Here’s a quick high level list of things I wish I knew earlier:
- Focus on the present. Stop worrying so much about the things that have happened in the past, and things that may happen in the future.
- Make health and fitness a priority. Don’t complicate it, find something you enjoy doing that also involves the outdoors and some form of physical activity. Get the heart rate up a couple of times a week.
- Concentrate on the things you can control and disregard the things you can’t. More generally, stoic philosophy and the concepts embedded in the practice.
- Cherish the time with family and friends. When it all comes down to it this is the most important time you will allocate throughout life.
- Read (or listen) to books. Don’t get hung up on whether you finish the book or not, where you start in the book, or even if you only consume one sentence. Just enjoy the process of learning and self education. This alone pays long term dividends. Develop a mindset that is centred around growth and the seeking of endless learning through any means you enjoy. For me rereading the 100 best self development books is best instead of trying to consume a book a week for example, some of the information can go in one ear and out the other, not being retained in the slightest.
- All valuable consequences come from compound interest or further to that, delayed gratification. From health, to financial success, to human relationships, the most valuable of these all result from compounding over time.
- Spend time reflecting either publicly or privately through the use of documenting your experiences through good and bad times. Not necessarily having to be a journal but just way to jot down your thoughts and from your own perspective. Understanding and interpreting your thoughts to an external means can help solidify learnings in your life. It’s then there on paper and not swirled up in your head.
- Get on top of your personal finances. Become comfortable talking about money and realising early on that money isn’t everything in life but it sure affects everything in life. It’s not the root of all evil and I’ve never understood truly why it’s such a closed topic of discussion. Get on top of it, take full control and steer your finances to make better decisions, for the short term and the long term.
- Time is the one nonrenewable resource on this planet. You cannot get more of it (well not under the current known laws of physics and the universe does this allow for it). You can get more of anything else, ie money, materials etc, however you are only given a finite amount when you enter this world. Choose how you spend it wisely.
I could go on for an eternity though this is more of a brain dump at this present time in my life.