Advice for past self
Let’s say you had the chance to go back to 17 years old what advice would u give to yourself and why
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You're going to read about a job called "Investment Banking" on a forum when you're in college. A bunch of people are going to make it sound really sexy, and you're going to convince yourself that prestige matters and money is important. Do not fall for it, and under no circumstances should you pursue this job.
truth bomb
do not drink the koolaid
4 things:
1) When you try out for special operations at 18, absolutely integrate caffeine as needed, especially when studying in Air Traffic Control school.
2) Get a 4.0 college GPA.
3) When you finally get that good offer to be an M&A Associate, get it in writing immediately to secure it.
4) Don't ever chance drinking and driving / $30 - $60 in Uber fees for the night isn't going to kill you. If you're over the limit, don't blow and just take the hit on going to jail. You don't want to give the state evidence.
Isiah, you were an air traffic controller and went into banking?
Not surprising, ATC's make high-stakes, high-pressure decisions all day. Funny enough, I hear they get bossed around by their wives because they don't feel like making any more decisions when they get home
Thanks. Yeah ATC requires much focus and thinking. I have been to ATC school, but never became an Air Traffic Controller. I was in CCT training, so we had CCT duties and had to study for ATC at the same time. I didn't make the CCT teams and went to military college after that. CCT summary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Combat_Control_Te…
Damn you got a DUI? How old were you when this happened?
I never got a DUI - I’ve never been convicted of a crime.
Stop eating junk food. Metabolism slows faster than I thought
Stop listening to your parents about what you should do with your life - it’s yours to live.
When I was 17 I was an B+ student because I forgot to turn in homework and check over my answers before turning in exams. So definitely I could improve that, but I had it figured out by my freshman year of college and got really good grades there.
Also, 17 year old me was a lot stronger than current me. Don't neglect fitness!
Work out a ton & get jacked
Don't neglect any one part of your life reasoning that you can over-compensate with another part
Great things take time -- it's a marathon, not a sprint
Try to initiate sex with my crushes in high school
Have that girl who was really into me and obsessed with me at a summer high school trip give me head
I'll give you head pizzz
Don't quit your full time salaried job to go and work for a wholesaler commission only
Read the classics.
Meditate every day
Build that log cabin.
Work to live not live to work.
Most people are self interested moronic sheep.
Dump anyone with negative energy.
Run.
Dont be afraid of death, otherwise you will miss life
Money is only a scorecard, happiness is real value.
It is Ok to tell your boss to go fuck himself.
Quit a job with style. People will always remember.
Grow a garden / chickens. Eat nothing that you didnt grow.
STOP WATCHING TV.
Spend money on experiences, not things.
FAMILY FIRST.
Never cheat on your wife. Always cheat on your girlfriends.
Friends are those who you dont speak with for years and when you do it is like the conversation never stopped.
Dont drink and drive.
Smoke pot your entire life, but keep hard drug use to your early 20s.
Live under your means.
Strive for income, not salary.
Be kind to everyone, ignore those who are not kind to you.
Read H L Mencken. Every day.
Music should touch your soul.
I like posts like this. It’s good to reflect. Here goes a big long list typed out on my phone - hope formatting isn’t too illegible. These are all unique to me but hopefully somebody will get something from my perspective.
A few related to imminently going to university:
Learn to study. First year STEM is gonna kick your ass. Straight As in high school doesn’t mean shit once you’re at university.
Go easy with the weed once you get to uni. DO NOT buy that bong.
Go to fucking class.
Join all the clubs you find remotely interesting and get involved in the conferences early on.
Accept the offer/request to join the university’s top tier rugby program. Your reason of turning it down to better focus on grades is completely undone by your decisions to skip class and get stoned. You need the discipline and competition of high level athletics to continue beyond HS otherwise you will become depressed and unfocused.
Consider your backup choice of major more closely than you did. Your friends who picked it are all doing incredible things now, with no exception.
A few related to social decisions:
Ask your HS best friend out. You’ve got nothing to lose and you guys will have stopped talking in 5 years with no closure anyway. She was 100% trying to hook up with you at your senior year NYE party. She also tried to Netflix and chill you TWICE when you came back home from university, you oblivious blithering idiot. You’ll always wonder “what if”, even if you are 150% happy with your ultimate girlfriend / fiancée, who will encourage you to reconnect and get closure but you’ll be too scared to.
You are more attractive than you think. Women are into you and you talk yourself out of it.
Rejection in any context is not something to be fearful of. Embrace it and learn from it cause it’s gonna happen a thousand times over your lifetime.
Don’t let yourself drift with your frosh week friendships. When they reach out and say they miss you, they mean it. Rekindle the friendships when they go out of their way to tell you they miss you - that is not an easy thing for them to do.
Make more of an effort to socialize outside your core group of friends. Expand horizons.
Spend more time with your siblings. Give them more guidance. They will struggle with the same things you did in university.
A few health related decisions:
Don’t smoke. Just don’t start doing it. Don’t buy that bong or that fucking hookah either.
Don’t let your diet slip. Stay disciplined. Don’t have to workout as hard as you think to look good if your diet is on point.
Don’t stop doing cardio.
A few career decisions:
Give that startup company another chance when they ask you to come back and work in the office next summer. They’ll go from a group of 5 guys with no office to 100+ franchises pretty fucking quick.
Don’t take the private equity offer/path thinking it’ll be the best thing to ever happen to you. It’ll make you rich and take you to some cool countries and open many doors and your friends and family will all be impressed as hell, but it’ll absolutely destroy your happiness.
Be careful not to allow yourself to put such high utility on your compensation and savings. The golden handcuffs are pretty fucking real.
If you do go thru banking and private equity, take one of the job offers you receive once you start looking. It may be high risk but its worth it since they are a helluvalot more interesting than sticking around.
That deal you waited for doesn’t go through. Most deals you wait for don’t. Also, the problem deals are still problems 3 years later.
Misc.:
Don’t blindly take or accept advice from folks just because they have more experience than you. Most people are idiots, even in places and roles like high finance as an MD / Partner.
Buy those two classic vehicles you thought looked cheap. They were.
Don’t lease the downtown condo. Stay further out. The first condo you bid on was actually a screaming deal and you missed it.
Go with your gut on your stock picks. And stick to your goddamn thesis, don’t get emotional. 5 years later we’ve done pretty well but it could have been much, much better if you bought and held these names from day one.
When your grandparents and parents combine to give you a few thousand dollars to invest when you graduate, put it ALL into Bitcoin. You’ll consider putting it in crypto or stocks and choose (the wrong) stocks. If you still wind up picking stocks put it into Netflix for a few years then Tesla.
How’d you stop smoking ?
Nicorette for the cigarettes. Still known to smoke socially though.
Panic attacks from the weed were the TSN turning point for ganja. Anybody who has had real panic attacks knows how incredibly terrifying they can be - in my case they legitimately felt like I was going to die from a heart attack. My pulse would go to 180-200 and I would start sweating and hyper ventilating with my vision going dark.
I still dabble with edibles, my vaporizer, or joints in more social settings. I haven't ripped a bong in a long time because it started giving me panic attacks years and years ago in university.
Honestly, the fact that I was becoming reliant on weed was bothering me as well. I felt that smoking every day was not sustainable and was only gonna make my life worse. It sounds like you're aware of similar situations, but as with all things it depends on the person. Some of the most intelligent people I knew in Uni were everyday smokers, and one of them was the primary weed dealer in my circle. He graduated with the highest honors our school offered, in Physics and Math. I nearly went on academic probation. Quite a difference.
I'd say if you feel like its holding you back in ANY way (academically, socially, etc.), then you already know you should cut back. The rest is just mental discipline. Weed helped me be content to stagnate. It didn't cause me to stagnate, but it let me be okay with making no progress, towards anything. That is terrifying to me and so I cut way way back.
The late & great Anthony Bourdain once said something that I find to be very accurate in my own experience:
"I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy."
Use all your Country Club lifeguarding wages to buy this nifty thing called Bitcoin.
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