Advice to Self

[cjsmith]

Stolen from wordweaverlynn: You, gentle reader, have been given the opportunity to go back in time ten (10) years and tell yourself three (3) things.

What are they?

My answers:


1. Do not get involved with anyone you think needs your help.

2. Sell BRCM. Even if it looks like it's on a rocket to the moon, sell every last share of it as soon as you can.

3. Do all the hiking, running, and backpacking you can possibly stand. Make yourself sick of it. All those grand dreams of hiking the Canyon again, climbing Whitney, running a marathon, and doing Half Dome once every summer -- all those goals of learning yoga some day and going back to aikido -- do every last one of them before age 35 because you will never have another chance.



wordweaverlynn's addition: What are the three words of advice you have for yourself for the next ten years?



1. Keep your long-term goals in mind.

2. Stop caring what others think of you. It's gotten you nowhere so far.

3. Learn how to extricate yourself gracefully from rude people in social settings. It's more pleasant to have this skill than not.

Comments

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

1) Make sure you have a working financial safety net for yourself, regardless of the relationships you are in. Draw firm and clear boundaries about how much support you are willing to offer for how long under certain conditions.

2) See an immunologist and get your immune system tested. Make sincere efforts to live your life in a manner that supports your immune system such as maintaining healthy supportive relationships and reducing stress.

3) Don't go hiking in the woods without covering up and wearing DEET. Lyme Disease is a growing problem in California, and you don't want it.

[tshuma]

Bah. I wanted to go back further than ten years.

[jcgbigler.livejournal.com]

1. This wedding you're planning right now will be one of the best things you'll ever do!


2. The sooner you can really get a handle on your temper/emotional state, the better.


3. Trust your gut instincts, even if your financial planner doesn't agree.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a lot of my advice to myself would have been excellent more than ten years ago as well.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

1 brings a big smile to my face. I remember being there and watching the two of you pledge your commitment to each other. Sometimes, when I go to a wedding, I sort of "cross my fingers and hope for the best"; at yours I had only a confident sense of happiness for you.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

3) - ouch. Yeah. :-(

[eichin.livejournal.com]

My problem with the question is that it goes back before 9/11/01.

If I ignore that, it would probably be
* move even faster on selling RHAT
* beat Ken into doing the same :-)
* make some amount of boring excercise into a habit
and maybe
* don't buy a house when you get a chance, buy a small condo in cambridge and some warehouse space :-)

For the future:
* get started on those big "someday" things already
* be less place-bound
* projects don't count if you don't get far enough along to share them with others - go for completion rather than small partial progress, but *go*

[perfect-autumn.livejournal.com]

1) It will get better. Not for years until after you move out, and things get MUCH MUCH worse, but it will get better.

2) Your father is crazy. Don't waste years trying to make things right. See #1

3) Don't marry the first boy who wants you to. It will be a mistake. An occasionally fun mistake, but still, a mistake.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

1. Tell her everything. *Everything*. If you feel squidgy about telling her, it's probably because you're going too far.

2. Stop fucking around and get yourself onto antidepressants already. You've talked about it for long enough.

3. Don't use the Duboce Street onramp to 80 East if you can possibly avoid it.

[busysuzy.livejournal.com]

My goodness! I could have written those three verbatim.

[perfect-autumn.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping the next ten years won't be quite as... eventful.

[platypus]

1. Library school. Two little words. There's one at the very university you just graduated from, and you could apply while some undergrad professors remember your name well enough to recommend you.

2. Get the dental work started. You will survive it.

3. Don't do anything that will leave scars you won't want to look at later.

[kimatha.livejournal.com]

1. Quit law school and get yourself a job, ANY job, at that little startup, Amazon.com
2. In 1999, exercise all your stock options.
3. Vile Todd is vile.

:)

[ckd]

Assuming that the Time Police won't let you stop Oklahoma City, 9/11, et al:

1. Get an ergonomic keyboard, you idiot.

2. [REDACTED]

3. Stock up on AAPL any time it's under $15.

[ken_r]

Yeah, "sell RHAT and buy BRK and a house" is on the list I've mentally been building since reading CJ's post earlier. (Though not in that order... the house would've been a good idea even before RHAT.)

As is exercise... or, more generally, "form healthier habits", including regular exercise and consuming less junk -- both physically and mentally. Of course, that's one where the course correction would've been easier and more effective if it were more than 10 years ago. During college would've been a good time.

The third... well, if I had some sage advice about personal relationships, romantic and otherwise, it might make the list. I don't have all the answers, or even a lot, though I think I know a little more than I did 10 years ago. (Again, more than 10 years back would be better, maybe even before college.) Not that I could wrap it up in a nice little ball to give to me-of-10-years-ago. Something about being a bit more adventurous and taking risks? Don't procrastinate? Or maybe just the Mega Millions lottery numbers. :-)

I thought about putting something about 9/11 on the list, but that's not exactly "advice to self"...

For the future? Still working on that....

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

10 years, at this point in time, would take me back to an awkward period. I had been working at $FormerEmployer for 2 years and hadn't made it into management yet. If I told myself to do some things differently, like telling myself to go back to school then, would we have discovered polyamory, would I have traveled as much as I would? I certainly wouldn't have tried to be a professional photographer for a couple of years. Not sure I can think of what I would really tell myself.

[sharya.livejournal.com]

This is a great meme... I might have to repost it :P

1) The winning numbers to the 649
2) That my marriage to Jason will become a happy one, and buying a house and having kids when we are ready will change it for the better.
3) That my time with my father will be limited, so enjoy it while he has his health.

Advice:
1) Finish what you start - it makes you feel so much better about yourself.
2) Take the time for the little things - remember how good you felt on your mat leave when you slowed down and actually stopped to smell the roses/baby poop.
3) Spend the time with my loved ones now because they may not be around in "a few years" when it "gets less hectic". It will never get less hectic, and more time will never suddenly appear. Time that isn't spent with them is time lost, never to be regained.
3)

[msmichelle.livejournal.com]

1. I grok your #2.
2. Stop fighting/putting energy into relationships that never existed in the first place (ie: parents). Be true to yourself. Learn to love and be loved.
3. Use your 20 something years to live fearlessly. And then parlay that into a tamer, yet still fearless 30-something and beyond...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Vile Todd is vile.

HAHAHAHA! :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It will never get less hectic, and more time will never suddenly appear.

That is sooooooo true. I keep falling into this trap as well, and it is taking me a long time to learn that there's never "a better time". The time is now.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

1. Keep documents well-organized [you'd be amazed at how much grief this has caused me over the years]
2. Don't procrastinate [yeah, good luck on that one!]
3. Keep in touch with people better