You’re young once only, how do you make the most out of it instead of wasting time only on the unnecessary parties and drinks all the time? Feross Aboukhadijeh, a web developer, designer, and Stanford computer science graduate, who has a company StudyNotes that helps students learn faster and better, shared on Quora what a young person should do to life.
1. Prioritize learning.
- Learn the 10,000 hour rule.
- Start early.
- Read a lot. 2-3 hours a day, at least.
2. Don’t talk about doing stuff. Do stuff.
- The world is full of so many talkers, and so few doers.
- Too much planning is as bad as no planning.
- “Posting about your plans is shadow of Done“
- Make stuff while your brain is young and fresh. The brain gets slower as you age.
- 3. Figure out what you like. Try to become the best in the world at it.
- If you start early, you will have time to change your mind.
- Don’t worry if it’s not “prestigious” or won’t make you a lot of money. If you’re good at it, you’ll make it prestigious.
- Read “How to Do What You Love” by Paul Graham.
4. Experience stuff.
- Watch epic movies/books/music.
- Go on adventures (road trips, travel to other countries).
- Talk to interesting people and really LISTEN.
5. Spoil yourself on the stuff that matters.
- Eat well, sleep well, drink (water) well.
- Buy a good bed (you spend ⅓ of your life in your bed).
- Buy a good computer (since you will spend so much time on it).
- Similarly, good chair, keyboard, mouse, etc.
6. You may ignore the opposite sex until you are 20.
- At the very least don’t feel bad if you don’t have a girlfriend/boyfriend before age 20. You’re not “missing out” — in the grand scheme of things, it’s not very important.
7. Try to work hard to get into college.
- In high school, try to get all A’s — even when the class is unpleasant.
- University is such a formative experience, you’ll make lifelong friends and business partners, and learn a ton about yourself.
- You’ll want to do this at the best possible school you can get into.
8. Don’t worry about your grades once you got into college.
- Once in college, don’t worry about grades (caveat: unless you plan to go to grad school, especially law or PhD programs, or apply for a competitive job).
- Optimize for learning and personal happiness.
- Find time for side projects.
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9. Be genuine. Be nice.
- Being a generally nice person will make you so many awesome lifelong friends.
- Being genuine is freeing since you can just be yourself with everyone you know — you won’t have to worry about keeping lies straight in your head.
10. Learn to delay gratification.
- Ability to delay gratification predicts future success.
- Those who succumb to pressures and do what’s immediately satisfying miss out on later satisfaction.
- Ex: Kids in high school who partied every night are bagging groceries at Safeway now, while those who delayed that “fun” for just a few more years get to work at their dream job for the rest of their lives
