You don’t know dick about shit at 23 (not insulting you) and you mostly don’t realize how much you don’t know. You’ll start to feel like you’ve got things somewhat figured out as you’re getting to your thirties. This was something I discussed with multiple friends as we each observed it in our own lives.

It’s fun to blow all your money at 23 with your friends, but you’ll be better off if you start saving some now. You never know what’s around the corner and you can run into massively expensive problems that get compounded when you aren’t able to address them properly. My brother told me that when his electricity got shut off around the same age, he couldn’t pay to turn it back on cause he kept having to buy candles for light. Better to have enough money to get the power back on, but you can’t do that when you’re barely getting by and haven’t set anything aside for a rainy day.

It costs more to be poor than rich. Same as the previous example, a rich person will buy a really nice set of boots and they’ll last basically forever. A poor person will keep having to buy new boots every time the cheap ones wear out. Save up and get the nice version of things when it makes sense, like kitchenware. Spend at William Sonoma and it’ll be the last one of that thing you ever need.

If you’re interested in something, get into it and spend a good amount of time becoming proficient with it. It’s deeply satisfying to be really good at a craft or to have a really deep understanding of a topic. It will be rewarding in and of itself.

Everyone feels the same way you do. We’re all scared and embarrassed and worried and anxious etc. The person who seems to have everything figured out goes home at the end of the day and stresses out just like you do. My father told me that he knew such a person (had everything figured out) and then upon reading that person’s memoire, realized he had all the human emotions and struggles that my dad had and it changed his life. It’s kinda like that. I promise.

A small number of really close and trusted friends will do more for most people than being popular and having a lot of somewhat trusted friends.

Take care of your body. You’ll be old tomorrow and wonder what happened to all that time that just happened. Not in a doom and gloom way, it just happens gradually and suddenly you notice. I’ve still got a lot of time left, but as I noticed myself struggle a bit getting in and out of a very tight space in a parking lot, I got a little bit winded. I remember when I could hike up a steep hill while smoking a cig no problem and it irritated my buddy that was getting winded. Sure, that was years ago, but this stuff sneaks up on ya a bit. I’m better off in this area because we don’t eat much bad food that would make me unhealthy and it helps.

That’s what I’ve got for ya off the dome. Hope there’s something useful or helpful here. Good luck!