this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
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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:

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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[–] phanto@lemmy.ca 49 points 9 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 15 points 9 months ago

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.

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[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 38 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Poop at work. Not only do you get paid to poop, you save money on toilet paper.

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[–] driving_crooner 31 points 9 months ago (4 children)

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.

[–] spider@lemmy.nz 20 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Fuck everyone you can

...with a caveat:

Don't stick it in crazy.

[–] driving_crooner 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Nah, that crazy is going to be great memories for when alone and without wifi.

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[–] idiomaddict@feddit.de 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes, exactly! Wear a seatbelt!

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[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 6 points 9 months ago

Solid advice

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[–] ianovic69@feddit.uk 30 points 9 months ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] astrsk@kbin.social 26 points 9 months ago

Your 30s will be better. Don’t get hung up on thinking your 20s are prime.

[–] hades@lemm.ee 24 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] moreeni@lemm.ee 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml 21 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] IoSapsai@lemm.ee 19 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] TJDetweiler@lemmy.ca 18 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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..

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[–] stewie3128@lemmy.ml 16 points 9 months ago

Stay off TikTok.

[–] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 15 points 9 months ago

Don't repeatedly subject yourself to very loud music. Tinnitus is a bitch.

[–] 0xtero@beehaw.org 14 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Go to another country for 1 year. A country with different culture and with a different language.

[–] moreeni@lemm.ee 16 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I live in Ukraine and most males 18-60 here are banned from crossing the country's border πŸ’€

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[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Floss, brush your teeth daily and see a dentist at least once a year, eat less sugar and cut out soft drinks. Nothing worse than in losing or nearly losing one or two teeth in your 30s or 40s. Even without cavities, if you don't take care of your gums, you can lose perfectly healthy teeth because the gums were eroded away.

Do some weight training and keep up an exercise routine ... you can easily build muscle tone over the next ten years, after that you have to work a whole lot more to gain the same amount of muscle tone.

Eat less and eat healthy ... learn to eat better and just eat less but better food ... the sooner you learn this, the longer you'll keep the habit and the longer the habit in your life, the longer you'll live and the longer you'll live healthier. What's the sense of living to 80 when you end up sick and unhealthy for the last 20 years of your life?

Read, read, read ... read the classics, read history, and read as much and as often as you can to fill out your knowledge and awareness of as much as possible.

Do all this now because you will never gain the time to do it all later.

Never assume that you can do things when you're 30 when you're 40 or when you retire because those times will either never come or when those times come, you won't have the time or you will have so many other priorities that you won't do these things anyway.

So do all these things now while you can because later may not arrive or when it does, it won't be like you imagined it would be.

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[–] NegativeLookBehind@kbin.social 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Do not fuck around with hard drugs.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social 9 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Just gonna say that alcohol is, by all means, a legal hard drug.

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[–] PunkFlame@lemmy.ml 11 points 9 months ago

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)

[–] FullOfBallooons@leminal.space 11 points 9 months ago

When it comes to buying furniture: Get secondhand furniture handed down by relatives, or found at thrift stores, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, garage sales, whatever. It's more eco-friendly to buy stuff that already exists, it'll probably cost less than brand-new furniture, and the older stuff is sturdier than anything you're going to get at Ikea.

With the money you save buying secondhand tables and drawers and such, buy a GOOD brand new mattress. You can cheap out on a lot of furniture, but never cheap out on a mattress. Decades from now, your back will thank you.

[–] wrath_of_grunge@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

learn HOW to drink.

drinking isn't just about finding out how much it takes before you black out. AND FOR EVERYONE ELSE'S SAKE, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE. if you're gonna drink, arrange transportation, or stay where you are.

also, read the Hagakure. there's some good stuff in there.

[–] dutchkimble@lemy.lol 10 points 9 months ago

Consume some "older" media. Like Predator, Terminator 2, Kindergarten Cop, Cyborg, Star Trek TOS, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book), Biggles.

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 9 months ago

The gals at the strip club don't actually care about you.

[–] Faydaikin@beehaw.org 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Learn to Cook 3 or 4 different meals extremely well.

Not only is it good for your own health (mental & physical), but it will leave a great impression on others.

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[–] essellburns@beehaw.org 8 points 9 months ago

Start a pension, now.

By the time you retire they're going to be even more valuable than they are today.

And thanks to the way they work, starting early with a small amount has a bigger impact than putting loads in when you're earning more later.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Whatever you want to do in life, start right away.

  • If you want to start a business, start developing it and putting the pieces into place as soon as you can.
  • If you want to be a artist/musician/writer/etc, take yourself seriously and start gigging or creating right away.
  • If you want to reach the top of the academic pyramid, study more than what you're assigned and start developing your ideas.
  • If you want to be involved in politics, then start getting involved in politics.
  • etc...

I'm not saying this because it'll be too late if you don't, or anything like that. It's never really too late to change course or start doing what you want.

But don't wait until you're finished school. Don't wait until you feel "ready". Dispel is the idea that you're still a kid or that you're just going through the motions until your life really begins. Life is now. So, plant the seeds of your future as soon as you possibly can.

[–] GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If you're American, your credit score affects a whole lot more than your creditworthiness. A bad, or even not as good score can affect your chances at getting a job, getting a place to live, and more commonly, how much you pay for car insurance.

We give a lot of shit to China over their social credit score, but we've had ours for years, we just pretend it's only for creditworthiness. When your job does pre employment checks, they can also do a credit check. Many apartment complexes do the same. Hell, even utility companies can check your credit and decide you are a risk and ratchet up your deposit.

It's not a guarantee that anyone does this, but it is a possibility. Be on your best behavior, citizen, the credit bureaus are watching.

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[–] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 8 points 9 months ago

Get a good, ergonomic mattress, don't spare expenses. It will pay off in a decade when you'd otherwise start getting back pains.

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Don't you dare to even blink. I did and suddenly i'm 30 years in the future for some reason.

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[–] derrickoswald@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago

Make note of your friends phone numbers, emails and addresses (not just via social media), especially the ones from earlier years, and keep track of them with regular calls, notes or visits. Forty or fifty years from now, after the cycles of graduations, weddings, babies, moves, etc. you'll have some golden relationships.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Take care of you knees and back. Nothing spoils your 40s like bad knees or a bad back.

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[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 6 points 9 months ago

If you grew up with trauma (or even if not) and have anxiety and stress get that shit under control now or it will lead to painful chronic illnesses after 30. Read about ACES and learn how to manage stress now.

[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

If you have any issues (like mental health or physical health) that you feel you should address, do it. I didn't address my mental health problems until I was almost 30, yeah I should have definitely done it sooner. I also didn't really start fixing my teeth until my mid to late 20s, yeah I definitely should have done it sooner.

If you don't currently drink alcohol, don't start.

Edit: Also if you do drink either stop or learn to drink responsibly. You want to do that earlier rather than later as the conversation with a doctor that you'll die from drinking sooner rather than later isn't a fun one.

[–] Roldyclark@literature.cafe 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Gardening. Start with a cherry tomato plant. There’s nothing better than picking food you grew, and tending to a garden is a joy.

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[–] amoroso@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Learn to cook (which saves you money) and do all the house chores (including ironing).

[–] Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)
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[–] 1984@lemmy.today 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Don't think you know it all. It's extreamly common to see young people being confident and cocky, despite having almost no life experience. Understand the enormous value of listening to people who have been in your shoes before. Almost everyone you see was your age before.

And with listen, I don't mean "do what they say". Just listen and think about what they say. Maybe they are wrong. Maybe not.

[–] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 4 points 9 months ago
  • Read The Courage To Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga It is a mind blowing book that can help to improve your life and that of others.
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