Concrete advice to my younger self about how to live (rough draft)

What would I want to say to myself 20y ago when I was in my early twenties …

Emphasis here on concrete advice rather than more general approach e.g. ‘be loving’

You are going to be ok …

Many of your choices are made from scarcity even though you are in midst of abundance (you are smart, in a rich country, will always be able to get some job … plus many more jobs than you realize). Trust that you are going to be ok. Trust in the abundance. Take your time. Explore

How I would have organized my life if i could go back to my 20s

• You live a good decade or two longer than your grandparents or great grandparents.
• You'll probably contribute ("work") until your 70 or later (if you can!)
• So look at your 20s as additional development and growth time.
  • One thing i noticed actually in academia was many of the successful people had gone out, done something else and then come back to the academy.
  • I knew someone who just went off snowboarding for a lot of his 20s and everyone was like "woah what will happen to him later on". You know what. Around 28 he was: "OK i'm good now" and went to Mars and got an executive track position and rapidly got promoted.
• When I left university internet coverage around the world was still spotty but it was rapidly improving. Skype happened. Now you have 4g wherever you go and zoom can do video calls with 50 people. That means you can work from anywhere ⟹ go explore and work remote if you need to support yourself
• Cut your expenses. The less your spend, the less you need to earn, the more freedom you have in making choices about your path because they are less determined by money.

In summary

• Travel to various places working or studying
• Do a lot of contemplative practice and inner work. Do a few intensive meditation retreats, preferably at least one 3 month retreat and 1 month in silence. If you can do much more. Explore different techniques
• Study things like the following
  • Permaculture course
  • Building course (following Alexander)
  • Coding course
  • Writing / comms course
  • Business and sales: how to start and run a business
  • How we got here and where we can go (personally and collectively): that means especially
    • ontology i.e. psychology and spirituality etc
    • culturology i.e. sociology, anthropology, cultural evolution, some economics, politics etc
    • ecology and complexity sciences
    • Overall: PHPE: psychology, history, politics, and ecology
• Essential you practice all of the above, not just read about them.