Zen Habits has a wonderful post entitled “20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life” with great info that, approaching my 40th birthday (not this year, but soon) just makes sense to me. The short lit:
- How to control impulse spending.
- You gotta stay active.
- How to plan finances.
- Junk food will come back to bite you in the butt.
- Smoking is just dumb.
- Fund your retirement, son. And don’t withdraw it.
- All the stuff you’re doing that seems hard — it will be of use.
- Don’t buy that used van without checking it out closely.
- That guy you’re going to sell your car to? On a gentleman’s agreement? He’s not gonna pay you.
- Make time to pursue your passion, no matter how busy you are.
- All that stuff that’s stressing you out — it won’t matter in 5 years, let alone 15.
- The people you make friends with are so much more important than your job or the things you buy.
- All that time you spend watching TV is a huge, huge waste of time.
- Your kids are going to grow up way faster than you think. Don’t waste a minute.
- Forget the drama. Focus on being happy.
- Pay more attention to blogs when you first hear about them. They’re more than just journals.
- Speaking of which, keep a journal. Seriously. Your memory is extremely faulty.
- Tequila is seriously evil.
- Yes, you can do a marathon. Don’t put this goal off — it’s extremely rewarding.
- All these mistakes you’re going to make, despite this advice? They’re worth it.
