One of my favorite things is sharing wisdom with young whippersnappers who are just getting into the real world.
Mostly because I never had that sort of thing.
I was pretty lost.
And getting advice from someone who had already “been there” would have been nice.
So with that said…
I know there’s a lot of kids graduating from highschool and college right now.
Here’s a few pieces of advice I’d love to give ’em…
1. If you want to do something on your own – like starting a business, becoming a copywriter… NOW is the time to do it.
Why?
Because as you get older, you start to have more responsibilites.
A few years from now you might have a wife, a kid, a house…
When you have all of these responsibilities do you think you’ll be interested in starting a business?
Nope.
My suggestion is to do it now.
And do whatever you have to do on the side to pay your bills.
My fall back was always bartending.
If things went south, I was gonna work on my websites during the day and bartend at night.
And you can do the same.
But I highly suggest that you go after what you want now while you have less responsibility.
2. Invest in yourself.
It took me a LONG time to realize that the investments I made in myself always had the biggest ROI.
For example, when I hired David Deutsch to be my copywriting coach in 2014, my income went from $220k -> $750k -> $2.2 million in just three years.
Think that was a good ROI?
Yep.
It changed my life.
Cause it gave me a REAL skill that I used to make a lot of money.
Anything you can do to sharpen your skills is worth the investment.
The ROI is massive.
3. Don’t be an idiot with your money
The first year I made 6-figures I did what every dumb 25 year-old does…
I spent a lot of it.
I leased a $55,000 Jeep Commander…
I spent $200 a night at the bar…
I was just dumb with money.
Luckily for me, I saved a little bit of it.
Cause the year after that, I was back down to making like $30k a year.
So I needed that money to get by.
The main thing I’d say is that you need to live below your means.
If you’re making $50k a year, don’t be living like someone who makes $100k a year.
This is your best chance to live frugally and invest that money in getting more skills.
4. You have to learn about investing if you want to become rich
I didn’t know a damn thing about investing until I was about 33.
I just thought you were supposed to pick stocks and hope they go up.
Big mistake.
There’s a little thing called an index fund (which is meant to mimic the entire stock market).
Over time, index funds have consistently produced steady 8-9% returns.
This is what you want to invest in.
You’re not going to beat the market picking stocks…
Or buying Bitcoin…
You want to invest in index funds.
And you want to do it when you’re young.
The difference between investing when you’re 25 versus 35 is night and day.
The earlier you can start, the better.
This is all stuff I wish someone had told me.
Luckily for you there’s a lot more resources out there now.
The two books I recommend every young person read are…
Ramit Sethi’s “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”
and…
John Bogle’s “Common Sense Investing”
They will teach you everything you need to know about money and investing.
5. It’s OK to not go down the traditional job, marriage, kids route
Your parents are always going to want you to go down the traditional route.
They see that as the “safest”.
So if you decide to be an entrepreneur…
Or you decide to work at a low-paying job to learn some skills, they probably won’t understand.
Most people in their early 20’s think you need to get a good job…
Then you need to get married…
Then you need to have kids…
And you’ll have it all at that point.
Honestly that’s complete horseshit.
Simply following a plan because everyone else follows it is not smart.
Cause the majority of people are not happy.
They’re in a job they hate…
They’re relationship is a wreck…
They’re in debt up to their eyeballs…
Why the hell would you want to do the same thing they’re doing?
If job, marriage, kids is the thing for you, then by all means do it.
But I want to stress…
Don’t feel like you have to!
There will be a lot of pressure for you to follow this path.
Mom will want grandkids…
And she’ll want to show off your success.
But if that’s not for you at this time…
Then don’t follow it.
Don’t waste your time trying to live someone else’s vision for your life.
6. Your 20’s is a time to have fun, make mistakes, and figure out what you like
Your 20’s is your first decade as a real adult.
You’re away from your parents…
And making decisions on your own.
It’s time for you to figure out what YOU like.
Not what your parents like.
And that usually comes from making mistakes and taking chances.
The nice thing about your 20’s is most of your mistakes won’t matter in the long run.
Date someone that turns out to be nuts?
Doesn’t really matter.
Stay up drinking until 4 AM?
Doesn’t really matter.
Waste $1000 on a pyramid scheme?
Doesn’t really matter.
You can make mistakes in your 20’s and recover from them.
That’s kind of what your 20’s are for.
Having fun…
Making new friends…
And figuring out what YOU like.
It’s a chance for you to get away from all the pre-programmed stuff that your parents were into…
And figure out what YOU want.
You really don’t get this kind of freedom to make mistakes and try new things again.
So I would take advantage of it…
I could prolly add a lot more to this list.
But those are the top things on my mind.
Basically all things I wish someone would have helped me with when I was in my early 20’s.
I’m curious is there anything you’d add to this list?
If so, shoot me a reply and let me know.
– Justin
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