[hooande]

If I could talk to my younger self I would say: "All of the things that you care about are completely meaningless. The school assignments, girls, money for the weekend...none of it matters, not even a little bit. Gather knowledge on how to make things that help people. Start now and never stop."

This question leads to another...why don't people tell these things to their kids?

"You don't have to wait to grow up to do great things. Do something now."

"Embrace the mistakes. They eventually pay off."

"What makes you "different" makes you AMAZING!"

Parents NEVER say these things. Parents say "do your homework", "practice the piano", "be nice to your sister". If, god forbid, I ever have a child I will have a very difficult time resisting the urge to tell him or her what life is really about. If I knew then what I know now... how could I keep that same valuable knowledge from someone I care about?

[stephengillie]

I think most parents don't tell that to their children because it's so demoralizing. How do you feel when someone tells you that everything you care about is meaningless? When I've heard that, it makes my life feel meaningless, like I should just give up now.

The rest is directly countered by teachers and classmates in public school. You're told you can't do things until you're older, and mistakes and differences are punished.

[BadassFractal]

This is very relevant to me. As someone who's doing the SV startup thing full time, spending all of my waking hours on learning / doing stuff / meeting people, am I seriously not going to regret taking a dump on my 20s in 10 or 20 years? Am I not going to regret missing out on youth, girls, fun and so on, if I spend all of these years working on achieving my dreams?

[LOLtampicoLOL]

Make a commitment to balance. I partied very hard in my teens and 20s and regret nothing. Some of my friends worked on professional degrees and are now late 20s early 30s trying to recover what they can of their youth. Another set of friends still pour their energy into partying but worry about money. For energetic people, the most important thing is balance. Work effectively, party hard, don't listen to too many people, be brave and don't make their concerns yours.

[twfarland]

Some people do tell these things to their kids. Really.