HN Explorer

Ask HN: What would you tell your 16-year-old self?

29 points by ejsaz ↗ HN
Hi. I turn 16 this month.

I'm not any kind of wünderkind, young entrepreneur, anything like that. I know a few programming languages (but I'm not sure if I know how to program yet, if you know what I mean). There are a lot of questions that one has to ask themselves when they're at this age about their future: where they're going to go for university/college, what to do after education, things like that. I'm currently uncertain of any of the answers. After reading HN for a while, I've become interested in startups and startup culture, though I'm unsure if I want to be an entrepreneur myself, or if I do, what kind.

Being uncertain, it helps if someone who's been through it all could offer even the fewest words of wisdom. Since I find some similarities between myself and the people in the community that I observe here, I figured that I could get something out of answers to the question: if you had a conversation with your 16-year-old self, what'd you say?

71 comments

[ 0.27 ms ] story [ 176 ms ] thread
tshtf
I'd be just as interested in what my 16-year-old self says to me now. It would be an interesting conversation.
rayhano
Yes, I've often read through old notes not recognising who that person is. It would be great to see their point of view on many things.
ams6110
Do stuff you like. The rest works itself out.
msvan
I'd say don't sweat it. Make sure to not focus too much on computers. Programming/entrepreneurship is great and interesting, but I know that I spent a lot of my early teens as a loner in front of my computer screen.

Also, I'd say finish. Whatever it is that you do, finish it. Don't let abandoning stuff become a habit.

ejsaz
Thanks. This resonates with me.
mindcrime
I'd tell myself to be a lot more aggressive and to tell anybody who says "good things come to those who wait" to go fuck themselves. I'd give my 16 year old self a copy of The Game as well, along with a stack of Ross Jeffries and David DeAngelo material. I'd tell myself to take the entrepreneurial step a LOT sooner, and I'd hammer on myself to get serious about investing a lot sooner.
thedrbrian
Next weeks euromillions numbers. And don't go to uni unless you really really want to. Learn to fly , travel the world or something.
DMVer2
Say yes to adventure, maybe to danger, no to complacency
rhizome
It's different for everybody.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
onedev
You probably overestimate the things that don't matter and underestimate the things that do.
falk
Get away from the computer screen.
ejsaz
Hah! I've certainly been doing that more often, particularly this summer.
kyro
Do not compare yourself to others. Life is not a race. Read as much as you can. Learn about finances. Find a mentor. Pick one or two hobbies and seriously pursue them. Your smarts will take you nowhere. Become disciplined. Stop drinking sugary sodas. Steal money from dad and invest in Apple.
j45
Have fun building interesting, useful and problem solving things. Do not have an ego of any problem being too small to solve, you'll have lots of friends in your 20's one day who talk a lot and don't do much.

Ignore everyone, their standards, and set/pursue your own standards and curiosities.

You will meet many people older than you that are full of their own doubts, and think they can't beat their own doubts so they might get you doubting yourself. Run like hell whenever someone shows this.

Read PG's essay geared to students, it sums up a lot of the great mentoring advice I got when I was 16 and doing things I had no business doing at that age:

http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html

Ps., the above essay isn't just for any startup ideas, but anything you tinker around with and pursue.

whiddershins
Personal connections matter oh, so much more, than you can conceive of at your age. Never permanently alienate anyone.

And do stuff. Otherwise, unless you are a publicist or salesperson, the knowing people thing creates opportunities but you have no way to capitalize on those opportunities or create your own identity.

Unusual successes is built on emphasizing strengths, not trying to eliminate weakness. People who achieve real success generally do so by being extremely good at at least one thing. If you are truly world class at something useful, you can achieve tremendous success.

The upper limit of a person's success, however, is almost always set by a weakness. This is inevitable, as it is extremely hard to see your true weaknesses, so don't obsess over your failings, therein lies the road to despair. But do keep an eye out for stuff you avoid or are afraid of, and if you get a chance, address it.

tansey
Do NOT do things because they may make you rich. When people say that kind of thing, I always imagined doing jobs I would hate, but that wasn't the case. Building machine learning models to play poker, doing quant work for a hedge fund, and co-founding startups were all a ton of fun and really interesting. That allowed me to rationalize the decisions.

I'm just now coming out of that 10-year streak. I knew when I was 16 that I wanted to do AI for medicine. At 28, I'm finally doing it.

Also, start rock climbing. You'll be such a bad ass at 28 with 12 years of experience. :)

kpapke
I would tell him to take a close look at his friends and figure out which ones are not good influences. You don't want any "idiots in your boat". I once heard a guy say this and it's so true: "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future."
amyunus
Do not afraid to be failed. It is one of the ways to win by learning to your failure. One more thing.. make (appropriate) jokes.
neilk
Here's some meta-advice: most old people are filled with regret, and envy the young. They don't remember what it's really like to be a teenager. They probably don't even know what the real foundations of their successes and failures were. Be very careful following advice.

Instead you should try to find someone worth emulating, in their general attitude towards life.

ejsaz
I remember someone writing something along the lines of (I think I read this from an article I found on HN actually):

When people tell you advice, they tell you some useful bits, but they also include everything they wished they'd done, and everything that their friends told them.

Yeah, I'm pretty careful.

X4
That's very true, you're well prepared. Much better than most teenagers I know.
dageshi
Be careful with your eyes. If you spend a lot of time at your computer screen, really figure out good sitting posture, screen distance, screen brightness e.t.c. When you're young, that stuff doesn't really matter, but bit by bit over time it can really start to fuck you up and you won't even realise why.

Not the most profound thing I suppose, but your eyesight is really important so try not to put more strain on them then necessary.

majc2
Also, be careful with your ears!
moorage
Seek out mentors ASAP. Don't be shy to ask the best & brightest you know.
krisc
Don't listen to your parents. Get a job; the sooner you learn the value of a dollar, the better. Talk to girls. Go to paulgraham.com.
sharp11
Find out what you love to do. You can't do that just by reading, but only by doing.

Find your community.

Apprentice somewhere.

Take advantage of youth as a time to do and try a lot of things. Get outside your comfort zone.

What you know how to do is much more important than what degrees you have.

artificialidiot
"The game is rigged. Don't work till you drop, it doesn't matter. Enjoy your short and pitiful life while you can."
dictum
There will never be a Big Day when everything in your life will be aligned and when you'll have all you want and need.

This is both depressing and liberating, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't work on your plans and have a greater purpose. It means you should enjoy the moment, and enjoy your current situation even while you work on things for your future.

krmmalik
1. Read Books. Alot. On life, programming, startups, entrepreneurship, design, health and finance. 2. Get a ton of deliberate exercise as much as you can 3. Time infront of the computer should be for building or learning, not playing games or surfing 4. Try a simple business. Any business 5. Travel 6. Learn a martial art 7. Swim alot 8. Watch the top 30 films in the AFI 100 9. Go to bed on time every night. 10. Do an extreme sport
sept
Speed-reading (applicable to most non-fiction) helps with #1. Yes, it works. The brain can derive meaning faster than we can speak or mechanically move our eyes. Basic SR techniques can be picked up in a few days of practice and self-timing of reading speed. Given increasing advances in mobile sensors, we'll soon realize the value of optimizing how we use our biological sensors.
krmmalik
I tried it. I learned speed reading at a pretty young age, so I can do it, but for now I feel it's not right for me. I'm reading books to contend the points presented, really understand why the author is saying what they're saying and understand how that affects my life and what i need to do to change. While i might able to derive what is being said very quickly, i dont feel i can go through the whole thought process so fast. I need to take my time with each chapter and really absorb it before moving onto the next.
EugeneOZ
I would say: "Don't play world of warcraft and other MMORPGs, noobass, read books".