Hey. I have been busy recently but I really want to get this blog post written so that I can help you out in your life. 5 best things to do in your 18-22. The age doesn’t matter here as these points would work even if you are 16 or 27. Let’s go.
- Start a passion project and share it with the world. I know, I know, I am biased. But this is my blog and I write what I believe is true and is the best for you. I want to help you. Starting a passion project means you will drive a bit “off course” from the route that most people take. Note that you should work on it like a side project without sacrificing you studies/ career prospects. If you cannot do this part then forget about it. But guaranteed, it is not as difficult as you might think because the “typical route” is made for most people and you surely is better than that. I have been there and if I can do it you can do it too. Running this passion project would teach you not only the actual subject itself, but it would also teach you how to manage something, how to communicate with people, and basic human psychology. If you grow it to a certain size you can understand how money works and how the world functions, you learn about trading, product flows, manufacturing, markets, distribution, costs behind the products etc… all these experiences are incredibly valuable for you and your future.
- Live on your own for at least a year. In our culture (Hong Kong), many might still be living with their family in their early 20s, even up to 30s. This, in my opinion, have its own set of pros and cons. However, I would suggest that you use some of the or even all of the money you made in your business and live on your own, for at least a year. Choose a place that you like and is within your budget. Do it! It is ok to spend it like this instead of saving it up, because at your age you probably couldn’t save up a lot of money anyway plus you will earn more in non-monetary terms by getting this experience early on. You will be much more ahead of your peers by doing so. You will face all those difficult things that life throws at you and you have to face them alone. You will also meet interesting people or even your significant other in this year. It might be stressful and difficult! But I want you to do this for a reason — life is incredibly short and most people gain their experiences at a later stage of life, that is not good. There would be not enough time for you to make use of those experiences and things you learnt along the way. You would end up being an old man/ woman, with a lot of regrets and things you wish you do but didn’t do. History repeats itself it you are not aware. You have to think differently and act differently to escape from this route that most people take.
- Read books and learn from people that has “been there, done that”. As pointed out earlier, I believe the key to a better life is what I would call “compressed learning”, that is, learn everything in the shortest amount of time possible at the earliest time of your life possible. In that case, learning from people older than you or books would help. For the people part, don’t go with everyone. Go with people you admire and want to become. For the books, again read books from people that you admire as well. You are literally jumping the queue by taking lessons from these sources instead of learning them through experiences of your own, which would take you more time.
- Develop your own “Traffic University”. There is this concept called the ”Traffic University” coined by a millionaire in the 2000s. While 20 years have passed, the concept still works today for your benefit. What he means is that when you are on a bus, travelling or say stuck in traffic, you should have something prepared in advance to read. It could be a book, a business megazine, a science research paper… it could be anything. If reading is too difficult in a moving vehicle, do audiobook or podcast! You get the point. The only thing you should NEVER do is do what others do: mindlessly playing with games on their phones (today, that would be aimlessly browsing social media. While technology might have changed, the actual human behaviours never), or anything that they call “kill time”. Why would you want to kill time? Time is your most limited resources. You can make more money but you cannot create more time. Most of us spend a significant amount of time throughout our lives on a vehicle. Make good use of it. This tip alone would change your life.
- Control your environment as much as you can. Create an environment that would bring you up instead of drag you down. “Environment is destiny.” “Show me your friends and I will show you your future.” “You are the average of the 5 people closest to you.” — You probably have heard of these quotes before and they all pointed to the same thing — Your environment would affect you greatly, your future would be shaped by your environment. I put this point as the last one for a reason, it is very important. Your environment consists of a lot of different parts like your workspace, living environment, community of your local area… but the most controllable part of your enviornment is who you are friends with. Pick your friends wisely. Try to avoid people that are greedy, selfish and lazy. Pick people that are generous, kind, honest, and deligent. Your future is very important. You know it else you would not read my blog and especially a long one like this. Cutting people out of your circle is hard, but sometimes it is necessary, because this would shape who you are in your future.
I hope this helps. I keep on writing pieces like this even though I know there is virtually no one reading but I hope I can help someone out there. One day I am going to die and I hope these book notes and posts could help someone. Gotta go. Keep going.
Best,
Ryan