Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

I’m nearly 35 years old, and I’ve made my share of mistakes in my life. I’m not a bigbeliever in regrets … and I have learned tremendously from every single mistake … andmy life is pretty great.However, there are a few things I wish I had known when I was graduating from highschool and starting out as an adult in life.Would I change things? I’m not so sure. I might never have gotten into a mountain ofdebt, but then I wouldn’t have learned the amazing satisfaction of getting out of it. Imight have made better career choices, but then I wouldn’t have all the work experiencethat makes me the blogger and writer that I am today.I might not have gotten married that first time, so that I would never have gotten divorced… but then I wouldn’t have my first two beautiful wonderful incredible children from thatfirst marriage.I don’t think I would change any of that. However, looking back, there are some lessonsI’ve learned that I would probably tell my 18-year-old self. Do I share them now to share

my regrets? No, I share them in hopes that younger men and women, just starting out inlife, can benefit from my mistakes and my lessons.What follows isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s one that I hope proves useful to at least afew people.“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it.” - Jack Handey1. How to control impulse spending. If there’s anything that got me in troublefinancially, it’s impulse spending. Buying clothes when I don’t need them. Buyinggadgets because I gotta have them. Ordering stuff online because it’s so easy. Buyingthat new shiny SUV because … well, because it was going to help me with women. I’mnot proud of any of that. I’ve learned to control my impulses, at least a little better. Now, Igive myself some time to breathe. I think over my purchases, see if I’ve got the money,think about whether it’s a need or a want. That would have been a useful tool 15 yearsago.2. You gotta stay active. I was in track, cross country and basketball in high school,but once I started college, the running and basketball began to slowly fade away. Not

right away — I played pick-up basketball for years after high school. But even that wentaway, until I became sedentary. Playing with my kids outdoors winded me. And I beganto get fat. I’ve reversed that trend, and am very active now, but I’m still trying to burn thefat I gained in those inactive years.3. How to plan finances. I always knew that I was supposed to budget and track myspending, when I became an adult. I just was too lazy to do it. And I didn’t have a goodidea of how to actually do it. Now, I’ve learned how to plan, and how to stick to that plan.Sure, I deviate from my plan, but I’ve learned how to handle that too. Maybe that’s not askill you can learn from book reading. You just gotta practice. Well, I hope to teach it tomy children before they go out on their own.4. Junk food will come back to bite you in the butt. Yeah, it wasn’t just the sedentarylifestyle that got me fat. It was all the damn junk food too. I would eat pizza and burgersand Twinkies and sugar cereal and desserts and donuts and … well, you get the picture.As someone used to being able to eat whatever I wanted, it never seemed like it wouldbe a problem. Bad health was something to worry about when you got old. Well, my jeans began to get way too tight, and to my horror, I climbed several pants sizes anddeveloped a gut that only now is going away. I wish someone had shown me an “after”picture when I was young and downing the Big Gulp sodas.