Probably Wouldn't Have Listened Anyway, But Worth A Shot...

The other day (well, two nights ago) I was sitting around with a few friends shooting the ol' philosophical breeze when the question was posed, "What advice would the current you give to the younger, say, eighteen-year old, you?"

That question is somewhat of an old chestnut, and one that has been bandied about by my circle of immediate and not-so-immediate friends several times in the past. The only difference in the question when it is re-posed is the age in question of the younger you.

It's one of those questions that is both enlightening and frustrating, in that we all get a good feel for how much we've matured/developed/re-prioritized, etc., via our answers, and we all fall into the "woulda, coulda, shoulda," trap that sometime springs when one waxes nostalgic.

There is no frustration like the re-imagining-your-present-self-if-your-past-self-had-made-smarter-decisions frustration. Probably best not to go there too often.

The answers to that question varied from "Start investing as much as you can as soon as you can" to "floss regularly" to "stay in school no matter what" to "map out a plan and stick to it."

I myself have given several different answers to that question over the years, everything from the glib "don't let the bastards get you down" and "learn to cook" to the fairly serious "do not seek company simply to save you from being alone."

This time out, my answer was "develop productive habits." Now, that might not seem like the best advice to give to an 18-year old, but as I had yet to develop truly productive habits by my 18th birthday, it is definitely advice I could have used.

Whether or not I would have taken such advice to heart...well, I wouldn't bet the imaginary $1,000 investment in Microsoft I would have liked to have made back then, not even a dime of it.