{"id":752,"date":"2015-03-28T19:44:59","date_gmt":"2015-03-28T14:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abhinav.spsdarj.org\/?p=752"},"modified":"2016-10-29T23:29:40","modified_gmt":"2016-10-29T17:59:40","slug":"25-things-ive-learned-about-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/2015\/03\/25-things-ive-learned-about-life\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Things I’ve Learned About Life: Post by Derrick Fung."},"content":{"rendered":"

When I turned 25 a few months ago, I wrote down some of the things I’ve learned over my short time on earth. The last year has been a crazy roller-coaster ride which has enabled me to see certain things like never before. Last year during this time, I was working at what I would consider my “dream job” – well, before I discovered my current “job” (I don’t think I can even call it a job). Over the last year, I’ve tried to learn from people who have “made it” in life – entrepreneurs, figureheads, lawyers, bankers and even politicians. I’ve realized that there is no formula to success in life, but there are definitely lessons that can be learned to help along the journey. I came up with the following list which I hope to someday come back to – but for now, I think it’s a pretty accurate depiction of how I think. So without further adieu:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Take risks when you’re young. The older you become, the harder it gets. But they should always be calculated.<\/li>\n
  2. The most important thing you learn in school is how <\/i>to learn. Once you master that, nothing will stand in your way. Never stop learning.<\/li>\n
  3. I would rather say that I tried and failed than live a life of regret. You miss every shot you don’t take.<\/li>\n
  4. Dream big. Life is too short to only be mediocre.<\/li>\n
  5. Music is the cheapest and simplest cure to life’s problems. Queue up your favourite play list, put on some headphones, and take a walk. You’ll instantly feel better.<\/li>\n
  6. Drink beer. Lots of it. It makes you think more creatively. Oh, and wine too.<\/li>\n
  7. Join clubs and put yourself in as many different social settings as possible. It will help you understand people and make you a better communicator.<\/li>\n
  8. Start your own business as young as possible. Even if it’s a lemonade stand, it will teach you business lessons you’ll use for the rest of your life.<\/li>\n
  9. If you’re going to fail, fail fast and make it public. Don’t drag it on. Then pick yourself back up. Knowing that others watched you fail will encourage you to prove them wrong.<\/li>\n
  10. Meet lots of different people. Life is serendipitous in many ways and you never know what can happen.<\/li>\n
  11. When life throws lemons at you, make lemonade. Then pour it for all your friends. Be optimistic. It spreads like wild fire.<\/li>\n
  12. Success does not lead to happiness. You need to be happy first before you can become successful. Find what makes you happy. Don’t stop until you find it.<\/li>\n
  13. Many people don’t want to start businesses because they are scared. Successful entrepreneurs got to where they are because they were willing to tread where others wouldn’t. If you’re too scared to leave your 9-5 job, entrepreneurship is not meant for you.<\/li>\n
  14. Surround yourself with people way smarter than you. That is the only way you will be challenged to grow.<\/li>\n
  15. Only those who are with you during the struggles deserve to be with you when you celebrate the successes.<\/li>\n
  16. Pick and choose your battles carefully. There are only 24 hours in a day. If something isn’t worth your time, just say no…or outsource it to India \ud83d\ude09 (thank you 4 Hour Workweek<\/a>. PDF Link:\u00a0the-4-hour-work-week-timothy-ferriss<\/a><\/span>)<\/li>\n
  17. The most important asset to invest in is yourself. Take classes to make yourself a better person and never stop learning. Buy books. Lots of them.<\/li>\n
  18. True friends will never question why you disappeared off the face of the earth. They will be there for you unconditionally.<\/li>\n
  19. The more comfortable you are with a job you don’t want to be doing, the harder it will become to leave it and chase your dreams. Learn what you can, then go change the world.<\/li>\n
  20. A dream job does not exist. You have to create it.<\/li>\n
  21. Travel as much as you can. You will come back with a wider perspective of the world and more ideas on how to change it.<\/li>\n
  22. “Thank You” – the most powerful two words in the English dictionary.<\/li>\n
  23. God gave us all a purpose. Don’t settle until you find yours. I didn’t think mine was to sit in front of computer screens and trade foreign exchange, so I kept looking.<\/li>\n
  24. The world may seem big and scary. But the older you get, the more you realize that everything is man-made. Nothing is set in stone. Don’t stick with the status quo.<\/li>\n
  25. Life is not easy. But having the right support group with you during your journey goes a long, long way.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When I turned 25 a few months ago, I wrote down some of the things I’ve learned over my short time on earth. The last year has been a crazy roller-coaster ride which has enabled me to see certain things like never before. Last year during this time, I was working at what I would…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[231],"class_list":["post-752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quora-post","tag-pdf"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KGvB-c8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":854,"url":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/2015\/11\/what-should-one-do-in-their-20s-to-avoid-regrets-in-their-30s-and-40s\/","url_meta":{"origin":752,"position":0},"title":"What should one do in their 20s to avoid regrets in their 30s and 40s?","author":"Abhinav","date":"November 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Answer by Dirk Hooper:I've given this question a lot of thought, so I'm grateful to have the opportunity to answer it... and have the chance to compose my ideas on the subject.I think there are things that I could have done in my 20s that would have put me light\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life stuff"","block_context":{"text":"Life stuff","link":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/category\/life-stuff\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":673,"url":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/2015\/02\/what-are-some-of-the-great-examples-of-coincidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":752,"position":1},"title":"What are some of the great examples of coincidence?","author":"Abhinav","date":"February 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Answer by Anonymous: Two years ago my ex-girlfriend dumped me because I had 'no future' and i was focusing much on my start-up which according to her wasn't going anywhere. Just last week, her current boyfriend applied for a job we advertised. Small world. What are some of the great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Motivate"","block_context":{"text":"Motivate","link":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/category\/motivate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1254,"url":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/2016\/12\/new-year-new-look-new-url-new-goodness\/","url_meta":{"origin":752,"position":2},"title":"New year, New look, New URL, New goodness","author":"Abhinav","date":"December 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Woo Hoo! FInally I've migrated to an own domain for this site that has always been my side chick! :D So yeah. dumped the old subdomain freeloading off of spsdarj.org and moved to... err... another free domain. But this time, things are real. Top level domain better than sub-domain bullshit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life stuff"","block_context":{"text":"Life stuff","link":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/category\/life-stuff\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":986,"url":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/2016\/08\/what-was-anudeep-nekkantis-competitive-programming-strategy-to-become-35th-in-global-ranking-in-just-6-7-months\/","url_meta":{"origin":752,"position":3},"title":"What was Anudeep Nekkanti’s Competitive Programming strategy to become 35th in Global ranking, in just 6-7 months?","author":"Abhinav","date":"August 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Answer by Anudeep Nekkanti: What I did ? Solved about 300 problems on SPOJ in this order - Sphere Online Judge (SPOJ) Result ? Became very good with C++ and STL Got introduced to most Competitive programming KEYWORDS (like DP, maxflow, sets, hashing, etc) Learned Standard Problems and Algorithms Indenting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Knowledge"","block_context":{"text":"Knowledge","link":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/category\/knowledge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":817,"url":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/2015\/04\/how-do-mit-students-study-for-their-courses\/","url_meta":{"origin":752,"position":4},"title":"How do MIT students study for their courses?","author":"Abhinav","date":"April 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Answer by Michael Fu:I find that my studying routine for classes at MIT depends largely on 3 factors: 1) how difficult the concepts are to grasp, 2) how much content there is to learn, and frankly, 3) how much I care about my grade in the class. However, for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life stuff"","block_context":{"text":"Life stuff","link":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/category\/life-stuff\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":813,"url":"https:\/\/abhinavkr.com\/musings\/2015\/04\/what-are-the-most-difficult-and-useful-things-people-have-to-learn-in-their-20s-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":752,"position":5},"title":"What are the most difficult and useful things people have to learn in their 20s?","author":"Abhinav","date":"April 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Answer by Elarie Mashi:Roman's 65 Rules for Success - The Daily DaterRoman\u2019s Rules for Success, Happiness, and an Awesome LifeNever get more than 9 hours of sleep, or less than 3. 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