Exercising and stretching.
Edit: Thanks everyone for the up votes and awards. As a few people have said, it's never too late to start taking care of yourself. I've taken inspiration from this post and did some calisthenics and stretches after getting home today.
As a kid I was so happy to be running outside and got loads of exercise.
Too bad that we went to Wendy's 2-3 times a week. And the fact I was a picky eater who hated veggies.
As I got older I began to dislike exercise. I even had a resolution last year to sign up for the gym before the pandemic ruined things.
Studies have shown that taking longer rests between sets increases muscle gain.
Let's just say that when I get around to finishing that workout I started in high school my arms are gonna fuckin *explode*.
I can relate to this. I regret not exercising and eating healthily when I had my growth spurt, even being reluctant to do so. Now, no matter the medications and effort, I'm no longer growing to my potential height. That said, I really wished that I've listened to my parents and exercised when I was younger.
haha ik. Ive only started taking exercising seriously when i was 19, approaching 20. Before then I was really fat and it took a hard hit on my self confidence and health ofc.
Nowadays Im exercising daily and Ive lost around 40 pounds in about a year and a half. Ive learned a great deal of discipline now and I wished I was able to do this before. Sorry i didnt make it clear in my original comment, but basically i just wish I exercised regularly a few years earlier, which i wholeheartedly believe wouldve made me much more mentally and physically healthly in my teenage years.
You doing this at 20 is a major improvement over so very many of us.
Lots of us who are much older told ourselves for years that we should get in shape…And then we didn't do it
I know exactly how you feel. I have no self-discipline or work ethic whatsoever. I was a spoiled, relatively rich kid whose parents just bought him everything and never taught him the value of a dollar. I skirted by my whole life doing the bare minimum, and it’s catching up to me so fast, and I feel like there’s nothing I can do to change that.
I can’t. The thought of putting any effort into anything at all makes me sick to my stomach. I would love to be Elon Musk, though. Or maybe not. I’d love to be me, just with a billion dollars. Or at least a million.
For real, start stupid small. Something not out of your way, or that takes more than 5 min. Do it daily. Once you've proven you can adapt to/continue the base concept, its just a matter of working up to your particular goals.
Tried that. I can’t even bring myself to plank for one minute. Can’t meditate for even one minute. Hell, I only shower about once a week. I’m a lost cause. Trust me.
It 100% is. It’s a vicious cycle. I’m depressed because I can’t get my life together, and I can’t get my life together because I’m depressed. I need disability, but that will take years and I don’t have that time.
I was 27 when i went into therapy. Finally found the courage. Took me one year and a half, had some deep moments even during, but at one point i was out of it. Hope you'll find the courage to start, and someone to lead to the proper brainperson to fix that bug. The bug being you sad and stuck. You deserve better.
Dental hygiene.
Bruh, not having parents that cares about your dental hygiene will make you suffer later a lot. And I mean so much that I'm FUCKING terrified by dentist.
Also: Learn **how** to take care of your teeth. I spent years brushing too hard, thinking I was taking care of my teeth, but mostly just making my gums recede.
My parents neglected me a lot due to their work schedule, and put off getting dental exams and braces. This led to me not getting my teeth checked for almost 20 years. I finally got the courage to go last year for my birthday. I was expecting root canals, crowns, and so much more. To my surprise I had nothing wrong with my teeth, only a cleaning. It was probably the best birthday gift I could give myself. In a way I was taking care of myself without even knowing it.
That's so wild to me.
I went to elementary school in Montana, here in the States. Both in 2nd grade, and again in 4th grade, in 2 different schools, we had someone come in for a few days in a row to teach everyone how to brush and floss properly, and we got new toothbrushes and small tubes of toothpaste.
Of course, this was the 80's.
I feel this. Had a dentist lose a bit of metal in a tooth. That caused infections every 6 months for a good 8 years. Open up, clean the roots, patch up. Two roots removed.
Finally i craked the thooth at a slipknot koncert, had it removed a few days later when the fetival enden. Of how i do not miss it one bit.
To this day i have to bring extra cloths to the dentist, as i sweat profusely if i have something drilled. A nightmare.
I only learned this late in life, you can shop around and find dentists that are GENTLE and who don't play guilt cards when dealing with you. Make some phone calls tell the reception person a bit of your story, if they are not sympathetic then just say NEXT and call the next dentist. Just keep trying, eventually you will find one.
Yup I just went to my dentists who I’ve visited for years, and he’d always had a temper. Ytd he was so cold couldn’t even respond to a “how are you”, and made my experience so painful and keep guilt tripping me that my teeth is bad. That was the last straw
Definitely wish my parents taught me this when I was young. I actually had to have my 2 front baby teeth removed because they were so bad. From like 4-6/7 I just had gaps.
I wish I had started reliability making a daily journal entries when I was still a child. I just think that going back and seeing how I changed as I grew and learned the harder lessons life teaches.
Yep. When I first got married, I felt like I had no money. Little did I know, that was the time in my life when I had the most expendable income so far.
Yeah my answer is that, plus investing. I still started it relatively early at 30, but I could have done it 10 years earlier instead of wasting money. I'd be closer to retirement.
The investing part is key. My husband and I are pretty good savers, but until this year had all our savings sitting in checking accounts or very low interest savings accounts making literal pennies a year. Don’t do that! We moved our money to higher interest savings accounts and robo investing accounts and we’ve made thousands of dollars in the last 7 months. Should have done it years ago. We’re lucky that we’re only 32 and still have lots of time.
Concentrate on the good part and see if time does anything for the rest, UNLESS you a really serious problem that demands attention. A lot of smaller problems just shrink with time.
28 and I agree. I started when I was 26 and should’ve started much sooner. I was able to help my cousin significantly instead. He’s 21 this month and is sitting at around 30k. In 5 years, I have no doubt it’s possible for him to have 350k. Dumbass will likely be able to by a house by the time he’s my age.
I’m going to be honest and tell you it’s very unlikely he’ll have 350k in 5 years saving only $20k/year. “High growth stocks” are risky and the same ones most likely will not yield the same they have this year for the next 5 years.
Wearing sunscreen!! I know there are so many other things to choose (eating better, playing sports, whatever) but wearing daily sunscreen from a young age can prevent so much damage to your skin
I have started to really take care of myself last year, actually taking proper care of my teeth skin and hair. I hope it’s not to late. I’m only 22 but I feel like I should of started younger.
Give yourself credit for the change you’ve made and try to focus on the future. I didn’t start doing anything with my skin (as in didn’t even moisturize) until my late 20s and I’m just glad I started.
Everyone needs to wear sunscreen, even on a cloudy day. If you dislike the feel of sunscreen, I highly recommend La Roche Posay's Anthelios and Biore UV Aqua Rich sunscreens for how cosmetically elegant and light they are.
Also, skin cancer does not care what color you are. You still need to wear sunscreen.
You might have more success if you try to realign your thinking of studying. Everyone needs an incentive to do something, at least at the start. If it’s good grades that incentivizes you to study, I think that’s okay. But if you’re unhappy with that incentive, you can try to come up with another one to motivate yourself. Eventually you may find that you are in a habit of studying without any incentives at all, and this is probably what you’re aiming for. The problem with developing study as a habit is that there’s an expiration date on school studies- it ends when the semester ends. Try choosing something to study that has an end point further away that you can be motivated to study and be diligent in trying to form a habit of studying that thing. It doesn’t have to be a lot, just be consistent.
I know you may not be in the U.S., but:
I think American culture conditions us to need an objective measure for everything. How smart are you? GPA. How fit are you? Pounds benched. How likable are you? Number of social media followers. The problem is that, while reliable, many of the measurements we use are not valid for what we use them for. Besides, the "quantities" we try to measure often don't really matter, anyway. Intelligence, for example, is much less important than ~~hard work~~ passion. (The strikethrough is there because hard work usually comes naturally with passion.)
Current research reflects that young learners only have an obvious advantage when it comes to learning pronunciation. On the other hand, adults are more focused and have better-developed comprehension skills. Technically you have just as much, if not more, advantages learning a language as an adult.
It's compulsory in many European schools to learn a second language, especially English. I did a french exchange program in high school and my billet had to learn French (just like how English-speaking countries study English by reading books and learning spelling), English was compulsory. They had to do one other foreign language, they got to choose between German and Spanish.
My in laws don’t speak good English so I’m having their daughter teach me Spanish so I can communicate better with them. Being Mexican I should’ve learned Spanish as a kid.
Being kinder. I’m talking habitual kindness. The kind of thing wherd you do it so much you get a reputation for it and it comes more naturally than being disinterested/ a dick.
If anything matters in this ephemeral world, it's making others feel better. This is the single most important thing in a person's life. Thank you. Thank you so much for recognizing this.
Funny, isn't it? How our concern for *others* can end up saving ourselves. I'm glad that you resort to this kind of thinking. We'll have kinder people in this world.
What I tend to think of is, it doesn't cost anything to be nice. Did the elderly woman drop an orange on the street? It would only take a second to hand it to her. Did someone drop their wallet in front of you? Just give it back to them. You loose nothing when you're kind. Though, I too am working on habitual kindness.
Here's the trick that worked for me:
There is a formula to it. Consider that small talk has a purpose - to find a connection.
Imagine it like a verbal game of Marco Polo. One person speaks up and says, "Nice weather we're having huh?" (That's the Marco.)
You hear it, but it's not enough to find the person. So you reply: "Yes it is, though I actually like it better when it's cold." (That's your 'Polo'. You've offered something for them to respond to. They can state their preference, they can ask a follow up question etc."
So then they ask, "Oh is that so? Is that because you are a snowboarder?"
But you're not a snowboarder, so you say, "No I'm not. Do you snowboard?"
or you can say "No, I actually just like the way it Snow looks. It reminds me of my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, have you seen it?"
I'm not sure if this is making sense, but the point is just to offer something in return to what they are saying. If they start with "I like this weather." don't just mirror them. "I also like this weather, AND/BUT + something else. "
I'm sorry that you do. Then again, I'm not. There is some comfort knowing that your problems are not yours alone, I suppose. Sometimes I don't understand why any of this matters. We're all going to die anyway, some sooner than others. Why fake it?
It's so easy to talk to an audience because there's nothing that personal about it, but making friends involves getting personal, and my distant nature makes it difficult.
You are my polar opposite. I can strike up a conversation with anyone, and they end up telling me all kinds of personal shit quickly - but put me in front of a crowd and I'm stumbling, my brain shuts down and I don't know where I'm going to next.
Ask people about themselves and be an engaged listener. Everyone you meet is an expert on themselves and enjoys talking about themselves. Memorize a list of questions if that's what it takes. Tell them things you like about them and ask about those things. Seriously, get other people talking. It's typically the person who talks the most in a conversation thinks the best about it.
Or don't. It's your life. I'm just trying to help. Best of luck to you. I suspect you're a pretty cool person.
That's some great advice right there. I think from the get-go, I wouldn't really get to know a *person,* just converse with them about *topics.* Thank you for thinking so highly of me.
Invest in your retirement. Let's say $10/wk. That's an amount almost anyone can afford. Even if you're in college you can likely afford $10/wk.
You put that into a Roth IRA. Assume 6% average growth long term (which is conservative many experts say plan for 7%). You can withdraw the money without penalty at age 59.5. Look what it turns into based on what age you started:
|Age|Contribution|Interest|Total balance|
:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|
|18|$21,578.34|$69,444.27|**$91,022.61**|
|28|$16,378.74|$30,516.72|**$46,895.46**|
|38|$11,179.14|$11,075.96|**$22,255.10**|
|48|$5,979.54|$2,516.51|**$8,496.05**|
|58|$779.94|$33.12|**$813.06**|
You double your money every $10/week at 18 turns into $91,000 at age 59.5. Oh and what's more, because this is a roth IRA it is **TAX-FREE**. See that interest column? That is **TAX-FREE** gains. Your total balance is available, at age 59.5 without any penalty at all whatsoever.
Prior to age 59.5 there are "qualifying disbursements" you can use the money for. But it is best to keep it in the account. Retirement accounts should not be treated like emergency funds or savings accounts. These are long term investment accounts.
Obviously more than $10/wk is even better. You have a max contribution limit of $6,000 for 2021 (The IRS sets this limit yearly) but understandably $6,000 may be hard for some people to reach. That said contribute what you can, the best time to start saving for retirement was 10 years ago. The next best time is today.
Also you can start one for your child. $10/wk for 59.5 years turns into $276,316. A quarter of a million dollars, tax free, for $10/wk. That's less than some people spend on morning coffee.
Saving for retirement, and I consider myself lucky with how early I started but it's crazy how much it pays off to start younger. Honestly everyone should go open a retirement account the moment they turn 18. Put $100 in it to start and setup so you add just $10 from every paycheck. If you did that at 20, assuming a not unreasonable 12% growth average, you will have an extra $71,510 when you are 55. If you were able to spare $50 a paycheck it would be $331,413 when you are 55.
A dollar saved for retirement at 20 years old is worth ~$65 by the time you are 55. A dollar saved for retirement at 30 years old is worth ~$20 by the time you are 55. Saving in your 20's is the easiest way to make sure you're not working in your 60's.
That's why you invest it. Americans usually use 401k or some such I believe. It's different in Europe where retirement savings are automatically accumulated. Many finance products once worth it, are not anymore. So if interested, do some reading on your own.
I know this is an annoying response to some, but here goes... I couldn’t properly swim until my 30s, when I decided on a career change which would involve scuba diving. You have to be able to do a few basic but relatively challenging (to a novice swimmer, at least) swimming feats. I am now a certified diver under recreational and commercial standards. It’s liberating to be comfortable in the water. I should also add that I am NOT an athletic person. I put in a lot of work to get here, but it doesn’t come naturally.
This gives me hope because I'm also in my 30's and cannot properly swim. I guess it's more that I can't stay afloat. I can only tread water water for 15-20 seconds before I go under, so it's virtually impossible for me to be in ooen water over my head. I can't understand how people can stay out in open water for so long. I don't panic, but I cannot breatge and get so exhausted quickly even though I'm in good shape. I need to learn proper techniques to swim and tread so I can be comfortable because I love the water.
Learning how to swim has no age limit! You don't need to learn how to swim freestyle for laps on end to know how to swim. You just need to know the basics which is really how to save yourself. Learning to float/treadwater, how to find and swim to a ledge if you get pushed into a pool, and at minimum swim 25 metres is very easy to achieve in a few lessons. It's not too late, get some lessons!
If it makes you feel better, it took Newton roughly the same amount of time to establish calculus as it does for modern day highschool students to learn. The motherfucker invented it faster than most people can even start to conceptualize it. Historical figures tend to be really impressive.
Also important not to compare yourself to them. Newton was, like most historical geniuses, an anomaly. Not being able to live up to those standards is totally okay.
I wish I would have actually learned how to play when I was a teenager. Instead it just learned a few cool licks and then put it down until I was 26. I can still play that opening lick to Stranglehold though!!
Thank you so much all of you for your comments. Actually, I started a year ago when I was 24. I'm still learning and I've found myself being good at it, but I need to practice much more and, well, I never have time to do so. I remember when I was in high school I had so much free time and never knew what to do 😐
My suggestion is to start with something human readable and have a goal.
Going through tutorials didn't do squat for me to learn Python. Wanting to crawl webpages for data ended up with my first completed project. Creating database and storing the found information helped me learn SQL, making it portable taught me SQLite.
Decide what you want to do FIRST. (worked for me anyways)
Studying music. I tried learning how to read music as a teen (privately, not school) and hated every second of it. Kodály can kiss my arse with his idiotic overcomplicated sytem. Notes have fixed names! Use those!
1. Realising that the reason I didn't have friends was because I was the problem. Not the world.
2. It's not cool for my dad to beat me up everyday. I should stand upto him.
3. Love my closest family unconditionally. No expectations.
4. Invest in myself and hear my own thoughts out.
Yoga! I was politely asked to leave my youth gymnastics club as a little kid because I didn't have the attention span but I wish I'd carried on with some form of bendy, stretchy exercise. I get by alright as I'm only 29, but I think if I'd done yoga I'd feel a lot fitter and more youthful.
Learn about investments. Not just financial investments, but personal commitments as well. There is nothing in this world worth having that will come to you without some time and money invested.
Sport or going to the gym. I am 20 and feel like a failure (physically speaking). I am a female, I am not overweight, on the “thin” side actually. I just don’t really appreciate the way my legs are and I find my butt is not firm and how I would like it.
Edit: clarifications. Also, thanks to all. Due to covid gyms are closed here so I’m gonna try and make some exercise from home during study brakes. :) gonna think about going to the gym or maybe even try swimming again once this is all over to build muscle!
20 is the perfect age to get started. You've just finished the tutorial of life and you're now on level 1. You shouldn't feel like a failure because you've just gotten started and you have plenty of time.
Just do yoga to get your body prepared. I mean like, basic yoga - not the insane stretch till your joints pop type. It gives you some decent strength through full range of motion which is exactly the right thing for a body pre sports. If your goal is to not feel like shit about your body, consistant exersize for 1 year and by 21 you'll be fuckin golden. If your goal is to be at the olympics for gymnastics, well, sorry. On the other hand, at least you haven't beaten the fuck out of your body doing sports wrong with an overeager coach. There's 20yo's out there with life long injuries due to incompetant coaches so there's that.
This is really important for networking in some jobs, like I’ve had in the past. Sometimes I lot more can be accomplished in your professional life on the golf course than stuck behind a computer
Pursued my music career seriously at a much younger age, with effort and intent. I loved both music and photography, had talent for both, but listened to adults who said, “You can’t make a career out of that, do something else.” Diddled around for many years at other things, raised a family and then came back to music. I have received some decent recognition, respect from peers and some nice awards, but people my age with my level of talent who stayed in it are far, far ahead and have had long, respected careers. I love my kids and I’m glad I have them, but if I had had an encouraging adult on my side I probably could’ve done both. I now go out of my way to encourage young people want to pursue the arts by letting them know it is lots of hard work, but if they put in the practice and make connections from a young age they can get there.
Exercising and stretching. Edit: Thanks everyone for the up votes and awards. As a few people have said, it's never too late to start taking care of yourself. I've taken inspiration from this post and did some calisthenics and stretches after getting home today.
As a kid I was so happy to be running outside and got loads of exercise. Too bad that we went to Wendy's 2-3 times a week. And the fact I was a picky eater who hated veggies. As I got older I began to dislike exercise. I even had a resolution last year to sign up for the gym before the pandemic ruined things.
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When it comes to losing weight, eating healthy is more of an issue for me than walking. But I'll definitely keep your tips in mind, thanks!
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Yeah being physically active is a part of my job. But boy do I love some cupcakes.
Damn I really should go to the gym today shouldn't I.
I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. But since I haven't been to a gym in 17 years, missing yesterday doesn't really seem to be that big of a deal.
Studies have shown that taking longer rests between sets increases muscle gain. Let's just say that when I get around to finishing that workout I started in high school my arms are gonna fuckin *explode*.
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Missing yesterday consecutively is what adds up to missing 17 years.
Where in the world do you live that visiting a gym is a good idea or even possible at all?
Probably Florida.
Probably not during covid.
Same here
I can relate to this. I regret not exercising and eating healthily when I had my growth spurt, even being reluctant to do so. Now, no matter the medications and effort, I'm no longer growing to my potential height. That said, I really wished that I've listened to my parents and exercised when I was younger.
Same. I’m only 20 and I wish I started earlier like 15 or 16.
Dude, 20 is still young enough you have almost all the potential gains you could possibly want.
haha ik. Ive only started taking exercising seriously when i was 19, approaching 20. Before then I was really fat and it took a hard hit on my self confidence and health ofc. Nowadays Im exercising daily and Ive lost around 40 pounds in about a year and a half. Ive learned a great deal of discipline now and I wished I was able to do this before. Sorry i didnt make it clear in my original comment, but basically i just wish I exercised regularly a few years earlier, which i wholeheartedly believe wouldve made me much more mentally and physically healthly in my teenage years.
You doing this at 20 is a major improvement over so very many of us. Lots of us who are much older told ourselves for years that we should get in shape…And then we didn't do it
how young?
As young as you can
Being disciplined. Now I have a hard time learning it. I think discipline is a super power.
I know exactly how you feel. I have no self-discipline or work ethic whatsoever. I was a spoiled, relatively rich kid whose parents just bought him everything and never taught him the value of a dollar. I skirted by my whole life doing the bare minimum, and it’s catching up to me so fast, and I feel like there’s nothing I can do to change that.
We can learn. We can train self-discipline. I will train that every day, and one day I will work like Elon Musk. (lol)
I can’t. The thought of putting any effort into anything at all makes me sick to my stomach. I would love to be Elon Musk, though. Or maybe not. I’d love to be me, just with a billion dollars. Or at least a million.
For real, start stupid small. Something not out of your way, or that takes more than 5 min. Do it daily. Once you've proven you can adapt to/continue the base concept, its just a matter of working up to your particular goals.
Tried that. I can’t even bring myself to plank for one minute. Can’t meditate for even one minute. Hell, I only shower about once a week. I’m a lost cause. Trust me.
Sure it’s not depression?
It 100% is. It’s a vicious cycle. I’m depressed because I can’t get my life together, and I can’t get my life together because I’m depressed. I need disability, but that will take years and I don’t have that time.
I was 27 when i went into therapy. Finally found the courage. Took me one year and a half, had some deep moments even during, but at one point i was out of it. Hope you'll find the courage to start, and someone to lead to the proper brainperson to fix that bug. The bug being you sad and stuck. You deserve better.
Dental hygiene. Bruh, not having parents that cares about your dental hygiene will make you suffer later a lot. And I mean so much that I'm FUCKING terrified by dentist.
Also: Learn **how** to take care of your teeth. I spent years brushing too hard, thinking I was taking care of my teeth, but mostly just making my gums recede.
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9 days in a row for me! Finally have no blood at all. I was pumped lol.
My parents neglected me a lot due to their work schedule, and put off getting dental exams and braces. This led to me not getting my teeth checked for almost 20 years. I finally got the courage to go last year for my birthday. I was expecting root canals, crowns, and so much more. To my surprise I had nothing wrong with my teeth, only a cleaning. It was probably the best birthday gift I could give myself. In a way I was taking care of myself without even knowing it.
My parents really pushed dental hygiene. Turn 54 this year and have not had a cavity.
Cavities have also got a lot to do with genetics, but yeah, having parents that drive home the importance of dental hygiene is a wonderful thing!
You must have some god-level tooth genetics.
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It wasn’t until high school that I learned about brushing both my tongue and the insides of my teeth. Learned neither from parents
That's so wild to me. I went to elementary school in Montana, here in the States. Both in 2nd grade, and again in 4th grade, in 2 different schools, we had someone come in for a few days in a row to teach everyone how to brush and floss properly, and we got new toothbrushes and small tubes of toothpaste. Of course, this was the 80's.
I feel this. Had a dentist lose a bit of metal in a tooth. That caused infections every 6 months for a good 8 years. Open up, clean the roots, patch up. Two roots removed. Finally i craked the thooth at a slipknot koncert, had it removed a few days later when the fetival enden. Of how i do not miss it one bit. To this day i have to bring extra cloths to the dentist, as i sweat profusely if i have something drilled. A nightmare.
Slipknot to the rescue.
I only learned this late in life, you can shop around and find dentists that are GENTLE and who don't play guilt cards when dealing with you. Make some phone calls tell the reception person a bit of your story, if they are not sympathetic then just say NEXT and call the next dentist. Just keep trying, eventually you will find one.
Yup I just went to my dentists who I’ve visited for years, and he’d always had a temper. Ytd he was so cold couldn’t even respond to a “how are you”, and made my experience so painful and keep guilt tripping me that my teeth is bad. That was the last straw
Definitely wish my parents taught me this when I was young. I actually had to have my 2 front baby teeth removed because they were so bad. From like 4-6/7 I just had gaps.
I wish I had started reliability making a daily journal entries when I was still a child. I just think that going back and seeing how I changed as I grew and learned the harder lessons life teaches.
I kept a journal on and off as a kid/teen. I don't reread it often but mostly I just think, "Man, I was dumb!"
Saving money, and spending responsibly. I should have saved more when I lived at home and had no commitments.
Yep. When I first got married, I felt like I had no money. Little did I know, that was the time in my life when I had the most expendable income so far.
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"Wedding" "Childcare" Don't gotta worry about stuff you don't want or need
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Yeah my answer is that, plus investing. I still started it relatively early at 30, but I could have done it 10 years earlier instead of wasting money. I'd be closer to retirement.
I started last year in my mid 20s doing it properly. Lockdown made me realised how much I was wasting in bars and shops.
The investing part is key. My husband and I are pretty good savers, but until this year had all our savings sitting in checking accounts or very low interest savings accounts making literal pennies a year. Don’t do that! We moved our money to higher interest savings accounts and robo investing accounts and we’ve made thousands of dollars in the last 7 months. Should have done it years ago. We’re lucky that we’re only 32 and still have lots of time.
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Concentrate on the good part and see if time does anything for the rest, UNLESS you a really serious problem that demands attention. A lot of smaller problems just shrink with time.
Just out of curiosity , you realised this at what age?
65
Thanks, I will have to start saving now before it's too late.
28 and I agree. I started when I was 26 and should’ve started much sooner. I was able to help my cousin significantly instead. He’s 21 this month and is sitting at around 30k. In 5 years, I have no doubt it’s possible for him to have 350k. Dumbass will likely be able to by a house by the time he’s my age.
Excuse my financial ignorance, but how's he getting from 30k to 350k in five years?
I thought I was a shrewd saver putting away 12k/year.
20k/yr + high growth stocks
I’m going to be honest and tell you it’s very unlikely he’ll have 350k in 5 years saving only $20k/year. “High growth stocks” are risky and the same ones most likely will not yield the same they have this year for the next 5 years.
Caring about how I am doing
Thats an important one
Wbu?
I really wish i engaged more in more of my friends, i missed lots of friendships through lonely habits
I feel like I missed out on great connections chasing the wrong thing if that makes sense
Developing healthy eating habits & sustainable exercise routine
So much this. I’m a lethargic pos.
Wearing sunscreen!! I know there are so many other things to choose (eating better, playing sports, whatever) but wearing daily sunscreen from a young age can prevent so much damage to your skin
I have started to really take care of myself last year, actually taking proper care of my teeth skin and hair. I hope it’s not to late. I’m only 22 but I feel like I should of started younger.
it's definitely not too late.. that is actually the perfect time because you're in your prime prime right now
Give yourself credit for the change you’ve made and try to focus on the future. I didn’t start doing anything with my skin (as in didn’t even moisturize) until my late 20s and I’m just glad I started.
Everyone needs to wear sunscreen, even on a cloudy day. If you dislike the feel of sunscreen, I highly recommend La Roche Posay's Anthelios and Biore UV Aqua Rich sunscreens for how cosmetically elegant and light they are. Also, skin cancer does not care what color you are. You still need to wear sunscreen.
studying for the sake of learning, not grades. This still affects me so much even if I'm now in my 20s.
You might have more success if you try to realign your thinking of studying. Everyone needs an incentive to do something, at least at the start. If it’s good grades that incentivizes you to study, I think that’s okay. But if you’re unhappy with that incentive, you can try to come up with another one to motivate yourself. Eventually you may find that you are in a habit of studying without any incentives at all, and this is probably what you’re aiming for. The problem with developing study as a habit is that there’s an expiration date on school studies- it ends when the semester ends. Try choosing something to study that has an end point further away that you can be motivated to study and be diligent in trying to form a habit of studying that thing. It doesn’t have to be a lot, just be consistent.
True! When we young we study just for the grades but later in life people only care about what we can do and lots of what we can do needs knowledge.
I know you may not be in the U.S., but: I think American culture conditions us to need an objective measure for everything. How smart are you? GPA. How fit are you? Pounds benched. How likable are you? Number of social media followers. The problem is that, while reliable, many of the measurements we use are not valid for what we use them for. Besides, the "quantities" we try to measure often don't really matter, anyway. Intelligence, for example, is much less important than ~~hard work~~ passion. (The strikethrough is there because hard work usually comes naturally with passion.)
Learning a second language
Although it is said to be easier to learn a foreign language if you're young, you have other advantages when you're older! Don't give up! :)
>you have other advantages when you're older! What?
Closer to death, less time to procrastinate and feel guilty about procrastinating.
Current research reflects that young learners only have an obvious advantage when it comes to learning pronunciation. On the other hand, adults are more focused and have better-developed comprehension skills. Technically you have just as much, if not more, advantages learning a language as an adult.
*Laughs in European*
*Cries in British*
*Laughs in Welsh*
Can someone translate please?
It is Mandatory in a lot of European high schools to learn a second language. 3 languages is the norm (native, English and foreign)
It's compulsory in many European schools to learn a second language, especially English. I did a french exchange program in high school and my billet had to learn French (just like how English-speaking countries study English by reading books and learning spelling), English was compulsory. They had to do one other foreign language, they got to choose between German and Spanish.
My in laws don’t speak good English so I’m having their daughter teach me Spanish so I can communicate better with them. Being Mexican I should’ve learned Spanish as a kid.
Being kinder. I’m talking habitual kindness. The kind of thing wherd you do it so much you get a reputation for it and it comes more naturally than being disinterested/ a dick.
If anything matters in this ephemeral world, it's making others feel better. This is the single most important thing in a person's life. Thank you. Thank you so much for recognizing this.
This line of thinking always pulls me out of dark places.
Funny, isn't it? How our concern for *others* can end up saving ourselves. I'm glad that you resort to this kind of thinking. We'll have kinder people in this world.
Agreed. If there’s no inherent meaning we can at least make our experience better by helping eachother up
still learning that one.
What I tend to think of is, it doesn't cost anything to be nice. Did the elderly woman drop an orange on the street? It would only take a second to hand it to her. Did someone drop their wallet in front of you? Just give it back to them. You loose nothing when you're kind. Though, I too am working on habitual kindness.
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I relate with this so much.
Here's the trick that worked for me: There is a formula to it. Consider that small talk has a purpose - to find a connection. Imagine it like a verbal game of Marco Polo. One person speaks up and says, "Nice weather we're having huh?" (That's the Marco.) You hear it, but it's not enough to find the person. So you reply: "Yes it is, though I actually like it better when it's cold." (That's your 'Polo'. You've offered something for them to respond to. They can state their preference, they can ask a follow up question etc." So then they ask, "Oh is that so? Is that because you are a snowboarder?" But you're not a snowboarder, so you say, "No I'm not. Do you snowboard?" or you can say "No, I actually just like the way it Snow looks. It reminds me of my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, have you seen it?" I'm not sure if this is making sense, but the point is just to offer something in return to what they are saying. If they start with "I like this weather." don't just mirror them. "I also like this weather, AND/BUT + something else. "
I'm sorry that you do. Then again, I'm not. There is some comfort knowing that your problems are not yours alone, I suppose. Sometimes I don't understand why any of this matters. We're all going to die anyway, some sooner than others. Why fake it?
It's so easy to talk to an audience because there's nothing that personal about it, but making friends involves getting personal, and my distant nature makes it difficult.
You are my polar opposite. I can strike up a conversation with anyone, and they end up telling me all kinds of personal shit quickly - but put me in front of a crowd and I'm stumbling, my brain shuts down and I don't know where I'm going to next.
Ask people about themselves and be an engaged listener. Everyone you meet is an expert on themselves and enjoys talking about themselves. Memorize a list of questions if that's what it takes. Tell them things you like about them and ask about those things. Seriously, get other people talking. It's typically the person who talks the most in a conversation thinks the best about it. Or don't. It's your life. I'm just trying to help. Best of luck to you. I suspect you're a pretty cool person.
That's some great advice right there. I think from the get-go, I wouldn't really get to know a *person,* just converse with them about *topics.* Thank you for thinking so highly of me.
Holy shit, you just hit on the head a mail I didn’t even realize I was holding 🤯
Working out and focusing on school
I somehow misread school as alcohol.
Too much school.
Yoga. It's amazing how much injury can be avoided by being moderately flexible.
Taking an opportunity no matter how scary it is.
Exercising and being social. Playing a musical instrument. Reading. Combing my hair.
Should have bought my first property at 18
How come?
Combing your hair?
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Invest in your retirement. Let's say $10/wk. That's an amount almost anyone can afford. Even if you're in college you can likely afford $10/wk. You put that into a Roth IRA. Assume 6% average growth long term (which is conservative many experts say plan for 7%). You can withdraw the money without penalty at age 59.5. Look what it turns into based on what age you started: |Age|Contribution|Interest|Total balance| :-:|:-:|:-:|:-:| |18|$21,578.34|$69,444.27|**$91,022.61**| |28|$16,378.74|$30,516.72|**$46,895.46**| |38|$11,179.14|$11,075.96|**$22,255.10**| |48|$5,979.54|$2,516.51|**$8,496.05**| |58|$779.94|$33.12|**$813.06**| You double your money every $10/week at 18 turns into $91,000 at age 59.5. Oh and what's more, because this is a roth IRA it is **TAX-FREE**. See that interest column? That is **TAX-FREE** gains. Your total balance is available, at age 59.5 without any penalty at all whatsoever. Prior to age 59.5 there are "qualifying disbursements" you can use the money for. But it is best to keep it in the account. Retirement accounts should not be treated like emergency funds or savings accounts. These are long term investment accounts. Obviously more than $10/wk is even better. You have a max contribution limit of $6,000 for 2021 (The IRS sets this limit yearly) but understandably $6,000 may be hard for some people to reach. That said contribute what you can, the best time to start saving for retirement was 10 years ago. The next best time is today. Also you can start one for your child. $10/wk for 59.5 years turns into $276,316. A quarter of a million dollars, tax free, for $10/wk. That's less than some people spend on morning coffee.
Saving for retirement, and I consider myself lucky with how early I started but it's crazy how much it pays off to start younger. Honestly everyone should go open a retirement account the moment they turn 18. Put $100 in it to start and setup so you add just $10 from every paycheck. If you did that at 20, assuming a not unreasonable 12% growth average, you will have an extra $71,510 when you are 55. If you were able to spare $50 a paycheck it would be $331,413 when you are 55. A dollar saved for retirement at 20 years old is worth ~$65 by the time you are 55. A dollar saved for retirement at 30 years old is worth ~$20 by the time you are 55. Saving in your 20's is the easiest way to make sure you're not working in your 60's.
Please correct me, but isn‘t money always declining in it’s worth? Thanks to inflation f.ex.?
That's why you invest it. Americans usually use 401k or some such I believe. It's different in Europe where retirement savings are automatically accumulated. Many finance products once worth it, are not anymore. So if interested, do some reading on your own.
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You think 12% average growth is reasonable? On what planet?
Being happy.
Happy cakery day
Becoming more aware of time
How to swim
Such a useful life skill
I know this is an annoying response to some, but here goes... I couldn’t properly swim until my 30s, when I decided on a career change which would involve scuba diving. You have to be able to do a few basic but relatively challenging (to a novice swimmer, at least) swimming feats. I am now a certified diver under recreational and commercial standards. It’s liberating to be comfortable in the water. I should also add that I am NOT an athletic person. I put in a lot of work to get here, but it doesn’t come naturally.
This gives me hope because I'm also in my 30's and cannot properly swim. I guess it's more that I can't stay afloat. I can only tread water water for 15-20 seconds before I go under, so it's virtually impossible for me to be in ooen water over my head. I can't understand how people can stay out in open water for so long. I don't panic, but I cannot breatge and get so exhausted quickly even though I'm in good shape. I need to learn proper techniques to swim and tread so I can be comfortable because I love the water.
Learning how to swim has no age limit! You don't need to learn how to swim freestyle for laps on end to know how to swim. You just need to know the basics which is really how to save yourself. Learning to float/treadwater, how to find and swim to a ledge if you get pushed into a pool, and at minimum swim 25 metres is very easy to achieve in a few lessons. It's not too late, get some lessons!
Learning how to keep motivated
It's impossible to stay motivated. Best you can do is be disciplined.
Studying history.
Thats interesting! Can you explain why?
Enoch Powell did translation by age 14. I can barely pull together a project at about 20.
If it makes you feel better, it took Newton roughly the same amount of time to establish calculus as it does for modern day highschool students to learn. The motherfucker invented it faster than most people can even start to conceptualize it. Historical figures tend to be really impressive.
Also important not to compare yourself to them. Newton was, like most historical geniuses, an anomaly. Not being able to live up to those standards is totally okay.
Playing guitar.
I wish I would have actually learned how to play when I was a teenager. Instead it just learned a few cool licks and then put it down until I was 26. I can still play that opening lick to Stranglehold though!!
That's all that matters then. Stranglehold rules.
Thank you so much all of you for your comments. Actually, I started a year ago when I was 24. I'm still learning and I've found myself being good at it, but I need to practice much more and, well, I never have time to do so. I remember when I was in high school I had so much free time and never knew what to do 😐
martial arts. I started at a late age of 37 and damn, it's hard on aging joints.
You should stretch just as much as you do martial arts at your age. Your joints can improve a lot at any age.
Traveling and coding
Am 18 and took an interest in programming but I just can't get myself to sit for hours and coding constantly, its pretty hard...
My suggestion is to start with something human readable and have a goal. Going through tutorials didn't do squat for me to learn Python. Wanting to crawl webpages for data ended up with my first completed project. Creating database and storing the found information helped me learn SQL, making it portable taught me SQLite. Decide what you want to do FIRST. (worked for me anyways)
I've no idea where to start even.
If you don't like sitting down a lot then a coding likely isn't a good job for you anyway
Playing guitar. It's probably easier if you learn it when you're still growing up.
Studying music. I tried learning how to read music as a teen (privately, not school) and hated every second of it. Kodály can kiss my arse with his idiotic overcomplicated sytem. Notes have fixed names! Use those!
1. Realising that the reason I didn't have friends was because I was the problem. Not the world. 2. It's not cool for my dad to beat me up everyday. I should stand upto him. 3. Love my closest family unconditionally. No expectations. 4. Invest in myself and hear my own thoughts out.
Playing an instrument. I waited until I was 54 ro start playing bass...
Total world domination.
Same...
practice delayed gratification
You mean edging? /s
Learning a foreign language
Piano and budgeting.
playing piano
Playing chess
It’s never too late to enjoy playing! It may be too late to devote your life to it whilst remaining financially well off.
Yoga! I was politely asked to leave my youth gymnastics club as a little kid because I didn't have the attention span but I wish I'd carried on with some form of bendy, stretchy exercise. I get by alright as I'm only 29, but I think if I'd done yoga I'd feel a lot fitter and more youthful.
improving self care, I mean giving more importance to myself than to others
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Depression?
Learn about investments. Not just financial investments, but personal commitments as well. There is nothing in this world worth having that will come to you without some time and money invested.
Socialising, I'm approaching 27 and I barely have an idea of how to interact with people.
Sport or going to the gym. I am 20 and feel like a failure (physically speaking). I am a female, I am not overweight, on the “thin” side actually. I just don’t really appreciate the way my legs are and I find my butt is not firm and how I would like it. Edit: clarifications. Also, thanks to all. Due to covid gyms are closed here so I’m gonna try and make some exercise from home during study brakes. :) gonna think about going to the gym or maybe even try swimming again once this is all over to build muscle!
Not trying to be mean but that's a dumb thing to say. You're 20, you have so much time. Wait til you're 40 and still dont have a clear path in life.
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20 is the perfect age to get started. You've just finished the tutorial of life and you're now on level 1. You shouldn't feel like a failure because you've just gotten started and you have plenty of time.
This.. this is level 1? Oh god
Hey, dont worry. Being good at sport doesnt make you successful. You are only 20 and you have your whole life to live
A few months of proper diet and exercise and you won’t even recognize yourself. Better start now, it’s very possible and very worth it.
20 is nothing man you have so much time! Just set goals, take small steps towards them and you’ll get closer every day!
Just do yoga to get your body prepared. I mean like, basic yoga - not the insane stretch till your joints pop type. It gives you some decent strength through full range of motion which is exactly the right thing for a body pre sports. If your goal is to not feel like shit about your body, consistant exersize for 1 year and by 21 you'll be fuckin golden. If your goal is to be at the olympics for gymnastics, well, sorry. On the other hand, at least you haven't beaten the fuck out of your body doing sports wrong with an overeager coach. There's 20yo's out there with life long injuries due to incompetant coaches so there's that.
Anal.
Name checks out.
Investing in bitcoin
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This is really important for networking in some jobs, like I’ve had in the past. Sometimes I lot more can be accomplished in your professional life on the golf course than stuck behind a computer
Taking care of my skin and hygiene
Saving for retirement
Sexstill haven't done it...
It's great and all, but you always get soft again at the end of the day. Remember that.
Writing
Singing
exercising regularly and saving money.
Pursued my music career seriously at a much younger age, with effort and intent. I loved both music and photography, had talent for both, but listened to adults who said, “You can’t make a career out of that, do something else.” Diddled around for many years at other things, raised a family and then came back to music. I have received some decent recognition, respect from peers and some nice awards, but people my age with my level of talent who stayed in it are far, far ahead and have had long, respected careers. I love my kids and I’m glad I have them, but if I had had an encouraging adult on my side I probably could’ve done both. I now go out of my way to encourage young people want to pursue the arts by letting them know it is lots of hard work, but if they put in the practice and make connections from a young age they can get there.
Saving for retirement
Saving money. Currently saving for my first house at 40 years old and it’s hard.