[Serious] What lives advice can you give to a 19-year-old guy?

1) The male ideal is fictional. Focus on what you love and what you're good at, and you have an idea of what those ideals look like. For example: If I want to expend my energy on being a good son, I must call my parents once a week and see them at least once a month. This is obviously MY version of what a good son does, and it differs from person to person. Another example would be CFA. I'm not a CFA yet, though I know to become an ideal CFA I must keep studying and perfecting my science of financial analysis. Eventually I will become my ideal of a CFA. The culmination of these ideals that are truly important to YOU will mold you into your ideal male. Don't try to do it all, we are humans after all and specialization is key to success.

2) The reason why specialization is key to success is because it provides you with a circle of competence, in which you have the knowledge required to perform a service or trade. Outside your circle of competence, others specialize to assist you in your shortcomings. Be humble while residing in your circle, be quiet outside of it so that you may learn something new and extend the boundaries of your circle.

3) Distractions and influences are all around us. This can come in the form of women, social pressures, stigmas and even from within, in the form of insecurities. The stronger you make your circle by focusing on your ideals, the less of an impact these influences will have on you. This is because you are creating a totem of yourself. You do not need others to define you, the man, your ideal, because you are your own ideal. Don't be afraid to go "monk-mode" and staying single to focus on yourself. You'd be surprised how much time I freed up to read, go hiking, study, etc. The thin line of productivity separates loneliness and solidarity. Herman Hesse: Siddhartha is a good read for this.

4) Don't save your money. Invest it. Every independent person can benefit from financial literacy, and it is a skill that most haven't grasped in our consumer/credit world. I found reading about the history of our financial system really put everything I've learned about securities into perspective. G. Edward Griffin: Creature from Jekyll Island is a solid read for this. Follow it up with some basic financial literacy books like Dave Ramsey: Total Money Makeover or The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham.

4) Realize that by really justifying your existence by creating the ideal you and working towards it, you are already ahead of the majority of your peers around you. You can be a janitor, but have the mental fortitude to have excellent attention to detail and be the best damn janitor the world has ever seen. That is the true meaning of a professional and it's your job to be a professional you.

I hope this helps. I wish someone slapped my across the face as a 19 year old Marine and said this to me. I think I'd have saved myself a lot of trouble and time. Better late than never. Pay it forward.

/r/AskReddit Thread