Summary

An 18-year-old reflects on their teenage years and offers advice for personal growth and relationships in preparation for their twenties.

Abstract

The author, on the cusp of adulthood at 18, shares insights and advice for their future self and others entering their twenties. They emphasize the importance of taking risks in relationships, learning to say no to maintain personal integrity, and making choices that align with one's values and goals. The article encourages maintaining a youthful spirit while embracing the responsibilities of adulthood, advocating for a balance between fun and hard work. It concludes with a call to action for readers to reflect on their own experiences and the best advice they've received.

Opinions

The author believes in the significance of seizing romantic opportunities despite the fear of rejection.
They suggest that high school is not the ideal place for serious relationships and that meaningful conversations are crucial in forming strong partnerships.
The article posits that popularity is fleeting and that it's more valuable to be respected and have good people skills.
It advises surrounding oneself with successful individuals to foster personal growth.
The author emphasizes the importance of making difficult choices and sacrifices to achieve greatness.
They encourage maintaining a sense of humor and curiosity, likening it to having the wisdom of Yoda with the playfulness of a child.
The author promotes an AI service, ZAI.chat, as a cost-effective alternative to ChatGPT Plus (GPT-4), indicating a belief in the value and potential of AI tools for personal development or productivity.

4 Great Pieces of Advice for my Future Twenty-year-old Self.

Reflections on My Teenage Years.

I’m 18 now this means I am two years away from my twenties, which according to many people is the most important decade of life. My teenage years did not come with a guideline, nor will my twenties, so I made one and thought I would share it with you.

Life’s weird when you’re 18, you don’t know what to do, you have an idea of who you are and what you want, but you still act like a kid. That’s what all 18-year-olds are. We’re all big kids.

Here’s my big boy’s advice.

Ask Her Out.

Do you remember Natasha? What about Mehak? They have boyfriends now, yeah, it sucks. It’s been two years since you talked to Mehak, and you probably will never speak to her again.

Take her number, talk to her.

You’re smooth, but there’s a 5% chance that you might get rejected, and that’s fine. You can live with rejection and pain decreases over the years, but don’t live with not trying.

Everyone moves on. You won’t be Prince Charming, and she’s not Cinderella. A good relationship always has long, awkward, and uncomfortable conversations.

High school isn’t the place to date, you’re way too young, and all the girls are clingy. Not only girls, talk to the pros or communicate with someone who has everything that you want.

You have to communicate. Everyone cares about legacy, and mentoring young people always matters to older people, reach out and learn from their reflections.

People don’t care about your selfish goals. They care about your mission. They care about why you do something. There’s always a third way in think of life as a nightclub 90% of people are standing outside in the cold, trying to get into club success,5% of the people are celebrities, for example, Kylie Jenner is born into this exclusive club. The other 5% find a back door, for example, Steven Spielberg.

He was rejected from film school, but he found a back door into Hollywood, and some people might say he got lucky. Luck is similar to a London Bus. It comes every 15 minutes. You have to have the right fare to capitalize and ride on the bus.

Say No a Lot.

Hey, remember the time when you were popular in high school and you fucking hated it? You couldn’t say no, could you? You are not 15 any more time is ticking away. Don’t spend it doing things you dislike with people you hate.

Being alone or having two friends who make you feel like a billionaire is the best feeling ever. Popularity is a bit like a revolving door, one day you’re the most popular person in school and the next day, people aren’t giving you the light of day. Popularity can be toxic, and it’s better to be respected by a few than being liked by everyone. Remember to have good people skills. You are your network and your community. All the tribes in highschool are evidence of this. The jocks hang with jocks. The pretty faces interact with pretty faces. If you want to be successful hang around with people who are way more successful than you.

It’s okay to be the dumbest one in a room full of geniuses.

The key here is to be selective about who you say yes to. Saying no a lot doesn’t make you into the Grinch. It makes you into Santa Claus. You only gift the kids on the nice list.

Live the Way You Choose.

You can have everything you want. Cars, money, houses the whole nine yards, and to achieve your dreams, you have to make the right choices. Control is an illusion. The ability to choose isn’t.

You can party all night with your mates or, you can keep hustling for three years, and life can change after three years of hard fucking work. It’s going to cost you to be great. You will have to sacrifice something to be great.

Choose to stop making bad decisions that you regret later do the things that are difficult now. Pay now, pay later. You can choose to chase after money, or you can do a good job.

The principal aim should be to do good. Do a good job, be a good human, make good choices.

What’s a good choice?

You know you’re making good choices when a choice feels uncomfortable, and the pain you feel is a good feeling. Success is made out of hard choices.

Remember Big Sean had to make sacrifices:

Age but don’t Grow Old.

You aim to be the cool uncle, you want to be the uncle Charlie to your future Jake, you will age, but you shouldn’t let the child in you die. Be a bit goofy, have a sense of humor, and don’t turn into Ebenezer Scrooge, and you don’t want the ghosts of Christmas past haunt you or your future nephews and nieces.

Have a five-year-olds curiosity with the wisdom of Yoda. You need to play, have fun, and do stupid shit. You’re still young, handsome, and single, enjoy it while you can.

You’ll age one day, make sure you look back at these days and laugh at all the dumb shit you’ve done.

Congratulations, you made it to the end of my article. What would you tell me? What is the best piece of advice you received? I don’t have it figured out, but this is what I’ve learned so far. My twenties will be full of success, friends, and fun, but I want to be 18 for now, till tomorrow, bye!