This post contains Sage advice for 18 year olds. This is what I wish I knew when I was 18.
Hopefully this finds you at the right time.
You can have anything you want if you’re willing to put in the work. The sooner you start the better your odds of success will be. So let’s get to it shall we?
- You can make money without a job.
- Invest in yourself.
- Travel.
- This is the best time to be alive.
- Study yourself.
- Study others.
- Build good habits now.
- Stay out of debt.
- Nobody owes you anything.
- Think BIG and start small.
- You don’t need college.
- Put yourself out there.
- Fear is a construct.
- Build Your Body.
- Master a skill.
- Play the long game.
- Learn how to cook.
- Strive for self reliance.
When you’re 18 years old you’re an adult in the eyes of the law. You can come and go as you please. You can set out and do whatever it is you wish to do in this world. You’ve got energy and you’ve got time. Don’t squander it. Use this time to get a jump on life. Start young and the fortune belongs to you. All this freedom comes with great responsibility. It all comes down to you.
A lot of us are conditioned from birth to think small. It stunts our growth. It wasn’t until I discovered the internet that I realized how incredible life could be. You can literally do anything you want.
You are responsible for yourself. Be hyper-responsible for what happens to you. Realize there are things outside your control and then just let them be.
Being young is great. You have time on your side. You’re resilient, and you’re dumb enough to make things happen because you don’t know any better. Everyone asks the question – what would I do if I could go back in time? Well, this is what every 18 year old should know. This is essentially an open letter to my 18 year old self.
Granted, I probably wouldn’t have listened to anything here because I thought I already knew everything. My ignorant ways lead to a rude awakening at 25 when I realized I was NOT where I wanted to be in life.
You have your whole life in front of you when you’re 18. You’re completely free in the eyes of the law. You’re an adult and can do anything you want. All this freedom comes with a lot of responsibly. There are some things only time can teach you, but hopefully this article teaches you something faster.
18 Things every 18 Year Year Old Should Know
This is the Best Time to Be Alive
You are living through the Golden Age. Contrary to what the mass media machine says, this is the best time in human history to be alive. You have more opportunity then every previous generation combined. You can be who you want to be and do what you want to do. You’re not bound to a location anymore than you decide to be. You can turn hobbies into businesses and truly craft a life that makes you happy.
Youngin’s today are more connected than ever. Kids in their teens can buy Ferraris and party yachts. You can travel faster and farther than ever before. The barriers to success have never been lower, and opportunity is everywhere. You have more opportunities than all previous generations combined. It’s up to you to make something of it.
You can Make Money Now
You don’t have to wait and get a job. You can start your own business today. You could take out your cell phone and flip products online for a nice profit. Go to garage sales and pick up some ‘inventory’ for your ecommerce store.
Making money is the #1 skill you could possess. Learn how to make a dollar using nothing but your own devices and you can make a very nice life for yourself. You can make money two ways. I recommend you start a business.
You can Start a Business
It doesn’t matter what the business is. It can be anything you want. You can mow lawns, cut hair, or create the next Uber. It doesn’t matter what you do, it matters that you fill a need for people.
For you personally, the important thing isn’t the dollar you make. It’s what building the business will make of you. Building a successful business makes you a better person.
It takes discipline, patience, and creativity to make a buck. Learn how to make money using nothing but your own ingenuity and your whole world will change.
You have a lot of time when you’re 18. Use this time to build a business That business venture that will pay you for LIFE. The sooner you make money, the more money you will make. So get started now!
There are a ton of people over 25 years old that wish they had the time to start a business. But now they have jobs, kids, and other responsibilities that take up their time.
Take advantage of your abundant free time, youthful energy and fresh perspective, and build something that builds you.
Make some bank and try to save enough money for collage before you even graduate high school.
Take Care of Your Body
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn
Everyone should have an established workout routine by the time they are 18 years old. Your body is your vehicle for life. The condition of it will make this journey a good one or a challenging one. Do what you can to eat when and exercises. Stay lean, loose and limber. Once you start, don’t quit. Building a body creates self disciple and gives you confidence. Both of which are prerequisites for success.
Now is the best time to build your body. You have the time and the energy to spare. Start young and you’ll get the most bang for your buck.
Your body recovers quickly and grows very rapidly. You will maintain this physique for life. Make the deposit early and it will pay dividends and accumulate interest for all the years you live.
Not only that, but weight training will keep you looking and feeling younger for a long time.
It gets hard to grow and maintain muscle as you get older. Put the time in while you’re young, you have no excuse not to, and the results will be for life.
Put the time in, put the energy in, and you will reap the benefits. Health, strength, confidence, better athletic performance, attention from females (or males if that’s your jam), etc. It’s important to hit the weights hard from the get-go, especially for you 18 year olds. There are four reasons to do this:
- Young people have a lot of energy
- You have a lot of free time
- You recover faster
- Your body is creating a lot of growth hormone so you grow faster
There’s no reason a 16-18 year old kid can’t make it in the gym four times a week for an hour workout. Take advantage of your youth and hit the gym. In your first two years you can put on some serious muscle if you do it right. You’ll build a foundation of muscle that will last for life. Do this before school, life, and familiy responsibilities come into play. You’ll thank yourself later in life.
One more thing, the young generation is plagued by depression and anxiety, keeping fit is a way to ward off the whoas. A healthy body is a healthy mind.
5. Invest in Yourself
You only live once. Seek new experiences. Experiences lead to a rich life. Take calculated risks. Be smart, be strategic, and always be pursuing something better. Invest time in yourself. Workout at the gym and read at the library. Go to seminars, join a club to network and learn.
[Hey, Jordan here. I’m updating this post for 2020 and it’s going to be a damn good one. Check back tomorrow for more information.]
Try New Things
Unless you ‘know’ exactly what you want to do with your life, keep trying new things. Eventually, you will find your ‘thing’.
Try different foods, learn an instrument, pick up hobby then drop them if they don’t interest you.
Life is about experiences. And you never know which one with turn it all on for you.
Any interaction or exposure to something new can set your soul on fire.
If you’re soul has yet to be set on fire, keep trying new things.
Travel
It’s a great big world out there. Lot’s of people to meet and places to see. Not to mention delicious food to eat.
When life gets dull just go somewhere new. You’re not a tree. You can go anywhere you want. You’re not bound to any location for any length of time. It’s your decision to stay or go. Take every opportunity to travel. You’ll gain a perspective that is truly unique. Traveling puts you out of your element and forces you to think in new ways.
Travel takes you out of your comfort zone and forces you to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Don’t know where to start? Go to two new places every year that you’ve never been. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to travel. Get creative. You can find long term housing in exotic beach town half a world away for pennies. You just have to look. Get a job abroad, teach english Romania. Whatever, anything can be done if you seek you shall find.
Don’t be afraid to rough it either.
Travel will enrich your life in ways nothing else can. You’ll keep the memories and experience forever. As time goes on you’ll enjoy reflecting on those memories.
Don’t know where to go? Just pick any old place. Spin a globe and drop a finger on it. Go there.
5. Read Often
People have lived before you. Your problems are not new. Someone spent 10 years writing a book you can read in a weekend. You’ll have 10 year worth of knowledge in 2 days. Now rinse and repeat and you will accumulate a ton of knowledge to use at your discretion. Leaders are readers. Fill your mind with the best books and you’ll live your best life. The quality of the information you feed your mind is directly related to the quality of your life.
Read 5 books on a subject and you’ll be 95% smarter than anyone in the world on that topic. Read 50 and you’ll be unstoppable.
Must Read Books for Young Men
Think and Grow Rich – If I were President, I would make every 18 year old read Think, And Grow Rich. (The original, unedited version.)
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Another great book that teaches you people skills.
If you don’t have time to read, download Audible and start listening to audio books. I do this while driving, working out, and cleaning house. You can easily listen to a book a week this way.
6. Keep a Journal
Life moves fast. Time passes quick and you’ll be an old man before you know it. All you have is the memories, when you’re sitting in your rocking chair. Don’t lose them! Keep them safe in a journal. It can be a paper journal or an online blog. I keep both.
It’s a lot of fun to reflect on the good times you had. Jot down, thoughts, ideas, anything. It’s very interesting to look back and see where your head was at at any point in time.
I have a moleskin notebook and I carry it with me everywhere I go. I’ll keep notes, stories, thoughts, ideas, drafts of business plans or doodles. When I need a ‘fresh’ idea, I crack open my journal and flip through the pages. I always find something that I’m looking for.
7. Build New Skills
Every skill you learn increases your odds of success by 50%. You know who said that? Part-time Cartoonist and full-time Genius, Scott Adams.
And you know what? He was absolutely right. Your power and influence potential compounds as you accumulate skills.
You ain’t special unless you can do something no-one else can. No one cares about what you can do for them if 10,000 others can do the same thing.
Make it a priority to learn new skill every year. After 10 years you’ll have 10 useful skills you can use to rise to the top of your chosen field.
Learn photography, learn PhotoShop, learn how to code, learn how to write or speed read. Build a valuable skill and you’ll never go hungry. Use those skill to build a business and learn how to make a dollar. Because if you can make $1 you can make $1,000,000.
Here are a list of skills you can acquire:
- Cooking
- Sales
- Social media strategy
- Internet marketing
- Copywriting
- Teaching/Coaching
- and on and on and on… You are only limited by your imagination.
8. Get Real World Experience
The best way to get experience is to throw yourself into it.
Training and reading books about theory are great, but NOTHING BEATS REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE.
Work for a business owner you admire. Do it for free. Figure out what their biggest problems are and try to solve them. That’s how you get in the door.
If you go to college, get an internship.
You’ll learn about corporate culture. You’ll learn if it’s a good fit for you. Internships will also give you a massive advantage when it comes to getting hired.
You can be strategic and get an internship every summer at a different company in a different part of the world! So you can get work experience, travel, and make money!
This is a big miss on my part. But I never even thought about it when I was 18! I didn’t even know that was possible until after I graduated college.
This is a game changes for a lot of people. It could be for you too.
9. Don’t Go to College
Some people don’t need college. It’s not for everyone, so don’t feel obligated to go. If you’re on the fence, sit in on a few classes and see if it’s a good fit.
Go if you want, but don’t feel obligated. If you’re going to college just to make money, consider re-considering. There are and infinite ways to make money.
But if you do go to college, try to graduate debt-free.
10. Stay Out of Debt
Don’t be a fucking idiot with your finances. Our culture is predicated on consumerism. Trying to keep up with the Jones will leave you broke.
Debt is slavery. And unless you live off the grid, a bad credit score with be a burden forever. Get your finances in order. It’s so simple. Create a budget and stick to it!
Here’s a simple budget for you: Save 10% of every dollar you earn. Then, never spend more than 90%. That’s it. That’s all you do.
How do you stay out of debt? Pay cash for everything.
Stop buying shit you haven’t earned.
You go into debt when you buy things YOU DON’T DESERVE.
Live cheap. Live as far below your means as possible. Debt is a trap, and when you’re trapped, you get stress and anxiety.
If you’re in debt because of an emergency and there was no choice. Ok fine, I get that.
But if your dumbass is spending $300 at the bar every weekend and maxing out your credit card buying stupid shit, knock it off right now!
We all want to have nice things. I totally get that. So here’s what you do: Hustle hard, but don’t put your self in a position where you have to dig yourself out of a hole.
You’ll see people flexing their clothes and cars, don’t fall for that shit. They are drawing in debt in exchange for a little ‘social proof’ (which is worthless once they’re found out.)
If you’re confident and productive you have absolutely nothing to worry about. You’ll get everything you want. In time. It just take patience and sweat. Which leads me to my next point.
11. Play the Long Game
Patience, grasshopper. Everyone wants results NOW.
Having patience is a secret weapon.
Many people look for short-cuts that might work for a little bit, but hurts more in the long run.
I’m all for working efficiently, but you need to be smart about it.
Think in long term. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Building an Empire takes time, tact, and a lot of hard work.
Put in a little bit of effort every single day and you will win eventually. Never give up. People give up and change course all the time. If you can press harder for longer you will beat them. Get in line and stay in line. Keep learning, keep earning, keep going and you will get there.
12. Mindset if Everything
Success in anything starts in your mind.
There’s a great quote a friend shared with me years ago that turned my world upside down.
“If you think you can, or you think you can’t; You are right.”
Damn.
Let that sink in.
If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t.
Do you see the power in that?
You are your biggest critic and your biggest ally. It all depends on how you think.
You can do anything you put your mind to.
You just need to plan to will, prepare to win and expect to win.
What does winning look like to you? This is were visualization comes in. Visualize your desired outcome.
What does you body look like, what car do you drive, what house do you live in? What does your boat, yacht, and playmate(s) look like? Think about it enough. See it clearly in your mind and you will be pulled to it.
Think about success constantly, and you will succeed. The body naturally follows the mind. Visualize the life you want.
Optimism and enthusiasm have a powerful impact on Outcome
They aren’t the end-all-be-all but, when you back up a positive attitude with hard work and relentless determination, well, shit – you can do anything. As long as you put in the work.
Having a strong mindset requires self-esteem. You build self esteem by having integrity and knowing what you stand for.
Develop Stoic Resolve
Failure and set backs are normal. How you respond to set backs makes ALL the difference.
This reminds me of another quote:
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Every problem contains within it the solution.
Read The Obstacle is The Way, by Ryan Holliday. and see the challenges are meant to be conquered. This will give you confidence in the face of any challenge.
13. Find Your Strengths (and double down on them)
Understanding what you are good at and not good at takes a lot of thought. It takes WORK.
I was not a very self aware person. once I thought deeply y about what I was and wasn’t good at, good things began to happen.
I was honest with myself and was better able to ask for help when I needed it, and take action when it was time to use my strengths.
The most successful people in life are really, really good at what they do.
In other words, they are highly SPECIALIZED. Try a bunch of things, think about the outcome and how you feel about them, then go all in on what you’re good at.
“Whatever you are, be a good one” – Abraham Lincoln
I don’t care what it is you’re good at, as long as you are good at it!
If you’re the best at something, you can make money at it, no matter what it is.
It’s the best people in any field that write their own ticket in life.
14. Strive for Self Reliance
Living life on your terms requires self reliance.
Take ownership over everything that happens in your life. The more self reliant you are, the happier you are.
Needing other people puts you in a weak position. It gives away your control.
Your wealth, health and relationships should 100% be built, sustained, and maintained by YOU and only you.
Learn how to make a buck using nothing but your own two hands and your mind. And you can pursue YOUR happiness without requiring funding from others. No one can tell you want to do. It’s liberating.
You build self reliance through, work, study, practice, and discipline.
Don’t outsource your health and wellness to a broken medical industry (that gets richer as you get sicker). Take responsibly by working out and eating right.
The relationships you have will GREATLY impact your life. Your financial and emotional well being is directly tied to your relationships.
Build meaningful relationships where you benefit each other. In personal life this is friends and family, in professional life it’s networking.
If anyone around you is a negative blood-sucking parasite, cut them off and forget they exist. And this should go without saying, but don’t be a parasite yourself. Be a solution, not the problem.
Don’t be afraid to be cold when cutting people off. Don’t be malicious or mean. Be cold. If someone is honestly holding you back, turn, walk away and never look back.
15. Nobody Owes You Anything
If you want something, work for it. Make it or take it. Keep what you kill.
It’s that simple.
Don’t be a loud mouth demanding a hand out. Put your hands to work and make something happen.
Entitlement is a sure path to failure and self ruin.
Confidence is great but arrogance can put you in an awkward spot. Always be improving yourself and never think you can’t get better
16. Be Grateful
Be grateful for everything you have. You are alive and have the opportunity to do ANYTHING you want at any moment.
Be thankful for all that is good. Thank the universe for the people in your life, your job, your hobbies, your food, everything.
The more grateful you are, the more grace you receive…because you are RECEPTIVE to it.
17. Get in a Routine
Like I said before, you have a lot of freedom at 18. Low time pressure and unlimited possibilities.
Will you use this time wisely and build something great? Or will you squander it and let it all go to waste?
There’s no reason an 18 year old can’t workout 5 days a week. Carve out time to read one book a week. Spend time every day building a business everyday. Be creative and have fun with it.
Channeling your time and energy with a routine is a superpower. You will build unstoppable momentum that puts you ahead of everyone else.
Having a pre-game ritual puts you in the right mindset, and mindset is everything. Practice, practice practice. And when you think you’ve perfected it, practice some more.
BONUS: Give Back
Nobody makes it alone. No one is truly self made. Your environment is your incubator. Millions of people have constructed the world you live in and help shape you, either directly or indirectly. When you’re young it’s more acceptable to be selfish. Spend time working on yourself to become the best version of you possible.
However, not everyone is capable of helping themselves. Service to others is life’s greatest gift. Work to find your gift and give it away to others.
It was given to you to give to others.
Don’t worry about making money from it. People will gladly pay you for it if you’re good at it.
This is why I started Iron & Grit. Fitness is something I know. And it’s something I can help people with. I love the way fitness makes people feel.
I do it for free and i do it online to get my message out to as many people as I can.
The process of building something useful, and meeting incredible people from around the world is a direct result of Iron & Grit.
Use your gift to help lift others. If you do nothing else, do this.
Dream Big
You gotta be thinking anyway. You might as well dream big. Make huge goals and really try to make them happen. Crazy things happen. You can make it. You might as well give it a shot.
You Can Start Small (and still have it all)
You don’t have to constantly be searching for the next big thing. Big things are just a bunch of little things done really well over time. Look at the Great Wall of China. It was built one stone at a time.
Everyone great started from humble beginnings. Your story is an asset. No one has ever, or will ever, have the life you have. Find a way to leverage your uniqueness to benefit the world (and in turn benefit yourself).
If you’re an 18 year old fellow reading this, consider yourself lucky . Apply these 18 tips to your life and you will progress in leaps and bounds. Even if you’re older, it’s NOT too late. You can still make great strides by applying the information below.
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