How have your 20s been so far?
Currently late 20s, and looking back it was kind of "meh" some highs and lows, but I found myself less happy over these years than any other point in my life so far. Early 20s felt like a honeymoon phase. Start to make money and really start my own life. Mid 20s was good too, lots of traveling, earned more respect in my career, dating was ok, but I wasn't after anything serious then. Now in my late 20s, it feels downright crappy. So many people seem more established in life and from the looks of it "happy", at least on the outside. I definitely do not feel that. I feel like there's still a lot of work for me to do to get there. Anyone willing to share about their 20s so far, or if you are beyond it, what it was like for you.
Everyone has their own problems, they might seem happy but you don’t know them and only see what they put out. Don’t get yourself down over it. This is going to sound cheesy, but focus on yourself. As for me, I’m in my early twenties currently, still in college and trying to get a start on my career and life. It’s been pretty alright, I was expecting more excitement. Besides going out and the usual stuff people do in college, I haven’t done much yet. Planning to change that soon.
me: absolute shit from start to end, thank you for coming to my ted talk
Way too much cocaine
Feel the same exact way
My dad recently told me "If everyone followed the same path of development and satisfaction, we'd have a bunch of identical people in the world. Don't compare yourself to others. If you want to be satisfied with yourself, then immediately take the steps to realize the vision you have for yourself". Thought it might be relevant for you and others who aren't satisfied with where they are right now.
I like this a lot. Not pseudo deep, just practical and pragmatic advice to get you where you really want to be, and to avoid the comparison trap.
Don't want to hijack your thread, but also feel very similarly mid-20s. Maybe it's the increase of social media, but I see these younger entertainers, influencers, musicians, etc now living a completely different kind of life that I wish I could experience. I've sacrificed so much time/health/emotional toll to get to where I am which may seem okay to the average person, but it's not the life I dreamed of. I feel I will look back when I am older and regret the risks I never took. Then again, having basic financial stability is definitely not something to take for granted either. Maybe I am just delusional looking at how people live online and the odds of ever reaching that point, but it also can't all be credited to "people are only showing you their good moments not bad, lots of not glamorous things behind the scene,etc."
I'm not even sure what risks I would exactly even take to get to where I want to be/what I'd do which may be the worst part. Yes, I understand things like starting family provide a lot of meaning and that's something I'm open to one day, but I want to live a free and fun life first before then (didn't have that in college either). Is this perspective all just wrong or what? Feel so lost now.
A lot of people feel that way actually. One of the hardest things to deal with in life is regret. I was on a holiday in SanFran, and in Koreatown, I saw this innocent old Asian lady on the bus. It made me think about growing old and wishing that I did things differently, and therefore made me think of all the things I regretted in life. That list is pretty big. I had already suffered from depression before at that point, but I was feeling pretty okay at the time. After that moment I went to my hotel at Union Square and when I randomly woke up in the night, I felt very depressed and anxious. I genuinely had this weird existential crisis as a young adult at the time after that. It took a long time for me to recover from that too.
The thing with regret is that not everything is what it seems like in your head. For instance with me, maybe that girl I let go wasn't "the one", maybe I didn't hurt the people around me as much as I imagined in my head, etc. The same concept can be applied to your situation; there are a lot of musicians, influencers, and celebrities who aren't happy at all. Money at the end of the day can only buy you happiness when financial problems are the cause of your mental well-being. You for instance said that you've sacrificed so much time/health/emotional toll to get where you are. Those people who live in the spotlight can't go outside without being recognized, are constantly judged through social media, and have a lot of pressure on them to be as entertaining as possible. Life is not what it seems like from the outside.
At the end of the day, time is and always will be the most precious commodity, spend it wisely, and always prioritize your mental health over prestigious/high-paying jobs if they deteriorate your mental health. Enjoy life man, a lot of people on this forum don't live just for the sake of retiring at 50. Your best years are generally from 18-35, make full use of those years. Cheers.
great post, except that there is no koreatown in san francisco, unless you're confusing chinese and korean people. don't do that bud.
don't call it san fran either
Sounds like you need a social media break its that simple. Every few months I go dark on Instagram and Facebook. Why? Because all it is is people posting their best moments. Instagram is just people flexing thats it.
I believe there are a lot of losers/ghosts in social media showing off their ‘glamorous lifes’, but I feel confident it wont turn into permanent success.
Traveling somewhere like Bali or Mexico and posting pictures of homemade smoothies with goyi berries and granola is, in truth, very affordable. You basically need the time they’re spending on living that ‘amazing’ life.
Whenever I see close people uploading too many posts like those on instagram, I definitely tend to deactivate my social media accounts for a while and try to remember myself why I started grinding on my career.
It all comes to ‘Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.’
Man, what a great question.
My early 20's - 22-26 was me figuring out what I actually wanted to do with my life career wise after college and find my place in the world, therefore I was extremely unhappy and depressed. I have always been a very motivated person and knew that I wanted to be successful, but I had no logical path to get me there - and that gave me a ton of anxiety. When I turned 26, I discovered Wallstreet Oasis, took the GMAT, and re routed my career. Fast forward to now, I’m 29, have some decent coin and am doing well in my life and career. Every year keeps getting better for me.
Solid.
What have you rerouted to??
Real estate development. The ultimate entrepreneurial path.
Hey man. Feel pretty similar to how you did, age 24 at the moment (turn 25 in a couple months). Will have been working for 2 years come this summer. Was hoping I could PM you about this to hear about your path, what you do, how you 'figured it out', etc.
Lmk, and thanks in advance.
Sure, PM me.
Currently 25, COVID is ruining it. 23 and 24 were awesome. College was fun before that. I think the early 20's may have been the peak for old Nightman.
Same boat here, gotta hold on hope for it getting back to normal though. Turned 25 in February and was on track to be a fun year pre-COVID so hopefully it’s just a matter of things getting back to pre-COVID times. Big question is if that’ll even hit during 2021 or if it’ll be beyond that when we move out of the mid-20’s phase of life...
I'm really hoping we are getting close to the end of this by Summer 2021, but hope that aint a pipe dream
23-24 assuming u graduated into an analyst from undergrad. u had good years while in IB? I thought everyone pretty much just hates their lives?
just watched the nightman episode on its always sunny lol
Top tier episode for sure. Yeah I joined out of college and lateraled a little over a year ago. My comment is mostly how my early 20's have been with banking adjusted out. I hated my first firm, like my current one. I do kind of hate this job but it pays the bills and then some. COVID did fuck shit up a ton for me. It's kind of given me a new perspective on what I really want out of life: married with kids, in a corporate job straight slaving as part of the machine, living it up as a suburban American dad. Little fuckers running around, wife giving me shit, ahh the good life. Lol my goals are at the low end of what people on this site strive for, but its what would make me happy. I did realize money isn't everything and my feelings about banking long term have shifted a lot.
I'm more thinking now that I do two more years of this, get that associate promote, collect a nice 6-figure associate bonus just for the experience of getting that much bread at once, then jump to a corporate or consulting role back in my home city. I would entertain IB roles when recruiting (at least if I started today I would) but there are very few banks back home that cover my specific sector (pharma/biotech). Most cover tech--an industry I could not give less of a shit about. If anything, my only requirement is staying in pharma. Tons of those jobs back home (boston, btw).
I've saved quite a lot and done a great job investing my portfolio (at about $500k now), so if I save my bonuses and continue investing well, getting into the $750k-$1mm range in 2-3 years isn't that unrealistic, and that's basically a fat down payment on a house (in a nice area not too far from the city with great public schools and attractive property values), family car, sports car, and everything else I'd need back home when the time comes. But I'm putting all this aside to have a fucking ripper of a summer and go nuts for the next year to make up for lost time.
20 - Feeling awesome, was loving life as a frat star
21 - Same as 20 but was a little more bored with the college experience, was longing for more
22 - Basically just worked 24/7, saved almost all my money. Really happy and focused at this time
23 - Super depressed/ the most stressed I had ever been.
24 - Felt great. Switched jobs, had established a better work life balance and was enjoying life a lot more.
25 - Mediocre, was half enjoying life, but pretty lonely
26 - Really a great year
27 - Another pretty good year
What changed between 25 and 26?
Made new friends and got into a serious relationship.
You might want to read into Daniel Kahneman’s happiness-related work. He delved into how we humans perceive happiness. You would think that, if your happiness was a graph made with a well-being value of every single day, then you would assume that your overall happiness is the integral, the area under the curve.
The thing is that our actual happiness is very much dictated by peaks and your most recent experience. Your most recent dissatisfaction is tainting your view of your past experiences and making you give your overall 20s a lower “score”.
“Yeah, that’s cool and all, but how does that have any practical use or impact me right now”. I used to think it was irrelevant how we came to determine a value. I thought we are going to experience it the same way regardless, however, I’ve learned to understand that perception and actual reality are not exactly the same, which has sometimes led me to think about my situation more critically. It might help you or it might not, just want to throw it out.
on paper very good but in practice very bad
25 y/o
Aside from this year which was big crapper in the social category, very happy career wise. Took a career risk people thought i shouldn't have and it paid off. Do it in your early / mid twenties. If i were 30 i woulda thought extra hard
What was the career risk?
Quit my job in IB -- left and started 2 businesses. haven't looked back since.
Hang in there, my 30s have been good to me so far (notwithstanding COVID). Even better than my 20s, actually, now that I have some money to spend, free of student debt, and established career.
As I've gotten older, my self-esteem and confidence has naturally improved, which has led to a serious relationship, getting promoted, and generally more happiness overall.
Ups and downs, but it doesn't help when people say stupid shit like "enjoy your teenage/twenty/college years, they'll be the best years of your life". Like really? What the fuck about the other 60? People feel pressured, but with that kind of a mindset, I promise you will always have an empty feeling. GUARANTEED.
People have more control than they think. Regardless of 20s, 30s, 40s, etc., you'll always have good and bad years. That's how you know you're living in the first place. It's a natural rythm.
Obviously you're limited in what you can do when you turn 60+, but honestly, I've seen seniors who can still kick my ass, physically and mentally. It boils down to your personal attitude. You can either be young or old. But no matter how badly you may fuck up, never be regretful. It's virtually guaranteed you're in a better spot than many, if not most people.
I know a big time RE developer that went bankrupt in his 40s, but didn't give up and recovered within 20 years. Hot wife, exotic cars, and luxury penthouses today (and for the past 10). Came close to losing it all again in 08'. He probably did shelter money offshore during his original bankruptcy and being a white, educated male doesn't hurt either lol.
If I lost my life savings (in my late 20s), I would probably be too lazy to get out of bed in the morning. But you never know what might go down or happen, so I always try to build up my confidence and willpower before shit hits the fan.
This.
I turned 20 post Covid and probably going to be "celebrating" my 21st at home... :(
Take 21 shots on camera on Instagram live - make it a memory you won't forget.
Same situation here... Pretty hard to enjoy being 20 in college when its completely virtual with 0 parties :)
Same here
I’m about to turn 20 soon, mentally and emotionally I’m really a wreck 😅
Age: 25.
Upside: S&T Executive. Fast track promotion. Debt free. Have lived in multiple continents.
Downside: Ulcers from stress, blood pressure & vertigo, high level alcohol consumption, troubled relationship with girlfriend (since junior year in college).
Score: 6.5/10
How did you pull off the career success so early
Have you made changes to better yourself and overall well-being? Those downsides seem like they're a bit much.
How did you achieve your position so fast?
I was you two years ago, break it off brother - she’ll only drag you down
20 - 22 was euphoric, smooth transition from college to a FLDP type of program
22 - 24 was when I learned to love discipline and doing hard shit.
24 - 27 was when my hardwork started to compound and I met my fiance
27 - 28 I left corporate, chose the path less traveled and I'm the happiest I've ever been.
I think the key to my happiness thus far is that I don't take myself or life that seriously. I found the girl that I wanted to marry at 24 and she's a dream. We've got a loose script for what the next 5 years looks like and the rest is ours to color in.
What career did you choose after you left corporate?
how hard is it to meet women when doing banking hours? kinda worried about that tbh
he said he did a FLDP. If you want to know about getting girls while in banking, look at the post from earlier this week about the guy who hasn't gotten laid in 3 years bc of banking lmao
Really good question.
20 - really tough, struggled with college & $$$
21 - addressed the school stuff, got a well paid part time job and did tons of travel. It was perhaps the most fun & foundational year of my life.
22 Wasn't fun at all, lots of grinding for grades and $$$, didn't have time for friends & social life. The entire college minus the 21st year was a bit of a (necessary) waste.
23 I kinda relaxed in second half, did quite some smoking, fun dating experiences, new friends, went a bit counter culture.
24 was also very foundational, but less fun than 21. Lots of self-discovery, minor bouts of depression, exited a relationship, fun but not well paid job.
25 I met my spouse, got an interesting job and while there were moments of anxiety, I was generally very happy and had fun.
26 The first quarter was great and fun, then changed life circumstances and the rest of it was challenging. One of those steep learning curve phases of my life.
27 Got married, the learning curve tapered off a bit. I'd say I enjoyed the year and made some really important self discoveries that made me realise what I wanted in life, the most important was to never trade lifestyle for money. Like most of you here I consider myself to be a pretty ambitious person, but after a pretty intense job experience I realised that relationships, hobbies and life outside of work is too important to be traded off for the incremental money.
28.. Executed on that vision. Despite everything that is going on in the world, I'm in a super happy place right now. Have a "lifestyle job" that pays very well and has a pretty good career trajectory, happily married and am ready to keep building on that foundation. Could I have maximised the pay and the progression curve ? Sure, but there is a certain kind of happiness that stems from knowing enough is enough.
What I've come to realise having lived through most of the twenties is that you define your own success and the approach that works for me is to do the hard things first and then the rest takes care of itself.
What type of job did you switch to? Have any openings?!
I went from traditional buyside job at a large firm to work for a large LP at a direct investing capacity. When I was thinking of that move I actually spoke to someone who was employee at my current fund and had made the switch from a commercial investor for those exact same reasons. Said he couldn't be happier, but warned me that a high strung personality could get frustrated by the slower pace & more bureaucracy and obviously the paycut.
So far it's been all I expected (far less stress, no assholes, no all-nighters) and fwiw at my level I don't even experience it as any more political than my prior employer. It's just the right amount of work to keep me on my toes. Pay is below market (I'd say 20-25% ish) and that delta will likely keep widening as I progress. If I stop comparing and just focus on mine & family's needs the money, even CoL adjusted, is still amazing and more importantly now I actually have the time to spend it on things that matter.
Following up on the previous question, can you please share the job name?
It all becomes a blur by your mid 30s bud
In a good way, or bad way?
What i'm sayin is your life tends to evolve naturally as you get older so stuff that you remember as being amazingly cool and memorable at the time starts to blur together. At least for me.
In a good way or a bad way? I guess it depends on your if your 20s were good or bad.
Roaring 20s, 30s depression.
But then 1940-1960, 1980-1990, and 2000-2007 were pretty wild too!
nice try fbi
For those that are struggling at the onset of your 20's, I'd recommend the book Defining Decade by Meg Jay. This book really helped get me on track from the post-college years spent blacking out w the boys, hooking up with my toxic college ex, and doing nothing productive outside of work. Happiness is genuinely a skill and the sooner that you learn that, the more proactive you can be.
I'd guess that everyone who have/has enjoyed their 20's discovered a career that they are passionate about, developed meaningful friendships, and participated in fulfilling extracurriculars.
What did you do outside of work that made you more productive?
Volunteered with a couple groups... one was big brothers big sisters and the other a local financial education/economic mobility org. These helped give me some structure and things to be involved with outside of work but only a few hrs a month. Sadly, BBBS is over bc my little moved and I'm trying to re-engage with with the other org which has been suffering from covid/turnover/getting funding.
Since this post was written, I started taking classes part time as well.
I'm just about halfway through my 20's and overall, through the ups and downs, I'm very happy with the experience. I think in my lowest moments I've learned valuable lessons that will stick with me, and my highest moments are truly going into my life "highlight reel".
20 - I started off feeling really ambitious and decided to stick to Business major instead of Chemistry, I was thinking about going to Law School. By the end of the year I decided to get my real estate license with my friend and try and make some money that way.
21 - Ups and downs, I was completely devoted to my career and developed a dependence on alcohol to cope with taking 18 semester units while working 50-60 hours per week. I got fat, the worst shape I'd been in my life, and spent way too much money on cars (Jags that I totaled, then a Mercedes), fancy clothes (custom suits, Zegna, Valentino, etc), and became a douche.
22 - Realized money isn't happiness, after selling several million worth of real estate realized I hate the career, I'm introverted despite being outgoing, and seeing my doctor twice a month wasn't normal. I met my (now) wife, focused on school to pull my GPA up, started working out 5 days a week, was nearly broke paying off all the debt and basically stopped working to improve myself. I lost ~50 lbs in a matter of 4 or 5 months, graduated college with my (now) wife, got a new job, life was looking up.
23 - My personal life was good, my professional career went from bad to worse. I hated my job, hated my coworkers, hated my commute, and really came to another low point after all my hard work to get where I was. I was very hopeful in starting my new role, but was very disillusioned after I got backstabbed and realized that industry wasn't for me. I began learning to code. I'd wake up at 4:30A and sleep around 11:00P-12:00A every night just to get my life on track. I took night classes and a bunch of other stuff.
24 - I successfully switched careers, leveled myself up, and nearly tripled my previous income. I got married to my wife who has been supportive of me throughout this entire time. She met me when I was 240lbs, got withdrawals when I stopped drinking, and had to see a doctor twice a month. Now things are a lot better, my coworkers are cool and I enjoy the laughs during meetings, I'm getting really good performance reviews, and just moved to a way nicer apartment with my own private office. Despite COVID, my political concerns, and other tragedies- 2020 has treated me well in my little bubble.
I turn 25 next month, and it's been a rollercoaster. I think I'm on the right trajectory though. I'm sitting here, typing away on WSO, sipping some wine, apprehensive about larger things going on, but I'm happy with how my life turned out. I'm looking forward to the remainder of my 20's to see what it has in store. I have a rough outline, more of like a pencil sketch of where I want my life to be, but my loved ones and I get to paint the picture however we see fit. Despite feeling down a lot of the time throughout my early 20's, as Bob Ross would say, "We don't make mistakes, only happy accidents."
Curious to know what online classes you would recommend to learn to code? Was it a university program or a boot camp?
awesome
Congrats, man. I know you're also in LA. Catch up in 2021?
Let’s do it- PM me
23. Respect.
Hi Malta, one question here: how did you stay awake sleeping 4-5 hours every day? I used to do this but I was forced to and I drank a lot of coffee. Personally hate coffee so don't want to do this anymore.
Honestly a really good question. I didn’t drink coffee at the time (I went several years without it). My life was pretty miserable at that time, so I used that to fuel my drive to get out of my situation. Personally, I’m driven a lot by anxiety and frustration (I’ve always joked if Star Wars were real I’d be on the Sith side). But physically staying awake was sometimes hard, and there were multiple occasions I fell asleep at the wheel.
I just knew I couldn’t continue living life the way I was, so I felt a pressure to make it work no matter what. Every time I’d get discouraged or too tired to continue, I’d just remember why I’m doing this and to push through. I did experience burnout later though, and I’m now 26 and don’t think I’ve fully recovered yet.
I’m still a virgin :(
Covid must’ve made it tougher lol.
No worries. When you become a full time you will be surrounded by a whole bunch of virgins. You won't feel so bad then.
Life’s been a rollercoaster but what I will say to OP is, don’t believe the Instagram hype my man. “You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.” -Buffet
So far, the social aspect has been grim for obvious reasons
Turn 27 ~early next year. Wasted my first 2 years studying something that I didn't enjoy and took a year off. Now I'll have a masters, but I just feel too old to be done with school just now. Been extremely antisocial so far, genuinely feel like I'm lacking life experience. The only things I'm happy about are my dating market value and my ability to stick to a workout and dieting plan.
Currently 22 and things are pretty bad in my life right now. I was even beginning to think that because I hadn't "made it" by now and I am not in a good place, it would remain like this forever. I am ashamed to say I fell victim to the instagram facade of everyone around me being hella successful and me being the only person constantly failing at stuff.
The posts made by other users who suffered around my age and got shit back together in their later 20s have made me realize there is still hope and time.
It took a while to decide to post this. I apologize if I gush a bit.
I assume we're talking post college, which is 21-22 for most people. I wasn't great in college, since I couldn't stand mandated classes and they ruined my GPA, while I was a rockstar in my Econ and Finance classes. I had a bit of failure to launch, but working that summer job for a year made me toned as all get out, and I basically viewed myself as god's gift to twinks. Yeah I had a spreadsheet until the hard drive it was on crapped out when I was about 24. Out of the 70 or so, there was only one porn star on it, but four other "adult film actors." (yeah, there's a difference)
My college roommates, our friends, and our friends friends also had the most insane shore-house you can imagine for years. We put animal house to shame. A guy who was in a notorious frat at penn state said "Guys, we're frattier than any frat I've ever seen." The shore-town rent-a-cops showed up at our place once since somebody stole a stop sign and ran through our backyard. I don't think they were expecting to meet the FBI, two lawyers and the county assistant district attorney all watching TV in the livingroom. We were never bothered again.
Since then? I networked and broke into real asset management from a dead-end WM job. (sorry WM guys, but you know there are a ton of those) Been in an on-again off-again relationship for 6+ years, and am living a great life.
Mine has been a bit inverse to yours.
20-22 High Note: super ahead of my class in college, competitive athlete, receiving 'you've got lots of potential' type feedback
22-24 OK performance: finding my way around being a grown up, serious need to live up to 'my potential' and unable to, strong feeling of emptiness
24-26 Great ups: met some interesting people, started a career track role, learning a lot
26-27 Severe burnout: super down, unable to perform at peak, major loss of self confidence
28-30 Turnaround: more confidence, better focus, sharper, more comfortable and successful and fulfilled
That's awesome man. Any big take away from it all?
The major one is that life isn't linear. It's a bit like a sine curve. And one should enjoy the ups and not stress about the downs, because they pass.
I would say life got a lot better when I left banking, but also more confusing... having free time makes me think more about why I don't have a girlfriend and stress over financial decisions and whether or not I should get an MBA.. sort of miss the analyst years. Simpler times.
Amen to that. I've put my career ahead of dating for past 2yrs and have just promised myself to prioritize it post-COVID. Working out more now & getting back that muscle mass I had during college and just planing on diving right in when this is all over
Till then, doing a lot of learning outside of work as there's not much else to do for next 6 months. Use this time wisely
Missed out on my only warm weather, sandy beaches, college spring break due to COVID (Freshman-Junior year I had various reasons for not being on a warm beach). I didn't get to say good-bye to so many people because when we left campus for Spring Break, what was it unbeknownst to us at the time, was that was our last time being together. I'm not salty about missing graduation, that's actually an upside.
I had to cancel my 2-week Europe tour with a group of my high-school buddies. I'm not sure when we will all be able to get together for two weeks with no other obligations, functioning livers, and not suffering from awful hangovers that older age brings.
Started my FLDP working completely remote, missing out on the frequent dinner and bar nights out on the company card w/ my cohort during our first rotation. I'm currently sitting/sleeping in my room for most of the day at my parents' house.
However, I am living at home and saving every penny, so by the time I move out in January for my 2nd rotation, I'll have about a year's worth of post-tax salary invested in the markets right as I turn 23 w/ no debt or other financial obligations. So, that's nice I guess.
My early 20s not off to a hot start but I suppose other people were deployed to the front lines when they left school -- so it could be worse.
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Good so far, I have no regrets especially starting IB later than usual as I have been in college longer than 4 years. Hitting my mid 20's this year. I was able to study abroad, bullshit in college for around 2 years, tried starting a business, hit a lot of my goals and made a ton of new friends. Not the exact cookie cutter path a lot of people have on this site, but not everyone has IB in your head as soon as freshman year starts.
Well, Im almost 26 years old and when I will be 27 I will be done with my master degree in finance.
Until I was 24 years old I was really happy, I was studying business & political science at a top 50 university (QS ranking), lots of fun at uni, I was enjoying my degree and I met my boyfriend. The only negative aspect at uni was that the fact to have a boyfriend make me confront my homosexuality and to finally accept myself.
24-26 years old: I moved for love to Southern Europe, I end up working almost for free for 5 months because i was cheated by a insurance company, then I worked for 8 months as a pension fund analyst and I got unemployed thanks to Covid 19, now im doing my masters at a top 200 university so, even if I think the future will be better if I go back to Northern Europe, now life is not good at all. I feel frustrated, I haven't been available to get a proper job. I had so many expectations when I graduated and I even had high expectations that came from my successful parents. If the situation keeps going like that probably in few years I will leave the country to try to get more opportunities.Sometimes I don't know if my mistake was to take decisions based on my boyfriend and where he has a job and not based on what is the best for my from a professional point of view.
I’m 21 and so far its been a fucking nightmare lol
completely shit, my life gets worse as i get older
Change your attitude bro.
damn what sage advice! listen to this guy right here lmao
I have considered moving to Zihuatanejo and becoming a beach bum more than a few times.
Just running from all my responsibilities, and living like a king on passive income in a super LCOL area.
But sadly I want to make the world a better place, and feel a burden to change the world for the better as if it is an obligation. I've got big dreams, the capabilities to do them, but I have started to realize dream chasing can be bad.
For us humans enough is never enough. I remember completing one of my largest goals in life by the age of 19. (I achieved financial freedom)
I thought now what? Went into a deep depression and had a lot of existential anxiety. I was in a really rough spot for a few months. I considered suicide at one point in time. I became convinced completing my goals in life was the source of my unhappiness. So I created a goal that is so unlikely for me to achieve that I may never achieve it in my life. This goal gives me hope and something to strive for everyday. But if it do achieve it I will say life is a simulation and probably end myself.
My goal is more focused on helping other people than helping myself; as I only get true joy when I help other people.
On the same token as above, see below - what a great reflective post:
20: focused on frat stuff and social life with no regards to career, broadly wanted to go into medicine
21: rocked with family stuff which derailed school in a major way, had internship at tools/dx company which made me realize the sciences weren't for me
22: vigorously networked my way in to a corpdev M&A role and subsequently a summer analyst role in NY
23: grind grind grind
24: grind grind grind and land off-cycle buyside offer at large PE fund
25: grind to level I didn't know existed but keep at it
26: continue grinding, hit mental low, finish PE gig and move into longer-term role which doesn't kill me so much
Excited for what's next and hope to get involved with non-profits this year
Was the move into a longer term role a matter of stepping down in fund size? Curious on how to effectively diligence outside in if that’s the case, as it doesn’t seem there is necessarily a linear relationship between fund size and hours
Would agree with you but I didn't step into another PE role. It's a pretty unique leadership role at a prominent investment bank (don't want to specify whether its a bulge, EB, MM, etc) where I'll have a pretty good role with regards to firm strategy and general corporate matters etc
Life isn't about being happy. It's about doing something worth doing while we are here. There will always be work to be done on yourself up until the day you pass away. That is the nature of life and what it means to be a human. You are probably unfulfilled and itching for something more meaningful to do with your life besides grinding for corporate and traveling the world. Dig deep to determine what changes you need to make in order to be more fulfilled. Study those who came before in order to learn what they did on their journey towards fulfillment. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is a good place to start. Also read about Churchill and Lincoln.
20 - Was in school I think (?) experimenting with various "side hustles"/half-assed businesses. Wasn't sure if I was any good at it.
21 - Same boat as above, one of my companies starting doing OK and I was able to pay myself enough to allocate into various other businesses. I think it was this year or the year after that my chronic pain went away. Was huge for me, much easier to think, be awake, etc..
22 - Caught my first break with a company I sort of started with a friend. Reached 7 figures in sales year one with next to nothing invested. Was basically an "executive" although I had no clue what I was doing.
23 - Second company I started with next to nothing got to 7 figures in rev. Throwing off pretty good cash.
24 - Knew what I was doing was sort of sustainable but wouldn't get big enough for what I wanted and my business partners were quite lifestyle-ish. Very happy taking home what we were pulling...and not wanting to grow as aggressively so I started looking into investment opportunities and a bit of a pivot/next business. I think this is the year I launched my "investment firm" which was at first just me making angel investments solo. It was also when I made my first few real investments.
25 - Angel deals did really well, the companies I started when I was younger were still growing/bringing in good cash. Was able to invest in a few other companies and had an amazing co-founder that joined me. Originally we were doing angel deals, but hated how operators ran their business and decided to switch into doing turnarounds of LMM businesses. I think we did 2 - 3 deals in this year and they did very very well.
26 - Portfolio is quite real at this point doing $20MM - $35MM a year on a run-rate basis. Have an executive team being built out. Very clear direction and my co-founder and I know exactly what we want to do - build an amazing team and start buying more and more distressed businesses, then hold indefinitely unless we get a stupid offer. I was also co-CEOing a company we acquired. Launched a consulting arm so we can grow our internal team faster and create a pipeline for deal flow (still do minority equity deals). Very overwhelming doing one of the hardest turnarounds we've attempted. Learned a lot, probably the most ever in a year.
27 - Company we acquired that I was co-CEO of hit 100+ employees which was a personal milestone. Feels like a real company (lol). COVID introduces a lot of volatility for us that messes up supply chains across the portfolio but being in eCommerce it was balanced out by a lot of purchases moving into eCommerce and away from traditional retail. Goal is to stabilize/eliminate volatility, then lever the portfolio when needed to acquire new companies. Hoping to be in a position where I can stop the day-to-day operating and move back into the investment side.
quite impressive to have achieved all of that over a couple of years. So since graduating college you've never really had to work for anyone except for the businesses you grew?
Yes I haven’t had a job in a long time but clients can be much worse than a boss.
I peaked in high-school
HS was sweet, early college sweeter, senior year decent but kind of burnt out on party scene.
Post-grad (23-25) has been meh (EB->UMM), but don’t really feel like I’ve missed out on much since most of the interesting/cool people I know/knew are similarly busy.
Pretty good on my side. I’ve lived in multiple countries, attended one of the best grad school in the world, am perfecting my 3rd language, and having a good momentum at work, having been on multiple deals constantly since I started.
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