spend time with yourself. Self-time is under-estimated.
Cut out refined sugar as soon as possible. Eat fruits.
Long walks are underrated.
Take what your parents give you even if you don’t like it or have no use for it. It may be the only thing you’ll have left once they are gone.
You can get the same feeling of being wealthy as billionaires if you build enough cash cushion after taking care of 5 basic expenses, i.e., car, house, insurance, healthcare, and groceries.
Common sense is a superpower in today’s world.
Evaluate your reasons for drinking alcohol, smoking, getting high, or doing drugs. They likely have changed since you started. Understanding and re-evaluating them may help you quit those habits for good, even if you have failed in the past.
When on vacation, spend money to enhance the experience. When not on vacation, try saving every single penny.
Spend money on haircuts and tailored clothes and not generic big chain stores. They charge 10% more but can elevate your personality in a single day.
Go outside every day.
Anything worthwhile achieving will take time. 6 months at best and one year at most. But you must be willing to sacrifice something you enjoy doing now.
Being selfish is acceptable but being a selfish asshole is not.
Start a daily journal by writing one line a day.
Try to create something by hand like pottery, woodworking, gardening, etc. The sense of touch helps stay grounded.
Writing is essential for understanding. It’s hard to write about something without completely understanding it. The act of trying to understand is where learning happens. The format of writing doesn’t matter. Public writing, such as blogs, books, and tweets, provides similar learning as private writing, i.e., writing no one sees. But public writing can also provide validity.

(Bonus) Celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays with family and friends. You never know when you’ll get to do that again. Learned it during the COVID lockdown.

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