The four Biggest Lessons from My Teens.

A very weird walk down memory lane.

You’ve made mistakes in your teen years, so have I. Have you ever reflected on them?

I’ve turned 18, so now I’m an adult who can reflect on his teens, so I decided to take a walk down memory lane.

It was fucking uncomfortable.

Be like Steve.

You’re at a house party, and she’s standing there, flowery dress and her long hair gleaming in the light. She’s got a red cup in her hand, with her girls and you want to ask her out.

You know you do. She’s single, lives a few blocks away from you, and she’s been sending you the right signals.

You know what I mean, the smiles, she moves closer to you whenever she has the chance, the cards are in your favor, and then poof! She’s gone. You’re gone.

You tell yourself that you’ve got work and a successful career to maintain, deep down, you know you’re a little liar. You’re alone, typing another assignment, or another article, whatever it is.

The bottom line is, that you were a little bitch. You know she’s going to have a boyfriend, and here she is six months later, introducing you to Steve. He’s a nice guy, but you could’ve been Steve.

You know the rest you pile on with some more work, GaryVee becomes your hero, you tell yourself that you’ll be a millionaire and that all the money will destroy your pain.

True, you’ll be a millionaire, sheer workaholism will make you into one, and what about Steve?

He’s going to become an accountant, an average one too. He’s going to have a girlfriend with him, and he’s going to be happy. He might not be as brilliant as you are, or have as many accolades, but he doesn’t know the lyrics of Creep by heart, yet.

Be a bit like Steve, and don’t let go of your brilliance.

Don’t leave Dirty Dishes to Pile Up.

Picture this, it’s a week until your exams, and you’re calm. You’re prepared and, then, the phone rings, Trevor.

“Hey man, I don’t understand Romeo and Juliet, could you help a brother out?”

“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

“ I can’t understand anything (insert conversation about how the school system is corrupt blah, blah, blah.)”

You’re a good friend, and you’re smart, so, you go to Trevor’s house and what do you see?

Loads of dishes piled up, and then you go to his room, his socks are everywhere, and his room smells of coffee and Lynx deodorant.

You help him out. He tells you how you’re the best, but that’s something you already know.

#humblebrag amirite?

Yeah, I know, Trevors just an unprepared puppy, you’re Bobby Yoda, the Zen master, but that’s not the difference. Your dishes aren’t piled up, and your rooms not messy.

Every little thing that you have is in your control. The state of your external surroundings is a reflection of what’s going on inside.

Think about it. Your room is in your immediate control, so are the dishes. If you can’t control these, how do you expect to become better?

Then comes your routine, have you ever sat down and thought if your routine could be better? Is your daily routine any good?

Do you live for weekends? If you do, there’s something wrong with you man. Live for Monday, go hard on Saturday, if you’re not where you want to be, consider becoming a proponent of hustle culture.

The Best Investment You can make is Yourself.

You might have some stocks, or you might have some property. That’s a good investment but, I would recommend investing in yourself. It’s a lifelong investment whose returns depend on one person.

You.

Start by reading a book, and then another one. Wow! Look at you! 18 books this year, way to go!

Disclaimer: You’re still a piece of shit, just a little bit more knowledgable than what you were.

Here’s the second part you have to do something. I realized this last month at the age of 18. Apply the principles in the book, go, and pick out your favorite ones.

Easy?

Here come’s the hard part you have to be consistent. To do so, I would recommend having a journal. A journal will help you track everything, it’s like one of the greatest productivity hacks ever.

If you fuck up, and you will. Do something productive, and reset. Let me break this down for you, doing something productive even when your head is aching builds commitment, strengthening your will power, oh, and you feel great after you’ve finished your task.

Don’t go so hard on yourself, life’s a journey. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, sometimes, it’s compromise and hardship.

That’s okay. Use your journal to reflect and get better.

Belief matters.

Welcome to Dubey’s theory of human belief. As humans, we adapt and become better suited to our environment. That comes through our beliefs that we’ll adapt. Think about it. We went from caveman to Gary’s and Grace’s, who work in offices and are the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

We went from hunting saber tooth tigers to fighting each other to living in a civilized society-ish.

I may be completely wrong, but you know that belief matters. Why did believing become so hard for us?

Ever since we were kids, we have been told no over and over again. People have shouted at us for no reason, so we start second-guessing ourselves, we start doubting and then we get shouted at again, sometimes for a good reason, they may be coming from a good place but, they’re fulfilling the prophecy you built for yourself.

The good part is you can make a positive self prophecy. That’s also something I realized in the last month, and I’ve been experimenting and it’s been working well.

I stopped saying stupid shit. To do this, don’t have an emotional reaction to everything, take a minute, breathe. It’s going to fine.

After I made this a practice, I am listening to affirmations, they work too, but they don’t work if you say stupid shit.

To practice being calm, begin with meditating and journalling. Clear your head and find a little bit of peace.

A few moments of peace are all you need.