100% endorse this idea! When I think back to my 20s, the "risk taking" really cued me up for success.
Taking a year-long overseas trip after college showed me other ways of living and engraved incredible independence in me.
That made it easier to quit my first job, a boring engineering grindfest, and try a series of (failed) businesses before landing on one that gave me time and financial independence in my early 30s. Even if some (most?) of it was just luck due to low interest rates and a growing economy, getting my hat in the ring was the ticket.
Far riskier to NOT try a bunch of things in our 20s, if you ask me! At the very least, we end up with entertaining stories of failure (god damn multi-level marketing companies...ask me how I know...).
Blowing up your life to take risks at 32 is hard. I wish I quit earlier and poorer. People dont actually think I’m serious. But they completely miss the energy part of the equation too. The insane energy I had at 27 was wasted on PowerPoint slides.
yep, for sure. I got two kids now and the notion of going on a 7 day hike is crazy. at the same time, it’s just a different kind of adventure. I wouldn’t trade my current life and opportunities for anything; just different, so go make the most out of each phase of life.
21, graduated from college this April, taking the risk of pursuing my dream, as goal. Failure is inevitable, and any job is hard, so i figured I'd rather put in all that hard work into something i genuinely love. Yes, its hard to hear the shit i get for being unemployed, but 6 months or 1 year of unemployment is better than lifelong imprisonment of not doing what i love. Thanks for the reminder to keep going.
A huge "risk" I recently took was to delay working full-time after graduating from college and go on some exciting adventures. I was fortunate to have several possible start dates for my full-time job, and the latest one (which I selected) gave me 9 months after graduation to explore and have fun.
In the seven-ish months since, I've fulfilled my lifelong dream of traveling around the UK to visit some close study abroad friends, thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, and did a work stay on a banana farm in Hawaii. All were extremely fun, but more importantly, I grew a ton during these eye-opening experiences and now appreciate that the end goal of working is to do what you enjoy. I'm still working on the work-on-something-meaningful bit, but I feel a lot closer to that goal now than ever before.
Yes, and if you do make a change, it'll still probably take a lot longer than you think it will. I was a public school teacher in my twenties, and decided to move into technology. It took about a half decade to build the skills, experiences, and connections that I needed to fully get up to make the move. If I were to start that now at age 37, I do think it'd still be possible, but the pressure of life weighs a lot harder at this point.
100% endorse this idea! When I think back to my 20s, the "risk taking" really cued me up for success.
Taking a year-long overseas trip after college showed me other ways of living and engraved incredible independence in me.
That made it easier to quit my first job, a boring engineering grindfest, and try a series of (failed) businesses before landing on one that gave me time and financial independence in my early 30s. Even if some (most?) of it was just luck due to low interest rates and a growing economy, getting my hat in the ring was the ticket.
Far riskier to NOT try a bunch of things in our 20s, if you ask me! At the very least, we end up with entertaining stories of failure (god damn multi-level marketing companies...ask me how I know...).
19 year-old here. I have read your advice and will endeavor to implement it.
Best of luck Micah - wishing you a great decade
Blowing up your life to take risks at 32 is hard. I wish I quit earlier and poorer. People dont actually think I’m serious. But they completely miss the energy part of the equation too. The insane energy I had at 27 was wasted on PowerPoint slides.
But I bet those were some great PowerPoint slides…
They were bangers
yep, for sure. I got two kids now and the notion of going on a 7 day hike is crazy. at the same time, it’s just a different kind of adventure. I wouldn’t trade my current life and opportunities for anything; just different, so go make the most out of each phase of life.
Yes - absolutely true. I wish someone had told me that too. Thank you for writing as always!
23 and bearing the consequences of previous risks taken
21, graduated from college this April, taking the risk of pursuing my dream, as goal. Failure is inevitable, and any job is hard, so i figured I'd rather put in all that hard work into something i genuinely love. Yes, its hard to hear the shit i get for being unemployed, but 6 months or 1 year of unemployment is better than lifelong imprisonment of not doing what i love. Thanks for the reminder to keep going.
A huge "risk" I recently took was to delay working full-time after graduating from college and go on some exciting adventures. I was fortunate to have several possible start dates for my full-time job, and the latest one (which I selected) gave me 9 months after graduation to explore and have fun.
In the seven-ish months since, I've fulfilled my lifelong dream of traveling around the UK to visit some close study abroad friends, thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, and did a work stay on a banana farm in Hawaii. All were extremely fun, but more importantly, I grew a ton during these eye-opening experiences and now appreciate that the end goal of working is to do what you enjoy. I'm still working on the work-on-something-meaningful bit, but I feel a lot closer to that goal now than ever before.
Thanks for the great piece, Nat!
so real.. now 30 and wish i was riskier.. and now i have more responsibility of my mother and things..
Yes, and if you do make a change, it'll still probably take a lot longer than you think it will. I was a public school teacher in my twenties, and decided to move into technology. It took about a half decade to build the skills, experiences, and connections that I needed to fully get up to make the move. If I were to start that now at age 37, I do think it'd still be possible, but the pressure of life weighs a lot harder at this point.