I remember being struck with a particularly insightful quote from Eliezer Yudkowsky. It went something like, "If you're certain you'll have a belief in the future, you should probably adopt that belief now."
The basic idea is that a lot of times we know a particular way we're acting, peer group, set of cultural norms, etc, has worn out and isn't a fit any more. And we know we'll evolve past them and change.
But we haven't done it yet, for whatever reason -- maybe fear, or inertia.
If you can predict yourself in the future, you can think better right now.
Likewise, a fun thought experiment --
Have you ever looked back on a particularly crazy or hectic period of your life, and wish you'd enjoyed it more and relaxed more while it was happening? Or wish you'd saved more money, or taken more risks, or advertised more, or been more generous, or been less generous, or something?
Regrets are useless, but give this a try sometime:
Can you see yourself looking back on where you're at right now and being certain you'd think, "I wish I did more ____________."
Maybe it's relax more, or enjoy what you're doing more. (Probably.) Maybe it's resource-based (save and invest more), or behavior based (follow through more consistently).
Have a think. Do you see yourself ten years from now reminiscing about 2013, and thinking, "Interesting year. X and Y went great. Oh man, though, I wish I'd done _____________."
If yes, you can start doing that right now. And your life stands to be better for it.
I can't quite get it right, even though I've been trying to for a while now. So I'll just scratch out the thoughts I can and publish anyways, because I think the topic is worth thinking about.
There is, roughly, something called a "thought cycle" - it's a series of a thought forming, the chains of thoughts that go from it, any actions that it spur you into, and the feedback from the actions.
Or something like that. I haven't defined it really well yet.
What's the length of a thought cycle? Well I suppose it depends, and goes between some sort of range. Most are very short (sometimes very short), and occasionally - rarely - they're somewhat longer.
It seems to me that everything that almost everything that humans do are created by thought cycles. To some extent, they're automatic and habitual and we don't pay attention to them. Something like blinking or breathing is automatic until you think about it. With training, you can even control your heart rate to some extent.
If you're in your 20's, you probably feel like you're going to be in your 20's forever. Can you picture yourself in your 30's? What about your 50's? Probably not. I get the same feeling from time to time, but have learned to develop a certain sense of urgency that allows me to focus on the stuff that matters, and avoid focusing on things that won't be beneficial for me long term.
Now don't get me wrong. I still party on the weekends, and plan to do it for a long time. But I still align partying on the weekends with my goals. How? When I go out, I'm constantly challenging myself and doing stuff that would scare the shit out of most people (Like approaching girls that are surrounded by 5 guys or whatever). But I don't drink, and I don't do drugs. I'm completely sober. And believe me, I'm having more fun than anybody else in the room.
What I mean is that you don't have to stop doing the things that you're supposed to do in your 20's, like going out, to live out your dreams. But you do have to focus on what matters most for you. Because what I have realized is that, in your 20's, most people will try to press you to become what they want you to be. And if your goals aren't clear enough, that's what probably will end up happening.
But maybe you don't know what you want yet or maybe you do know what you want but you don't really know how to get there. Fine, nothing to worry about. But that's not an excuse to play videogames 4 hours a day and get wasted on weekends. Here's what you should do instead:
