The 100 Things Every 20-Something Needs to Realize

I can't say I agree with all of these, but if you're in your late teens/early 20s take some notes. These are the ones that jumped out the most to me as being true:

EliteDaily:

2. Don’t hit the snooze button. If you gotta get up, then get up.

20. Friends are hard to come by. Don’t ignore those you have.

21. Most people want something from you.

47. The world works, in large part, by manipulation.

48. Having the ability to read people will get you further in life than anything else.

61. You can’t buy time.

72. Violence is for idiots. Use your words.

75. You don’t need to be an assh*le to get ahead in life, but you can’t be a pushover either.

91. The way you see the world is all that matters. But understand that you may be delusional.

98. You are always better off than most people in the world.

One largeish NSFW image after #29: http://elitedaily.com/life/the-100-things-every-20-something-needs-to-r…

 

101 (updated): Judge your advice for the content, not the source

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 
Best Response

Can I just say that this is all semantical nonsense? Most of these have absolutely zero objective meaning.

21. Most people want something from you.

Like.. friendship? To exploit you? The very fact they are talking to you implies the conversation has value to them, yes.

47. The world works, in large part, by manipulation.

?? What qualifies as "manipulation" and what exactly does "the world working" really refer to?

48. Having the ability to read people will get you further in life than anything else.

I'm sure the person who wrote this article is that type of guy who goes around telling everyone crap like, "I'm really good a reading people." Spend a few days observing his behavior and you will immediately find that he has no unique insight on people.

61. You can’t buy time.

You can't kill time either. Key takeaway?

72. Violence is for idiots. Use your words.

Oh really? I thought I should just beat up my boss whenever I don't want to do something. I wonder if this guy realizes that most people (even people who resort to violence) don't taut the principle "violence is a good M.O. for dealing with problems."

91. The way you see the world is all that matters. But understand that you may be delusional.

If the way you see the world is all that matters, why the need for "understanding" the extent to which you're "delusional"? Doesn't that not matter?

"For all the tribulations in our lives, for all the troubles that remain in the world, the decline of violence is an accomplishment we can savor, and an impetus to cherish the forces of civilization and enlightenment that made it possible."
 

I think I took this a different way than you did, here:

21: It didn't occur to me until I was ~19-20 that everyone wants something from me (thought about objectivism for a bit). Whether that's my friendship, the dollar in my pocket, my knowledge, whatever. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just a different way of understanding the world around you. I think a better way to phrase it, at least the way I look at this and the intrinsic value it has for me is,

The world doesn't revolve around my wants. Everyone you interact with will want something from you. Their goals may have either a positive or negative effect on you.

It helps if you get good at #48 to figure out who is aiming to have which effect on you.

#47: This took me a little longer to realize. When I think of manipulating people to get something, I don't think about lying to them or going behind their back. I think about how I speak to people. I think about how I approach situations.

Take customer service reps, for example. I used to act like the person on the other side of the phone/computer were my enemy. I didn't have a problem yelling at them, telling them they needed to get this figured out now, etc. Now, I just act upbeat, thank them so much for helping me out, and 99% of the time I get what I'm calling for. Most of the time they're dealing with assholes and morons, so when they get a call where the person is speaking to them respectfully and being happy they're getting helped, they'll go the extra mile to help you.

#48: A lot of people are blind to other people's emotions. It's not about having some unique insight, it's about factoring the other person's mental state into the way you interact with them. The better you are at reading subtle cues, body language, etc, the easier it will be to communicate with and manipulate the people you're dealing with.

#61: No, you can't kill time, but you can waste it. I never thought about the time I was wasting when I was younger and from my conversations with older folks, many of them didn't either. I also didn't realize that time goes faster as you get older, but it does. Shit, wasting a day when I was 18 was easy, but a day back then felt like 2 days does now.

#72: How large is your friend group? I'd say until about 22-23, 75% of the guys I hung out with didn't have a problem starting a fight over a spilled drink. That number has decreased rapidly the last few years. Regardless, probably a quarter of my friends still take stupid random shit as personal affronts that need to be handled with their fists. Of course, that's usually when alcohol is involved, but still...

#91: Of course the way you look at the world is the only thing that matters. The truths you believe are the only ones that matter. Recognizing there's a chance you're wrong gives you the chance to change your opinion and grow as a person.

Having a bad day? The intent of those were pretty obvious. I get the feeling you were just looking to tell someone they're wrong. Hey, how good am I at reading people over the interwebs?

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Your post here includes a great deal of concrete detail notably absent from the article. I'm glad you got meaning from it, but it was clearly all personal interpretation and had nothing to do with the article itself. As written, the author is successful only at sounding a complete and utterly pompous dickhead.

That impression is only further solidified by his bio, where he describes himself as a "philosopher" and "serial entrepreneur" (but, please, don't ask him what those ventures are... suffice it to say, they include and are limited to http://smokemuch.com/ and a Polish restaurant in Greenpoint). Draw your own conclusions as appropriate.

"For all the tribulations in our lives, for all the troubles that remain in the world, the decline of violence is an accomplishment we can savor, and an impetus to cherish the forces of civilization and enlightenment that made it possible."
 

updated, sorry bout that

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

over the past one year or so, how many of these 100 things you want to know/50 things you should think before you go to bed/10 things you need to know after you kiss kind of posts have surfaced all over the internet....I mean, on one hand its nice somebody is taking the pain of really putting together something useful and then there are lists like this...where honestly half of the 100 were banal and crappy...who writes this shit! what happend to good old articles and write ups.... Why take a point and put it in 10 different bulletpoints...hope this fad ends soon! but on one hand, it helps me prune my facebook feed as its generally a first level signal to unfriend!

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." ~George Moore
 

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