What Would You Tell Your 18 Y/O Self?

[Wade Lippman]

I actually made a pretty respectable amount of money buying Apple on bad news (around $10) and selling on good (around $20) over the first 10-15 years, which it cycled through quite reliably, then I got off the bus way too soon and missed it going up a thousand-fold. Oh well!

I did that with Kodak in 2009. I bought it at 1, sold at 5. Bought at 1, sold at 5. Bought at 1, sold at 5. Bought at 1. Bought more at .9. More at .8. More at .7. Bailed when it went up to 1 again. I had a good year in 2009; made 190%.

[Andrew Seemann]

If I'm being honest about it, I couldn't tell my 18 y/o self anything. At 18 I thought that I already knew everything.

-Ken

I would agree. There are a ton of things that I wish I could have told my 18 year old self, but I was far too stupid and stubborn at 18 to have listened to any of them. Having my oldest just turn 18, I am very poignantly reminded of this

At the same time, the wisdom I have now probably was the result of being that stupid (good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement). If I could tell myself something and hope I listened to it, it probably would be something on the lines of "You don't have to learn everything the hard way, dumb@ss"

[Dave Zellers]

I think you guys are being way too hard on yourselves. Being stubborn and then learning things the 'hard' way is often the best path to knowledge. Just listening to your parents and doing what they say leaves you with a "what if?" thought in your head. More than likely, your parents went through the exact same process. They are/were just happy to see you arrive at the same conclusion, as they did. And their parents before them. It is the very best way of teaching- show the way, but allow the child/student to confirm it for themselves.

[Steve Demuth]

If I'm being honest about it, I couldn't tell my 18 y/o self anything. At 18 I thought that I already knew everything.

-Ken

Exactly what I was going to write.

(We need a "like" button in this forum)

[Steve Demuth]

First, I want to say that in many ways I did this experiment for real, in a back-handed sort of way, in my 40s, as my two children aged through late adolescence into early adulthood. That is, I tried to make sure they understood the things I had not. Not sure it was of any use - telling 18 year-olds anything is an exercise in how to communicate ideas without saying them, since whatever you say directly is going to land wrong if it sounds too much like advice - but they turned out well, and whatever mistakes they've made, they are at least different from the ones I made, so maybe some of it stuck.

So, the three things I most wish I had done differently from age 18 on until I finally became an adult (which in some ways is still a work in progress):

1. Trust your in close friends, including, hopefully, your spouse. Do for them, and accept from them. They will make you a better person, and make your life better, if you give those relationships proper care and feeding. In those few relationships that work, and matter, you cannot give too much, because you always receive more than you give.

2. Choose two or three of your passions and stick to them. You can't excel at everything, but if you put your body and soul into it, you can make a difference for the good in a couple of areas. See #1, and make sure it's one of the three.

3. You don't have to do everything for yourself. Make use of the services of others. You won't have time for #1 and #2 above if you do everything yourself, just because you can and it saves a few bucks.