If I was able to send a message to myself ten years ago via fax (ala future Dwight), I would have simply written “fight harder” on a piece of paper. Maybe I’d write in very tiny text at the bottom “move out of state as soon as possible”.
As for what people might actually get, I suppose I shouldn’t really put things in order, so I’ll categorize by subject. I’m not that old, but my life has not been a magical wonderland, so maybe I can impart something to someone reading my post. Maybe I can turn Kliplemet away from a life of street warfare based on turn based combat and finessable weapons.
Money: Start maxing out an IRA as early as humanly possible, max out a 401k up to employer matched contributions (if available). Set up a disaster account with around 5k for unexpected clusterfucks in an internet bank savings account with an APR equivalent to most money market accounts. Buy instead of rent if you’re going to be somewhere for more than 2 years. Reallocate IRA funds once a year to compensate for uneven growth. Invest weekly if possible for the sake of dollar cost averaging.
Other than this, don’t touch these things for any reason at any time. Not if you’re working at McDonalds, not if you’re cryogenically frozen, not if you’re riding a hippo naked through the wilds of Africa.
Women: R e l a x. With a condom. And a prenup.
Family: If you’ve got a shitty one, create a new one through friends and meeting new people. If you’ve got an alright one, or through sheer dumb luck a good one, don’t take them for granted, always go back home for the holidays.
Children: Since I’m not a father, maybe I’m not qualified to say anything about this, but the one thing I’d recommend is to get all ‘zany’ ideas you’ve ever had out of the way before having children.
You can live on $600 a month if you’re a start-up. You can be a roadie if you don’t have any children. You can spend 6 months in a cave meditating if you don’t have to find a good preschool. Dreams do not take care of a family. Being a parent involves sacrifice, try to have little left to sacrifice by the time you become a parent.
Travel: Do it. Do it when you’re young, do it when you’re old, take kids along if you have them, take friends along if they’re receptive. Don’t stop doing it just because you’re “too busy”. Don’t go to the same place every Summer. Forget the internships in college- travel.
Not to sound like a greeting card, but life is short, and the world is big. You don’t know shit until you experience places you’ve never seen before.
Entertainment: Reading is fundamental! The written word is the single greatest invention in the history of man (although electricity was up there in importance, and I have a special place in my heart for the internal combustion engine), and to ignore it is to be ignorant and useless for the rest of your life. If you spend more time watching television than reading you should be euthanized.
Finally, I believe you should strive to incorporate these two quotes from Robert Heinlein into your life:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.