A lot of people answering this struggle to understand what highly-specific means. I’m looking to, for the sake of experiment, highly-specific advice that gives a reader clear understanding of what they should do. Unlike the vague advice, on the contrary, that may be too abstract to get implementing it right away.
Inspired by this post but I wanted to change the question a bit to avoid the really vague answers as well as lower the age bar of target audience for the advice.
I’ll start with a bunch myself, to give a better example of what I’m talking about:
- Read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Ironically, because this is a post about specific advice, dude wrote a book with vague rules on how to do war, but the way it is worded is ridiculously good. If you take your time to think about the advice, you can find their appliances in the most unexpected fields.
I, for example, have improved my skill in videogames, out of all places, after reading the book. Sun Tzu said “If it is not advantageous, do not move”. Instead of rushing into combat, I now consider whether my position, current health, location of health packs etc. work to my advantage. Sun Tzu made me realise team-based PvP shooters give you room to avoid and disengage combat, you can make more impact for the team if you choose your battle and have everything work for your advantage.
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Exercises are not just about a lot of dedication, long commutes to the gym, expensive memberships and the fear of being judged by other gym members. 7 minute workout is a thing and it will give you all the benefits at your own home without the need for equipment, and it won’t take much time either.
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Buy an old used Kindle. For dirt cheap, you will get a device with a good e-ink screen that works without Internet connection, still has decent battery, is light and small. A new thing that makes reading so comfortable will trick you into reading more and books still happen a good medium for sharing information.
Save 15%. Even if it absolutely sucks to do so. If you have to dip in to the 15%, it better be for life or death. Skip meals to save that 15%.
1$ saved at 20 is like 20$ saved at 40.
Also, don’t cash advance from a credit card, ever, for any reason. I once bought a 6$ taco at age 18 on cash advance, and once I finally cleared it off, that taco had cost me almost 500$. I did the math.
If you make less than $20K, there’s no real way to save up. 15% of 0 is 0. But if you can afford some extras, definitely send an automatic 10% to 20% of your paycheck to your 401k plan or whatever. You will genuinely not notice it.
Use this calculator to see how saving for the future will benefit you:
https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/retirement-plan-calculator/
Starting at 22 saving 15% of 35K will get you $1.8 million by age 62.
you used to be able to buy dollar coins from the US mint with free shipping. that was the cheapest way to get money off your credit card without extra fees
Poop at work. Not only do you get paid to poop, you save money on toilet paper.
Explosive diarrhea during Zoom call.
“Hey man, we’ve got an earthquake, can I call you later?”
Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime
Speaking of, get a bidet. It can be attached to most toilets, though you should check to make sure your toilet works. Actually get clean for once and you will never be satisfied with just toilet paper again.
Can all the young people not smoke cigarettes please. It’s the one thing I regret in life.
There’s obvious reasons like health and money, but there are specifics that you don’t want, such as -
Emphysema. You don’t want that.
Receded gums. It’s not funny.
And you smell. Really bad.
Smoking kills, obviously. But it’s the things it can do to you while you’re still alive that are really horrible.
Good you say it. Smoking really drives people away. I’m a non smoker and never will, I’m seeking distance whenever someone in my proximity smokes.
That includes smoking 2: electric boogaloo (vaping) too, even though it doesn’t smell as bad.
the Surgeon General doesn’t like talking about it, but on average, if you quit smoking by 35, you’ll avoid most of the health issues. so if you think there’s no point quitting, you’re probably wrong.
Go to party every day. Fuck everyone you can. Use all the drugs. You’re going to miss this time when your body could take it all without problems.
Fuck everyone you can
…with a caveat:
Don’t stick it in crazy.
Nah, that crazy is going to be great memories for when alone and without wifi.
Great, terrifying memories
No, not great memories. Crazy will ruin your life and it won’t be fond memories it will be horrible memories.
you can stick it in crazy so long as they don’t have your address. also bring your own condom and take it with you when you go
Use protection!
Yes, exactly! Wear a seatbelt!
And sunscreen!
Edit: sunscreen even if you have dark skin. Moisturizer of some kind regardless
Solid advice
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Install GnuCash, learn accounting, and start tracking your money and use proper financial language. There is a lot of good financial advice out there (budgeting, investments, debt reduction), and all of that is much more efficient if a) you know where your money goes and where it comes from, b) you are proficient with financial software, and c) you can talk to the banks in their own language.
Dude, finally someone gave a highly specific advice that I was asking for. I love you. Other replies are decently specific at best, with some being vague, despite my efforts to explain that this was not that I asked for.
If you want to track your money: quit alcohol, that shit makes it disappear at higher speed
Your 30s will be better. Don’t get hung up on thinking your 20s are prime.
If you start college (assuming you’re an American) do not under any circumstances drop out. This goes double for grad school. What will happen is the at you’ll still owe money on your student loan, but will not have whatever advantages you might have accumulated as a result of having a degree.
As an eastern European nearing their 30s in a situation much less extreme than yours - do not fall for “patriotism”. I do not mean the “go and fight for your people” type. That takes guts and mentality I do not possess.
I mean the “doing X is unpatriotic” type. Usually comes from “patriotic” formations who follow a certain narrative and work for the interests of other countries. Look for buzzwords like traditional values, us vs them, targeting a group of people as a whole, claiming to get back “what is ours” (territory lost centuries ago, not currently occupied land). Big social media presence coupled with self-produced “reports” and “news articles” (bonus points if they have their own mass media channels) are also a giveaway.
Thank you but I won’t let your aggressor, through puppet parties, dictate what about my attitude and views is patriotic and what isn’t.
Here’s my highly specific (hypocritical) advice:
Don’t take advice from Reddit or Lemmy on any important matter. You don’t know these people, and they don’t know you. Some people have good ideas. Most don’t. The ability to think for yourself and determine what’s best for you is the best skill you can have. A review from Lemmy or Reddit on a product is fine. Life advice from internet strangers is almost always garbage.
Here’s some more highly specific meta advice: Change your socks every day. What the fuck people…
Also listen to that other dude in this thread that mentioned dental hygiene. That’s bangin’ advice.
Stay off TikTok.
Don’t repeatedly subject yourself to very loud music. Tinnitus is a bitch.
Mimimize social media usage.
Start a pension fund.
Study. Get a higher education or professional qualifications.
Exercise regularly.
Take care of your dental hygiene. It’s costly to fix.
Find a companion to share your life. Human or animal. Having to make compromises because you have someone depending on you is great.Don’t be a selfish prick. Show compassion and caring to your near and dear.
Go to another country for 1 year. A country with different culture and with a different language.
I live in Ukraine and most males 18-60 here are banned from crossing the country’s border 💀
Кто то из Украины кроме меня знает про Лемми? Такое не каждый день увидишь :)
Я вже бачив пару челів з України, так шо ми не одні. Кого реально мало, так це українців на лемміграді)
Так-так, це треба виправляти. Тому що Реддіт, де наших теж небагато, але більше ніж тут, це абсолютно неюзабельна хуйня. Дуже радий що навіть до України дійшли чутки про Леммі.
Not the border to Russia.
That’s the fucking thing people on the occupied territories have that we fucking don’t. They can leave to the Western countries (or any countries, really) through Russia
Do not fuck around with hard drugs.
I’d also say to develop a healthy attitude towards soft drugs like alcohol and weed.
Hard drugs can fuck your life up faster, but addiction to soft drugs can also do a lot of damage. Have fun, but keep perspective. You’re probably gonna be around people do stupid shit from time to time, but resist the temptation to be the person doing the stupidest shit.
Just gonna say that alcohol is, by all means, a legal hard drug.
I don’t genuinely think there are hard and soft drugs. I categorize them by physical and emotional dependence. Emotional dependence sucks and is hard to remove yourself from but drugs that lack a physical dependency are much easier to handle. Drugs you get physically dependent on and experience withdrawal symptoms from fucking suck and you should be very hesitant to use them. Drugs that have both should just be avoided (I include alcohol here but make an exception due to it being a social norm). There are also drugs that aren’t worth it for other reasons beyond these.
To give some examples of what I mean
emotional dependency:
- weed
- lsd
- mushrooms
- ketamine
- MDMA
Physical dependency:
- SSRIs (brain zaps suck ass brother)
- anti psychotics
- benzos (therapeutic doses)
- Ambien
- amphetamines (therapeutic doses)
Both:
- alcohol
- opiates
- benzos (recreational)
- (meth)amphetamines (recreational)
- cocaine
Other:
- deliriants (trauma + organ damage)
Obvious this is very subject to personal bias because it’s a classification system that is very useful to me. There are certain substances that could be argued in an out of their placement but I’ve placed them where they are with respect to how dangerous they would be to me if I were to try them.
No, drugs that produce physical dependence are so much easier to quit that drugs that create an emotional dependence.
To quit a drug with physical dependence requires staying off the drug for a week. To quit a drug with emotional dependence often requires years of therapy to resolve trauma.
That’s why I said it’s subjective and based on personal experiences
You have time on your side. You can afford to make a few mistakes.
And wear sunscreen (can’t believe that song is >25 years old now)
