Ulti

turning 30 today (yes, I went bald at 25) a few personal learnings about my 20s that might help others who are not uncs yet: 1) understand that age is a bad proxy for knowledge especially in Eastern cultures, you are treated as being more knowledgeable and more respectable the older you are while you should be respectful towards others, understand that the vast majority of "adults" have no idea what they're talking about they are just as dumb as you, but have the added arrogance of age the arrogance is portrayed as confidence, which makes you trust that they're correct, but this is not the case 2) take way more risks everyone tells you to do this when you're young and while you don't have familial responsibilities, yet most people still don't do it a good reframe here is to think not of what can go wrong, but of what can go right 3) default to action, you have tons of years and energy to error correct almost no mistake is catastrophic enough to ruin your life, that doesn't result in jail or ill health 4) where you live matters more than you think you are in a trade with your government. they take a large percent of what you make and give you things in exchange like safety, transport, etc make sure you are getting a good trade. if you're paying 60% in taxes and getting the worst medical care on earth (canada), get out 5) get good at communicating, no matter what your job or career is to write, speak, and listen are human skills and they amplify the ceiling of roughly any single job or career you will get 6) if you're unsure where you're going, start with the end in mind and work backwards, and then course correct 7) start or join a startup 8) read the beginning of infinity by david deutsch and skin in the game by taleb 9) create more than you consume your life's goal should be to go to the grave empty, you should have nothing more you could have added to civilization 10) in the age of fake internet personas, be relentlessly authentic and like minded people will find you 11) in a similar light, always reassess your current situation and determine whether you're in it because you yourself reasoned up from your own independent thinking or because you're blindly following social norms 12) understand that all advice and lists like this one are deeply path dependent and personal and the most important thing is to always think for yourself