Men in their 40s, what’s one piece of advice for men in their 20s?
Men in their 40s, what’s one piece of advice for men in their 20s?
Men in their 40s, what’s one piece of advice for men in their 20s?
Start saving for retirement now. You can make literally millions by putting away 10% of your income early on. Do it automatically so you never even notice the money gone.
If you are worried about making the wrong choice and your company doesn’t have a 401k, open an IRA somewhere (Fidelity if you need someone to make the decision for you) and pick a date targeted fund. Set up auto deposit. Never look at the balance.
You can always make it better later but for now the best thing to do is start. Don’t let analysis paralysis get in the way.
I don't want to come off as insensitive, so I'll try to phrase things carefully.
If you have even the slightest spare money per pay period, like $30, and a 401k or 403b is offered to you, you really need to do it.
That money comes out of your check before taxes, so you will be investing more money than what actually comes out of your check. By deduction 6% of a $15/hr full time job, you're putting in $36, but your paycheck will only go down about $30-free money!
Many places will match you some, say half of that first 6%, so now you're saving $54 while only being out $30. You've almost doubled your money in one week!
Come tax time, you've saved $1872, and you've been given a free $936. It doesn't stop there though, because now you only are paying income tax on $29,328 instead of $31,200. If you get a tax rebate now, you will get even more back!
So now you're saving $2808 a year at age 20. Let's put that in one mutual fund, a SP500 index fund. Over the last 10 years, that has returned 12‰, but let's be conservative and call it 10. If you never make a cent more per hour, by age 65, you will have saved $84,000 and your job has chipped in $42,000, over a year's pay! But with that 10% compound interest, you have $2,000,000! You are a multi-millionaire for $30/wk!
If you get a raise or get a better job in the future, this number can be even higher.
Please keep this in mind. Even if you can't do it now, do it ASAP. Here are the same numbers, but starting at 30 instead of 20.
Still amazing, but seeing this difference is why we older on ones tell you not saving earlier was our big regret.
I hope this was helpful and doesn't get taken as a "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" thing.
Question: If I had money saved in a 401k or Roth IRA, what if I died before I retired? What would happen to the money? Would it go back to the government or to a close relative?
You can (and should) assign a beneficiary for the account. They receive the money if you die.
It's easy to believe you're invincible in your twenties. Or "later me can deal with it.". As that later version of me, I'm not a huge fan of that earlier version in a lot of ways. It's fine, I'm who I am for what I went through, and I'm righting the ship. But the more cans you kick down the road, the more you have to deal with later and the harder they are to deal with. Physically, mentally, financially. It's ok to try to live life freely, but definitely be aware of this and consider kicking one less can every chance you get.
So much this... Despite trying to drive defensively I have been involved in two major car accidents. The first one I walked away from, but the second one put me on Flight for Life. Despite the accident itself being pretty bad, the only physical issue was a broken leg that took a couple years to heal properly. However the REAL issue took longer to realize -- something from that accident has caused me to have continued sleep issues since then. I'll be on medications the rest of my life probably, and even then I still have trouble getting restful sleep if I've been physically active.
Yeah it's easy to feel invincible when you're young, and your body can heal from a lot, but just remember that those things can also fuck up your shit in ways you might not realize until years later. Things you take for granted now (like sleep) can really screw up your enjoyment of life when they don't work right.
It's ok to try to live life freely, but definitely be aware of this and consider kicking one less can every chance you get.
Got it.
If you're working in the attic, under the house, around dirt/dust/debris wear a mask/respirator. It's so nice to be able to take deep breaths without coughing later in life (and outclass your peers in the stamina department) 👍
Pro tip: Even though they're bigger and bulkier respirators are much more comfy than masks.
Wear hearing protection. Tinnitus blows.
I took the aftermarket stereo out of my car in my mid 20s so I can hear bass well still but I often read people's lips because that mid range hearing is not close to how it used to be if there are any ambient noises at all.
it really does suck. mine started since I was 14, like wtf
rrreeeeeeeeeeeee.
Thanks all those concerts I went to in my 20s.
The random aches and pains you start waking up with are here to stay. Learn to embrace them.
And drink more water.
And get your eyes checked once in a while. For a while I would get massive headaches by early afternoon. I thought I had a nutrient deficiency. Bloodwork came out ok. Turns out I needed stronger glasses.
Spend quality time with your parents (assuming you're on good terms of course).
I lost my dad when I was 30, after a short and unexpected illness, and I regret not spending much more time with him when I could have.
This hit me like a truck. I lost my father at the beginning of the month due to some tragedy that occurred.
We weren't on speaking terms (a decision I made), but I'd always planned to one day see if I could turn things around, which will never happen now. Never in a million years would I ever have expected it to come down to this.
Aw mate... I'm so so sorry 😔
That's a really hard situation, and I hope you're doing ok. Take care.
Wear earplugs at loud concerts and parties and at work if you have a noisy job.
People will make fun about you, but believe me, permanent tinnitus really sucks.
Plus, if you preserve your hearing you'll be able to hear all the high dog whistle frequencies that everybody else won't be able to, and you'll feel just a tiny bit superior for no good reason.
Smoking, drinking and gambling never ends well. Stay away from addictions.
Don't try to proof how manly you are to your friends/girls. It rarely pays off. Its ok to have a veggie dish at the restaurant instead of a bloody steak. Its ok to not speed with your car to look cool. Its ok to wear whatever the fuck you want as long as you like it, it fits well and its practical for you. Do what you like and be proud of it.
Always save time for your hobbies. Growing up doesn't means you can't have fun. If you are in a relationship make sure your partner gives you enough space and time for yourself.
Travel. Try new things. Eat food you've never tried before.
Get into the habit of reading. Actual books, not just things like lemmy.
Realize that literally every person you meet is a walking story, just like yourself
Brush your fuckin teeth.
Also: Floss. Seriously. Take care of your damn teeth. They're important.
Take care of your damn teeth. They’re important.
I'm 34 and I already lost half of my teeth. By 40 they'll probably all be gone. It's definitely genetics, but also very much the lazyness in my youth that caused this.
If someone in their twenties reads this: Brush your fucking teeth, seriously. I had a phase in my life where I was living with constant pain for almost a year and almost went insane. Nobody should have to live like this.
Also don't brush your gums too hard, I did that a bit when I didn't know better, and my gums receded slightly. Turns out those things don't come back. Make sure you brush that area though!
My electric toothbrush was an amazing investment. It flashes red lights if I press too hard while brushing. You'd think after 10 years of this thing that I'd develop an intuition about how hard to press, but it still yells at me to back off all the time. It's made a huge difference for the health of my teeth.
Don't eat between meals to re-establish your saliva microbiome and pH. This will do a lot for prevention of carie growth.
Mine is modest; but practice being mindful of your emotional reactions.
If something upsets you, interrogate why, and whether your reaction will help. 90% of the time it won’t, so learn to appreciate that you are upset, but don’t let it control you. Because if you don’t you’re going to start seeing the world through incredibly negative eyes.
For example, I used to be a nightmare behind the wheel, always getting angry with shitty drivers and red lights. But I began trying to catch those thoughts, and asked myself whether they would stop other drivers being shitty, or whether it would stop me getting caught at red lights. Would I still be angry in ten minutes? The answer is almost always no, so to expend that energy feels like a waste of time to me now.
Sure, I still get pissy, but I don’t sit with it for longer than I need to. You wouldn’t sit in acid, so why sit in anger?
Moisturize, use sunscreen. Protect your skin and you'll look young even in old age.
Sunscreen sounds unmanly, but think about how you’ll feel with half your nose excised. Put it on your face especially!
And your neck. Golly, that sucker does weird things later in life. Or is it moreso for women?
The best raise you can get is by changing jobs. Businesses are not going to be loyal to you, there's no benefit to being loyal to them - add either a customer or employee. Embrace and welcome change.
When you get a pay raise immediately increase your 401k (or equivalent retirement fund) by at least 1%.
Enjoy your 20s, they don't last long but the person you are today is who you will feel like you are in 20 years. Don't rush your life. There's plenty of time to get married and have kids. You and your kids will benefit from you having an extra decade of experience before raising another human.
Don’t rawdog a rando
Wearing a rubber every time unless you’re in a committed relationship greatly reduces your chances of an STD or an unwanted pregnancy.
STDs are sooo much more common than people think because often they don't even know they have them.
Listening to other people, especially to women, is a skill. Don't spend silent time in a conversation waiting for your chance to speak or be smart or witty, stay quiet and really process what you're hearing. Imagine yourself in their situation. Accept that what they say is exactly how they feel.
The less time you spend talking, the more your conversational partner will tell you, and the more you will start to understand them, their lives, their goals, and their anxieties.
Knowing and understanding other peoples' experiences will help you not only make better decisions in your own life, but understand why other people act and think the way they do. You'll be less likely to snap-judge or make assumptions about others. And knowing more about your loved ones, co-workers, and neighbours will allow you to help them effectively if they need it.
And travel abroad as much as possible - listen to people from other countries and cultures. The human experience is wildly varied and endlessly fascinating.
Use sunscreen and lotion up. That's the best way to prevent looking like an old catcher's mitt by the time you are 40.
My partner played lots of outdoor sport in his youth so he has some skin damage but from his mid 20s when I met him I encouraged proper sun safe behaviours and to moisturise. We live in Australia for Christ sake, this sun is not fucking around.
He's got mates of all ages but some of the blokes in their late 20s seem to think looking after their skin is a feminine trait and they play outdoor sports. When he's been out with these guys, people think he's the youngest despite being over 10 years their senior.
It's so silly. Put some sunblock on and moisturize. It's not that hard.
I wish I knew how I went from having extremely painful hemroids in my early 20s to having painless hemroids ever since. But I highly recommend it, whatever it was.
I sneak into your bedroom every night with a syringe of novicain.
Start a yoga practice and keep it up. In 20 years, you’ll thank yourself.
Or GMB or any other mobility-oriented practice!
Protect your back. Use proper form when lifting heavy weights. I let my back go round while pressing a few hundred pounds on an inverted incline leg press in my 20s, bulged a disk, and ever since my mid 30s it has been my Achilles’ Heel. Goes out without warning. Completely lays me up when it does. Rubbish. Wish I could go back and undo that.
Man, I'm fortunate enough to not have any lasting/recurring pain (so far) but I was working harder than I should have and sprained some ribs. I didn't even know that was possible.
That was the single worst 3 days I have ever experienced. It was like being water boarded with pain. It hurt to breathe. I couldn't breathe deep at all and occasionally had spasms where all I could do was stand and focus on getting oxygen.
I couldn't lie down either so I couldn't sleep. What little sleep I got was sitting up on the couch with my arm propping up my head on the arm rest.
Try to take the time to care for your mental and emotional health when you need to, then, instead of stewing for years and years. I made the mistake of rolling with it, turned 35, and I'm lucky to still be here at 40.
Still struggling. Wish I'd spoken with someone years ago.
When things are great, even small things like a cup of coffee with a friend or a quiet morning, take a minute to say to yourself, "this is really great." Say it out loud. Years later you will realize those moments are as good as it gets, and if you don't mark them they just disappear. Bad moments stick around in your head regardless, but the good ones need to be memorialized.
if you don’t mark them
This is why, whenever I’m truly happy, I whip it out and pee in the nearest vaguely vertically-oriented object.
I'm 39, but this is mine: do you just feel kinda "blah" all the time, don't enjoy anything including things you used to enjoy, and can't motivate yourself to do anything? That might be depression, and it might also be undiagnosed ADHD. The sooner you learn about that and get help with it, the better you'll feel and the more effective you'll be (and the less you'll let down the people you love).
This is me at 42
Find a way to love yourself, and to enjoy your own company.
Think it very thoroughly if you want kids
As someone nearing his 40s, I really do want to have kids, though I'm really afraid my sedentary body won't keep up
Drink more water, listen to your body, don't give more to someone then they give to you, respect yourself, and your time.
don't give more to someone then they give to you
I tend to disagree on that one. Random acts of kindness/selflessness to people, even complete strangers, can bring bonus satisfaction to your life (and sometimes will be paid back). Make it a habit to give to people, when you have the chance, especially if it is low effort.
If you have people around you that just constantly leech off of you, then I agree: don't let yourself be sucked dry.
I was more referring to your final statement. Those who take and take and never give back to use you with little regard for your own happiness or safety.
mid 30s guy also learning from most of these comments
Start saving some of your money. Whatever you can but have damned restraint and dont spend it
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You will get fatter unless you eat less and less for the rest of your life, probably starting around 32
The healthier you eat, the more difficult it will be to become and stay overweight.
A McDonalds hamburger with a medium fries and medium drink is 1,200 calories. This is almost trivial for most people to eat.
Conversely, 1 lb of lean ground beef, 2 cups of rice (when dry), 2cups of vegetables with a dessert of two cups of fruit is also 1,200 calories, yet represents almost 3× the amount of food when fully prepared.
Eat healthy raw foods, and viciously limit your intake of highly processed foods, and you will likely remain decently slim without even trying.
Also, unless you're one of those people who legitimately doesn't care if food tastes good or not, learn to cook. You don't have to be good a cooking everything, but develop a repertoire of food that is healthy and you like to eat.
The age where you could depend on a wife to be a good cook for you are long past.
Take care of your health in general, but take extra special care of your core. Your back will thank you in 20 years.
Back and teeth are haunting me already at 31. Take care of them, it's crucial for your quality of life!
Especially if you have an office job. Get a really good and really expensive office chair with a flexible back and adjustable arm rests so you're not sitting in the same position every time.
And also, take a walk every day. I do that every time on my break and haven't had back problems in years.
Do all the cool physical things you want to do now, like mountain climbing, martial arts, skiing whatever. You can still do all of that at 40 but it's harder to find time and you're much more injury prone.
Have fun, chase your dreams, make sure you always have "fuck you" money for when shit hits the fan, and be kind.
Oh and the sunscreen thing!
If you want kids, don’t put it off for too long. I waited till my late 30s because I was never ready. Here’s the thing you will never feel completely ready. As long as your life is basically stable (job, housing, and no serious issues) you will be okay.
Kids are hard but super rewarding. If you have them young then you’ll get to see them as adults in your 40s. By the time my kids are adults I’ll be pushing 60 and hoping that I live long enough to meet a grandchild.
People have successfully (shades of grey here I know) been having kids for a long time. You’ll never feel “ready” but rest assured you’ll figure it out.
54m here, can I join in?
Pay yourself first. You pay rent, you pay a car payment, add paying yourself first. That payment can be as little as $1, but it goes into a savings fund AND IT IS GONE, just like any other payment EVERY MONTH. When the savings fund gets to an amount that it can be rolled into something that makes more interest, do it. But that money is GONE, for all intents and purposes. When do you use it? You will know, when you can pull it out for something that is not an emergency, but rather something that will last the rest of your life. No, cars don't count.
Cars, trucks, etc.... Here is the thing about cars and trucks. THEY ARE A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY AND THE NUMBER ONE WAY YOU STAY ENSLAVED TO MAKING PAYMENTS ON EVERYTHING ELSE. But wait Canopyflyer, you say with a roll of your eyes, I HAVE to have a car, because there's no public transit where I live. Dude, I live in the United States, no one takes public transit here, I fucking know. So thanks for dropping anchor there admiral obvious. Buy the most reliable and cheap to run car you can possibly find. That doesn't mean an old shitbox. Buy a car that's a couple of years old that has a reputation for reliability and has already lost that first year's depreciation. I currently drive a 10 year old Camry LE, that I bought with 7k on the odo. Using a car to show how big your cock isn't, is the epitome of stupidity and is disastrous to your future financial health. If you're driving the latest SmallCockMobile with a $1k payment +... You are a complete fucking moron.
CAVEAT ON VEHICLES: If you can have someone else pay for it, then sure, go buy that ego mobile. That includes the company you work for, or if you're in a business where you have to have a certain type of vehicle. I have a great deal of respect for a person that works with their hands and needs a truck to carry their tools.
OK, maybe that's two bits of advice, but both are financial, so I'm sticking with it.
I don't know if this goes for all guys. Your balls will kinda drop again at some stage. If you have a desk job you could end up sitting on them for a while before realising what's happened. Adjust the way you sit, what you wear down there.
I notice immediately when I sit on mine. And everyone else in the room notices too due to the sound I make.
It's fairly hard to create one-size-fits-all advice since everyone will be in different parts of their lives in different circumstances.
Less time on the internet and definitely away from the big social media sites does one good. Avoiding the 24/7 news cycle does as well. Instead, read a book for something you want to learn or read fiction for some period of time a day on most days.
Listen to Baz Lurhman's "everyone's free to wear sunscreen". And I mean listen to it. Every single line is true.
Don't think you're grown and will only make smart decisions now. I only started making the right decisions yesterday. And I'll say the same thing tomorrow.
37, close enough. Invest invest invest. Start a 401K with Acorns or something, I don’t care. Just start putting money away for your retirement yesterday.
Save 5% now so you don't have to save 50% later.
Take care of your health. Any unhealthy habit you develop now is going to be kicking your behind later. Also, hang around people that get the best out of you. Not just party people. Cause when stuff gets tuff your party buddies are going to be nowhere to be found.
I'm 50 and a woman, but my advice for the hell of it is be nice to your knees and back, and don't waste your time on relationships that suck.
Dead on, and applicable to nearly everyone.
Go to the dentist. Get a little exercise. Find a way to reduce calories over the next 20 years, spend as little as possible. Borrow a little money for your car. Stay away from credit cards until you make enough to pay the cards in full every month. Keep track of every skill you learn on the job, using that information to transition into higher-paying jobs. Get a savings account. Spend as little as possible without skimping on food quality. Save 1 months salary and keep that in checking. At the end of each month, transfer everything above the target funds into savings. Save 3 months salary for an emergency fund. Once this financial foundation is established, divide additional funds into two buckets: one gets invested each month, the other is for major purchases and travel.
That thing you want to learn but keep putting off? Jump in and learn it, by the time you're 40 you'll be amazing at.
DOn't quIT
Also: being old doesn't mean you can't learn anything new. Sure, it would probably have been easier to have started earlier, but there's no such thing as "too late", unless it requires heavy physical exertion
Be somewhere you want to be, doing something you want to do.
With people who support you and improve your life
When you move things, lift correctly (safety videos are online). I’m only 35, but because of all the moving I did in my 20s, without thought of safety, I have frequent lower back pain and it doesn’t take much to hurt it.
Enjoy your health and exercise. I thought I was in pain in the 20s and 30s but then it's worse in your 40s. I wish I ate better and exercise more.
Go to party every day. Use all the drugs. Fuck everyone you can (that consents).
AND WEAR A FUCKING CONDOM.
I wish :-(
I'd say from an introverted perspective: you don't have to go to every party just because you were invited. You can just say no to a drug offer if you don't want it, people are usually just like "no prob dude, more for me"
Exercise more. Does not apply to all of the 20s, but to quite some.
Lift with your legs
Brush your teeth
Eat healthily
Exercise regularly
Wear ear plugs at concerts
appreciate what you have now. take your time, you have tmie right now, don't worry about finding your dream situation in live be it work, love, living, whatever just experience life. you're young, you hopefully have some money, so experience it if you can. If you're going to drink, do it now cause when you hit my age hangovers last 2 days and after one or two beers you're pissing up a storm.
Don't complain about a week taking forever and you hope the weekend comes soon because once you hit your 40s all that "time" snowballs together and you'll be begging the days to go by slower. Things start speeding up and people start leaving you and you have no choice but to go along for the ride and hope for the best. You're still in your 20s, cherish the time you have. hold onto it. apprecaite it. Take as many photos as you can, take as many videos as you can and save them. Friends and lovers will come and go but those memories from your 20s will last forever. make it easy to remember them.
Jerk off every single day. Your prostate will thank you
Do whatever you want.
Edit: Be genuine and honest with people. Be open. You'll meet the best people this way and have better relationships. You'll also discover who you shouldn't waste time with quicker, and you won't waste theirs.
Appreciate the fact you can force your pee stream further now. I don't know when I lost the ability but I do remember when I tried to and nothing happened. It was a shocking reminder I was getting old
Im a hair over 60 and peeing is no longer a voluntary activity. Have spotted my jeans a few times trying to make it to the head before the hose let loose
Project yourself 20 years into the future. Imagine yourself saying this to present day you. Then act on that advice. Much of these suggestions can apply to anyone at almost any age.
Not meant as offensive at all or any way to discredit you, but this is horrible/useless advice. Because humans mostly don't think longer term, especially with younger people. A LOT is about the short term satisfaction. E.g. a lot of people know alcohol is so damaging but the short term benefits are just so big
Research your professional value and have the courage to go after it if you are not being paid what you are worth.
I worked 17 years for the same company. I was promoted 4 times during those years and received a few extra pay increases along the way, but I was underpaid as soon as I took the first promotion and the gap increased with each additional promotion. I probably walked away from more than $100k in lifetime earnings, plus interest, by sticking with the company.
I should have changed companies at least once and probably twice. You don't have to be on a promotion path to run into this. It could be you were underpaid on day 1, but you needed the job or you didn't have experience. That's fine, but once you have the experience and have proven yourself, find out what the market rate is for your role and ask for it, be ready to show your research. If you don't get it, start applying for other jobs.
Don't be afraid to talk to your peers about salary. If you are making less, you know there is a gap you can go after (just don't name your coworker when you ask for more, do market research and make it impersonal/just business). If you are making more, pass this advice on to your coworker.
If you are being paid fairly for the work you are doing, but know you can do more, start looking into what it takes to make a move. For example, you might be the best fast food or retail worker the world has ever had, but the job only pays so much. What else might you be good at? You could look for training in a trade or try to find an entry level role in a company that has a wider set of tasks available that offers a growth path.
I agree with a lot of the comments here about saving and investing and keeping expenses down, but growing your earnings is typically easier than shrinking your rent. It still isn't easy though, especially if you need to relocate to earn more.
Forgive others and yourself quickly. You're going to make a lot of mistakes and so are the people around you.
Don't let others control your life. If someone is only making you hurt, cut them off clean.
This especially is for blood relations! Only scared old people say that shit about obeying your elders! If your family or immediate "friends" only use or abuse, get out fast!
There's always a place and tribe for you, don't let assholes dictate who you are or "should be".
It took 30 years and most of my physical health to learn that one! Injured spine, nerve damage, financial issues ... All from the group I grew up around being hideously toxic.
I've been free of them for about 5 years now and am finally healing, both physically where I can and mentally. Financially too, just slower.
I now have loving girlfriends, an amazing and healthy daughter, and I've been able to start reconnecting with the people that really clicked with me but were forced away by my family and their friends for being too different from them. I barely got a year and a half with my best friend I'd list touch with before he suddenly was diagnosed with and died from pancreatic cancer.
Don't waste your time on people who drain you with nothing to return! You and the people who improve you don't have the time and energy to spare!
Control your sex drive or it will be used to control you, and invariably very much against your own best interests.
I got lucky, and found my own partner quite early on (28 years together, now). But I did not stop observing other couples around me, and those men who failed to adequately control their own sex drive were the ones who almost always were taken advantage of and manipulated against their own best interests.
Ironically, RP (and to an extent, BP) information is a great base to understand how you can and will be manipulated, with MGTOW a good framework to insulate yourself against manipulation. Just understand that blaming others is a toxic and counterproductive path, seek to improve yourself to make RP/BP truths work with you and your best interests, and not against you.
What do all these abbreviations mean?
Recommending Men Going Their Own Way doesn't bode well in regards to your opinion, so... OP, please disregard.
Recommending Men Going Their Own Way doesn't bode well in regards to your opinion
So working on yourself and improving yourself, building self-respect, setting personal standards that you refuse to compromise on, and focusing on intrinsic motivation is somehow “not boding well”?
What a weird way of punching down.
And for decades now, women have been screaming at men to “leave me alone”, for men to not bother them or approach them or hit on them or engage with them in any way unless engaged with first… yet you have issues with men who do exactly that? You have problems with men whose entire philosophy is to ignore women in exactly the ways that women have been demanding?
Again, what a strangely hypocritical criticism.
The entire point of MGTOW is to give men a path out of “incel-dom”, to show them that there is an alternative path to fulfilment and peace and effective happiness that is entirely self-achievable because it does not hang on the sharp hooks of female approval. That any man can fully divest themselves of this cycle of bigotry and external blame and the bigoted societal expectations of men to focus on what truly matters - themselves.
And in our society where ¾ of all suicide victims are men, we desperately need more men to focus on themselves, first.
Save money and keep in shape.
I'm 2 months from 36 so I want to weigh in, behind every great man, is a good partner. Don't waste your youth chasing flings and living it up, find your person, someone who will help you build yourself in a better person every step of the way. Not controlling but supportive, and do the same for them.
Get somekind of workout and stretching routine going on. It's much harder to build the habit later when you've got maybe a family going on and probably more work responsibilities.
Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.
Be prepared for age-related farsightedness! No changes if my aging body irritated me as much so far. I think mainly because of the abruptness of how that set in. It felt like an almost instant change, people showing me things on their phone and I couldn't read it anymore. Taking pictures of fineprint to zoom in etc.
ITT 40 yesr olds tell you to put 10% of your non-existent savings on retirement funds. Good sdvice tbh but they failed to account for landlords and shit
Exfoliate, moisturizer, sunblock
Look after your back and neck. Floss. Drink more water. Find out if you have family inheritable disease risk and adjust accordingly.
But also, take advantage of some of your best years, and the freedom which comes with not being tied down.
Don't get married before you're 25
Around 30 years old your body stops healing, injuries are just things you live with forever now, and old injuries you thought had healed come back as forever pain.. just keep that in mind when doing stupid shit... This includes injuries to your lungs and mind from things like smoking and drugs.
If you want to help people in any way, get rich first. No one will pay you enough to live off of for helping people... Better to bring your own wealth to the table and hopefully be able to help people for real with it.
If you don't already know how, learn to code asap... In 20 years, programming will be one of the few jobs left... Maybe
Forget one piece!
Put money into your 401k. Learn more about personal finance than video games. Lift heavy things with proper form and put them back down again a lot. Give all people respect and kindness even if they’re being snotty. Brush your god damn teeth.
Start listening to Dr Michael Greger. You'll thank yourself at 40.
When making your worldviews, difficult as it might be, consider listening to the news from original source. Say, for China related stories, look up Chinese publications, translate them to a couple of other languages you know. Ask yourself what each narrator or writer wants you to think and do after listening to their side of the story. This habit will make traveling a better experience in many ways.
Write a journal everyday. Write a meal and snack journal everyday and include any alcohol, drug as well in it. Review them every now and then. Never miss any vaccine. The journals will come in handy for everything from planning weight loss, effectiveness of any diet or exercise, sicknesses, mental health issues, to helping your doctors help you better. Course correction will get simpler and ever easier.
If you ever think of kids, do consider stopping with one. This boiling, frying planet we have made ourselves need not be inflicted on any more than one little one of yours.
Compatibility is probably the most important quality to look for in a romantic partner.
Invest in yourself.
Increase your skills, weather it's university, an apprenticeship or on the job training. Your skills compound over time.
And as another poster said, take care of your teeth.
(44) look, listen, you don't have to figure everything out right now. There will come a time in your late twenties and early thirties that you'll feel like you've missed the boat, that you're lagging behind, that it's too late to still start or switch... And then you'll get over it in your late 30s again. Finally realise that life doesn't end and in fact that there is a lot left after 40. And that's when they call it the midlife crisis, it's not a crisis. The crisis is in your late twenties and early thirties.
You gotta walk your own path.
Most people know exactly what they have to do to obtain a skill, start a business, make a friend, experience and adventure but simply don’t out of fear of the unknown.
The Internet is helpful but you got to put stock in your own lived experience.
Meet with a trusted financial advisor and plan your retirement ASAP
Recover
I ain't trying to scare you, but if you live a statistically average life you're about to hit a downward trend in your mood which will last a couple of decades. By the time you're thirty you'll likely have a boss, a spouse and kids, all of whose needs will have to come before yours. Things start to improve again at age 47 when the kids have moved out and you're at the top of your career.
Maintain your friendships. It's so easy to make them a low priority, but having good friends and being a good friend to them is the way to make it through.
Take care of your fucking teeth.
Take care of your fucking teeth.
And once more, for the folks who don’t get it…
Take care of your fucking teeth.
This, but also your knees.
Any body part with a double E really.
Weener
In addition, take care of your fucking joints and your hearing. They will never get better, you can only slow the degradation.
My joints have always been terrible, I have much to look forward to I am sure