Lessons for Your 20s

Key Lessons

Build Up Your Assets in Order

• Intellectual Capital

  • Invest in yourself and your learning.
  • Read books, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos.
  • For example: "How to Win Friends and Influence People."
  • Invest in courses or mentors to fast-track learning and skill development.

• Social Capital

  • Use your intellectual capital to help others (mentoring, offering services).
  • Digitize your knowledge to reach more people (e.g., YouTube channel).
  • Build a rich network to attract opportunities.

• Human Capital

  • Recruit others to join your cause.
  • Easier to enlist talent after building social capital.

• Financial Capital

  • Comes after other forms of capital are established.
  • Use intellectual, social, and human capital to accelerate financial growth.
  • More effective than saving and investing small amounts in your 20s.

Work Hard and Achieve Your Dreams Early

• Acquiring what you want teaches you what truly matters.
• Quote from Naval Ravikant: "We have two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one."

Understand Projections

• What others project onto you is a reflection of them, not you.
• Learn to filter feedback without taking it personally.

Stop Idolizing

• Respect and excitement are good, but do not devalue yourself.
• Maintain your own value and status.
• Don’t lower yourself or act against your values for others or material possessions.

Separate Work from Self-Worth

• It’s normal to question the quality of your work but don’t question your own value.
• Avoid tying self-worth to work to prevent self-sabotage.

Act on Excitement

• Do things while you're still passionate about them to avoid regrets.
• Overthinking can kill excitement and opportunity.

Take Risks Early

• More time to recover from mistakes in your 20s.
• High-risk decisions can lead to significant rewards.

Go Deep Instead of Wide

• Explore broadly if you’re unsure, but focus deeply on what you excel at.
• Deep skills development can lead to becoming world-class and successful.

Embrace Being Lost

• Being lost is a process of growth and self-discovery, not a crisis.
• Reframe being lost as an opportunity for new beginnings.

Importance of Politics

• Understand your rights and be aware of political issues affecting you.
• Stay informed for better decision-making in various aspects of life.

Evolving Values

• Accept that your values will change over time.
• Align external environment with evolving values to avoid burnout.

Maintain Friendships

• Don’t abandon friends on your personal development journey.
• Lift others up and share resources rather than developing an ego and thinking you are above them.

Learn Family Stories

• Ask family members about their lives to understand your origins.
• Collecting family stories can provide insights into yourself.