Alex Becker (left) had his first million-dollar-year at about 23 years old. He recorded a video a few years ago, lovingly giving advice to people in their 20s about how to succeed financially by avoiding common traps, and how to avoid wasting time.
Here's some notes I took:
Intro to our 20s
He says that our 20s are fun because we're full of energy and creativity, but dangerous because we're also naive regarding how life works, but still confident in our worldview.
He compares our 20s to being a racing car driver who doesn't realise they're drunk. It's tonnes of fun and high energy, but they're drunk. He says the best way to counteract the negative effects of being naive yet full of energy is to realise that we're drunk, and do what we would do: keep our eyes the road, drive carefully, and think ahead of time...
Points
1. Get confident at making money quickly and then reinvest that money.
This ensures that we have a good, solid flow of income coming from investments if ever we wanted to stop working or exit a business, avoiding the common trap of having to do something that we'd rather not do, just because it keeps us financially afloat. We want to be financially afloat 24/7, all year round.
Alex says the biggest thing that will hold us back in our 20s is scarcity, and misunderstanding how money works and how it should be deployed.
He says that people typically have an inverse relationship with time and money:
Money = Scarce
Time = Abundant
Typically, people in their 20s prioritise making money first, stockpiling all that comes in, increasing profits as much as possible so they can take the money. They're very short-sighted with money so they're very short-sighted with their activity- always focusing on the things that have the most immediate benefit. They stick to those activities and avoid doing things that don't generate much money short-term, or are the best long-term decisions because they think they have a tonne of time and they can make long-term decisions later on because they'll be wiser and more able to delay gratification later on.
Becker said this misconception stems from not yet having a proper concept of time, due to being fresh out of high school- a time period most people can't use to make a proper concept of time because it was mostly an erratic blur. And that people in their 20s typically don't understand that there's other time than right now, as they haven't spent much time in the clear state of mind that arises after leaving high school. This lack of experience with time prevents effective long-term thinking and planning for most people in their 20s.
We can construct a proper concept of time by seeing how our actions 10 years ago (even as a child) effected our lives dramatically and resulted in our current situation. And how our actions right now dramatically effect our lives 10 years from now.
He says that it's better for 20 year olds to realise that their lives 10 years from now are determined by their actions in the present now rather than while looking back in their 30s and mournfully reconnecting the dots.
We can always get more money but we cannot get more time.
Time is valuable because it's experience which shapes how we think and live. Everyone in their 30s are shaped significantly by what they did or did not do in their 20s. Many people wish they valued their time more during their 20s, and they can never get that time back.
1. Aimless Dating
1. Aimless Dating
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1. Aimless Dating
"It is a very time-consuming, very emotional-energy-consuming thing."
Getting into relationships just for the sake of it is a giant waste of time. He highly suggests that 20 year olds live like monks, or at least do not prioritise dating at all, if they are not truly interested in starting a family in their 20's.
Becker suggests that it's better for 20 year olds to work on themselves so much during their 20s that they're in such a high position by their 30s that they already have great people in their lives when they're seriously looking to seriously meet people and start long-term relationships, instead of just 'hitting it up' because they're '20'...
6. Don't Fall Into 'Monkey See, Monkey Do'
'When you're young, you're going to try to identify as something because you don't really know who you are...'
People in their 20s try to identify with or mimic certain entrepreneurs, people on YouTube, or certain influencers and they're going to try and identify with that type of person. He says that mimicking other people is one of the biggest mistakes that people of all ages will ever make.
What most people don't understand in their 20s is that they have very specific strengths. They'll get caught up in things that aren't particularly important to them, or they'll play to their weaknesses, if they don't play to their strengths and recognise who they are.
He says it's unlikely that people in their 20s will know who they are, what they want, or what their strengths are, but the most important thing is to not try to mimic people.
or they'll get caught up in things that aren't particularly important to them and if they don't play to their strengths and if they
'Just do things that make sense to you.'
Conclusion
Triple down on your weirdness and what makes you you. That's gonna get you way more results and tell you exactly where you need to be going.
Don't do 'Monkey See, Monkey Do'.