In the course of my life, I have made several mistakes. Looking back, I would say to myself today that I would certainly have done things differently here and there. However, it is part of life to learn from your mistakes. It is only bad if you do not learn from it. If life would be so perfect then we would stand quite differently in life. In this article, I would like to present 21 Things I Wish I’d Known at 21.
1. Know the game you are playing
Know the game you are playing and think about the victory conditions to play that game. What I mean by that is to think about what you need to accomplish to achieve what you want to achieve. When you go to school, your game is to get good exam results to be able to go to university later. But when you make it and get accepted into a university, your game will most likely be different. It’s one of those things that you should do on purpose rather than by accident. So it’s good over the years to keep refocusing and thinking, what game am I playing right now and what do I need to achieve to get there? Because you don’t want to be stuck with the same decision you made for yourself at 16 for the rest of your life.
2. Develop a skill for the long term
If there was one thing I wished for when I was younger, it was to learn a skill that would take me forward in the long run. Today I see it more clearly and learn a new language in my spare time or learn to improve my writing skills. If I had started it 11 years ago, I would be in a very different place in life.
3. Taking more photos
There are life events in life that will not happen again. Therefore, take as many photos as possible of your life that you can later reminisce about. Your university years will not come back. Therefore, it is nice to relive memories from unforgettable times.
4. Document things you consume
Whether you’re reading a book, watching a documentary on TV, or listening to a podcast. Start taking notes from the things you are reading or listening to. It’s one of those things that you don’t like to do at the time. Believe me, later on, you’ll be happy when you can refer back to your notes about an event. So write down your thoughts the next time you read a book. Think about “what did I learn from it?” How does it help me in the present moment? You will be happy if you document things in your life that you consume.
5. Be the connector and connect people
When you get into a new situation in life, be it the new job or the new school you are going to, it is normal to be reluctant at first. You are in a new situation. But you are not alone. Also, your fellows are in a new situation or were they. Try and dare to approach people, link friendships, or bring other friendship groups together. Be the one to create a WhatsApp group to bring people closer or plan an event together. You can be the person to bring people together if you want to.
6. Don’t miss opportunities
There are moments in life when you just have to step out of your comfort zone. Too often, I’ve spent days watching the latest episode of my favorite show rather than accepting the invitation to attend the next company event. You make connections, in the most unlikely moments, that can drastically change your life later. So the next time you get an opportunity, go out there and present yourself and show the world what you’re made of.
7. School time is the best time of your life
I can still remember the words of my teacher when he told us again and again that later we will often think of our school days and how beautiful they were. I never believed it at that time and only wanted to leave that time behind me. Today I would wish to be able to experience the time again.
8. Buy bitcoin
Buy Bitcoin and do not sell it under any circumstances.
9. Don’t be mean to other people
You will always regret it. You never know what they can bring you in the future. It is always better and advantageous to maintain a good relationship with the people around you.
10. Nothing productive ever happens after 2:00 AM
You will notice that up to the level of 2:00 AM when you are hanging out with your friends everything is still going great. After 2 AM, conversations will take a different course and nothing productive ever comes out of it. From a point of 4 AM or 5 AM, you will be tired and only want your friends to leave your room. You’ll sleep late and wake up pretty late, feeling like you’ve slept through most of the day.
11. Do a little bit of everything every day
You will find that if you do a little bit of everything every day in your early years, it is much easier to remember it and come back to it. If you do something short-term because the next exam is coming up and you compulsively memorize the material, you will see that it will not lead to success in the long run, as if you learn something every day or teach yourself something of a new skill every day that will bring you forward in the long run.
12. Seek forgiveness rather than permission
Often enough I’ve held myself back from doing something because of the fear of asking countless people for permission if it’s even okay to start. You’re going to write about people, start a website, build a business or maybe create a YouTube channel. Just start. If there are people who have a problem with it, they will let you know. You can always ask for forgiveness.
13. Stop worrying about what other people think of you
Because other people don’t think about you. Let’s be honest again. Everyone has their fears and problems. You will appear at events or have conversations and think about what they think of you. Sure they will get an impression of you but certainly not judge you. Everyone has their own life to deal with. The last thing other people want to do is cause unnecessary stress. So don’t worry so much about other people judging you, because they don’t. People are nice, people are friendly, and people will only worry about themselves. So you go, you go, and stop worrying so much about it.
Recommendation: A reason to stop worrying
14. Whenever you have difficulty with something, ask yourself how difficult can it be?
As Timothy Ferriss likes to say, ‘What would it look like if it were easy?’ If you got a new role at work, and you beat out countless applicants, and you got the role that for many is their dream and yet you have been given that opportunity. You will tell yourself that the new job will be hard. After all, this opportunity is a big deal. It is a big deal. However, you must not forget that you have been chosen. If you always hear yourself saying that it will be hard, you are sabotaging yourself. If you tell yourself that it is doable and that you will make it, it will be easier for you.
15. It is completely okay to skip lectures
Often the lectures are just read from the course catalog anyway, and you get the lecture notes anyway.
You can also just sit down in a cafe and listen to the lecture in peace. Just be careful not to summarize what you read. When you start taking notes you will find yourself reading the entire book so that it sticks. And when you discover the evidence-based study tips, you’ll find that taking notes is largely a waste of time. So don’t try to summarize lecture notes. But don’t think you’re forced to go to lectures, either.
Recommendation: How to really remember everything
16. It is perfectly okay if you are behind on your coursework during the semester
A semester goes for 8 weeks. You’ll be able to keep up for the first 2-3 weeks without any problems. And then it will start to get you behind little by little. You will feel bad and wonder why everyone and anyone around me can keep up. Believe me, they don’t. Your fellow students are just pretty good at hiding it and pretending they can keep up. Remember that the holidays are quite long. You can take your time to catch up on all the material you’ve fallen behind on during the vacations. There is nothing better to do during the vacations anyway. So, during the semester, don’t put learning in the foreground with socializing.
17. If you read the book “The 4-hour work week”, you will realize that you can develop sources of passive income
If you have this thought process, you should follow it up and do these things. Later, when you’re 19 and you’ve put a lot of time and effort into websites and projects, you’ll realize that you won’t be making money for many years. But eight years later you will be glad that you invested some time in these projects to earn some money on the side. If we’re being honest, it’s not even about the money. It’s more about the skills you learn. You try to create something to charge some money. That’s the best life lesson ever.
Recommendation: What I learned from the book “The 4-hour work week”
18. Try to enjoy the journey and not focus so much on the destination
University will be the best time of your life. This time only happens once in your life. It would be a shame if you look back on this time and think, “Damn, I was so focused on getting better grades that I completely forgot to enjoy myself”.
It’s perfectly okay to have goals. It’s perfectly fine to set goals. But don’t forget to enjoy the many pleasures of life.
19. Share your work and yourself with your friends without expecting anything in return
You will quickly realize over the years that everything is much easier when you do it together. Don’t think of life as a single-player game. There’s no reason to compete with other people or your grade level. Rather, think of it as a joint endeavor. And when you share things with other people, don’t worry about it if sometimes nothing comes back. You’ll look back on that time and get that sense of camaraderie. It’s always better to work together and share resources.
20. Accept what you can’t control. Change what you can change
Don’t worry about the things that are out of your control. This will only cause you unnecessary stress, anxiety, and worry. Therefore, focus on the things you can control and do what you can to improve things.
21. Learn to study effectively
You will spend countless hours, days, weeks, or even months using ineffective study techniques. You will think that rereading your notes is useful. You will think that summarizing your notes is helpful. You will think that highlighting important passages in different colors will look nice and be useful. But what you don’t know from your school or university days is that little of it makes sense and much of it won’t get you anywhere. There is a lot of scientific evidence about what makes effective learning.
I hope I could inspire you with the 21 things I wish I had known when I was 21. Feel free to let me know in the comments what your experiences are.
