7 ms·

Disclaimer: I'm probably not in the position of educating teenagers as my life has not been a success. But my 2 cents anyway: I think you need to figure out yo

Disclaimer: I'm probably not in the position of educating teenagers as my life has not been a success. But my 2 cents anyway: I think you need to figure out your life first. You are 16 so you are going to college (or do other things) soon. You should at least figure out the general direction you want to pursue and then make plans. You don't have to stick to one direction, though. Another advice -- restrict the resources you have access to when you are learning anything seriously. Remove as much of AI, Internet, mobile from your learning process as possible. I know this is controversial, but I believe that constraint is the father of creativity.

treetalker 19d ago
> I'm probably not in the position of educating teenagers as my life has not been a success. Not true! The OP should learn not only about (and from) models but also anti-models! Addressing OP: On anti-models, read NN Taleb's books (the Incerto) and Charlie Munger (his speech on inversion / thinking about what you would do, and how you would do it, in order to ensure a miserable life — and then not doing those things). Read statements from the elderly / terminally ill about what they regret having done or not done in their lifetimes. A lesson I wish I had learned at your age: for most things in life, B– quality or "80% of the perfect performance/solution" is almost always more than enough, and can be accomplished quickly. (E.g., it's easy and fast to sweep the floor so that it's mostly clean / 80% of optimal cleanliness. You feel better about your surroundings, you clear your head, and fewer future problems arise.) This is the 80/20 principle at work. Get to 80% on everything fast, and then only spend time polishing/perfecting what really matters. (I was raised in a perfectionist family/environment/culture — to my detriment, in many ways.) Similarly, it's OK (and probably beneficial) to do most of your workout sessions (~80%!) at 80% effort. You don't need to go HAM / 6th gear all the time. Learn that questions are often more important than answers. And learn to ask better questions. Learn basic probability and expected value, and apply those principles to your own daily life. It's easy to do several times a day in normal situations. Learn to take (and avoid) repeated, small actions in order to put yourself in a slightly better position with regard to your future. (Increase your optionality; take repeated beneficial actions.) Pick up that dirty cup on your way to the kitchen. Don't drink two beers every day. Don't smoke. Ask yourself: "If I do (or avoid doing) this same thing 1,000 times (or days) in a row, where will I end up?" (That helps you develop consistency and the habit of repeated actions/practice, and it magnifies the effects of your daily choices.) Remind yourself: "What I do today, I do every day. What I do now, I choose to do every time I have the choice." Read real books, not Internet stuff. Read particularly from (long) before 2022 (avoid LLM-generated text). Read as much as you can and develop a maintainable note-taking system. Learn other languages and read the greatest books from other countries, cultures, and eras. Taleb's general rule is not to read anything written in the last 10 years. Take that with a grain of salt. On reading (and not reading) books in general, and in a meta-reading sense, I strongly urge you to read How to Read a Book (by Adler & Doren) and How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read (by Pierre Bayard). You'll also find no shortage of suggested reading and lists of books of all sorts here on HN. Daily exercise, good eating, sleep, hygiene, and overall mental health and self-care are table stakes. Personally, I've found that my optimal amount of physical activity is much higher than one would think: 2–3 hours per day, 5–6 days per week. (That's my experience, not a prescription for you.) Taking care of myself has required life- and work-organization choices and sacrifices to make it happen. Everything is about trade-offs. The most important thing is that it's better to consistently practice implementing a single piece of advice than to collect or merely think about or imagine implementing lists of advice. You'll find lots of great advice everywhere. But EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING.

treetalker 19d ago

> I'm probably not in the position of educating teenagers as my life has not been a success. Not true! The OP should learn not only about (and from) models but also anti-models! Addressing OP: On anti-models, read NN Taleb's books (the Incerto) and Charlie Munger (his speech on inversion / thinking about what you would do, and how you would do it, in order to ensure a miserable life — and then not doing those things). Read statements from the elderly / terminally ill about what they regret having done or not done in their lifetimes. A lesson I wish I had learned at your age: for most things in life, B– quality or "80% of the perfect performance/solution" is almost always more than enough, and can be accomplished quickly. (E.g., it's easy and fast to sweep the floor so that it's mostly clean / 80% of optimal cleanliness. You feel better about your surroundings, you clear your head, and fewer future problems arise.) This is the 80/20 principle at work. Get to 80% on everything fast, and then only spend time polishing/perfecting what really matters. (I was raised in a perfectionist family/environment/culture — to my detriment, in many ways.) Similarly, it's OK (and probably beneficial) to do most of your workout sessions (~80%!) at 80% effort. You don't need to go HAM / 6th gear all the time. Learn that questions are often more important than answers. And learn to ask better questions. Learn basic probability and expected value, and apply those principles to your own daily life. It's easy to do several times a day in normal situations. Learn to take (and avoid) repeated, small actions in order to put yourself in a slightly better position with regard to your future. (Increase your optionality; take repeated beneficial actions.) Pick up that dirty cup on your way to the kitchen. Don't drink two beers every day. Don't smoke. Ask yourself: "If I do (or avoid doing) this same thing 1,000 times (or days) in a row, where will I end up?" (That helps you develop consistency and the habit of repeated actions/practice, and it magnifies the effects of your daily choices.) Remind yourself: "What I do today, I do every day. What I do now, I choose to do every time I have the choice." Read real books, not Internet stuff. Read particularly from (long) before 2022 (avoid LLM-generated text). Read as much as you can and develop a maintainable note-taking system. Learn other languages and read the greatest books from other countries, cultures, and eras. Taleb's general rule is not to read anything written in the last 10 years. Take that with a grain of salt. On reading (and not reading) books in general, and in a meta-reading sense, I strongly urge you to read How to Read a Book (by Adler & Doren) and How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read (by Pierre Bayard). You'll also find no shortage of suggested reading and lists of books of all sorts here on HN. Daily exercise, good eating, sleep, hygiene, and overall mental health and self-care are table stakes. Personally, I've found that my optimal amount of physical activity is much higher than one would think: 2–3 hours per day, 5–6 days per week. (That's my experience, not a prescription for you.) Taking care of myself has required life- and work-organization choices and sacrifices to make it happen. Everything is about trade-offs. The most important thing is that it's better to consistently practice implementing a single piece of advice than to collect or merely think about or imagine implementing lists of advice. You'll find lots of great advice everywhere. But EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING.