23 Pieces of Life Advice from 23 Years of Living

Here’s what I’ve learned

Several of these thoughts occurred to me while walking by this canal near my house

I turned 23 this March. Here are the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way.

1. Some things are abundant at the top: money, new destinations, people who like you. Other things are always rare: time, home, people who love you.

You are free if you can afford not to trade the rare for the abundant.

You are wise if you choose not to.

2. If you dream of doing it in 10 years, do it for an hour a day now.

3. Assess a pay cut or raise not as a percentage of what you make, but as a percentage of what you save.

4. Pray for those who need it. It may not help them, but it will help you.

5. Your fears define the boundaries of your being.

6. Anxiety — the anticipation of future hazards — is more unpleasant than actual hazards.

7. The most pivotal project of your life — the project that will change your future forever — will feel as mundane, misguided, and imperfect as any other when you’re doing it.

8. Action creates state.

9. Pay attention to the correlation between how you feel and what you’ve eaten.