The best things to study in University

[Andy Black]

Trades will get you paid more than a STEM degree, and they will be the last jobs to get replaced by robots.

If my kids wanted to do trades I'd be delighted. I don't see it happening though as they're taking after me a bit and are heavily into computers, games, videos, etc.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

@Saad Khan thank you!

It is a legitimate question and I’d like to clarify a few things:

1. I don’t feel old, and hope I am not acting like some “old guy”.
2. ”…wishing they spent more time having fun” I don‘t have such regrets, so my comment isn’t to self, but to younger people. There is a way to live a life, achieve things, have a dog and a family, have fun as a young adult, all of that - AND become successful in business.
3. I have some bad news for you. Life is not a game. And If it were, you’d lose because we all die. That’s the end. Every single person - dies.

But I know where you are coming from, you meant something different than a “winning the game of life” and will do my best to share my perspective.

Winning in life for me means many things:

• Becoming the best version of myself
• Having love, laughter, joy, health, experiences and being useful. Useful to other humans, especially to my family.
• Leaving a legacy, not just financial, but hopefully with some wisdom to pass down generations (lofty goal, I know).
• I believe we are all here on this earth for a purpose, and finding out what mine is a life-long goal too. I don’t think we are nothing and going back to nothing. I think our lives have meaning.

You will notice that none of the above has a “Lambo“ in it... I am no monk either, if you read my posts you’ll know me as a type-A hard driving person. Yet believe me, I enjoy my life as much as possible and I do that on purpose.

My story of teens to 20s:

By the time I was 19, I’ve

• studied abroad on two continents (on academic scholarship and paid my way … all the way)
• learned and became native speaker fluent in English.
• surfed, kayaked, had fun and gorgeous girlfriends

in my 20s

• got a university degree AND a professional designation...
• worked many jobs, shitty and good and then great…
• learned golfing, then mountain biking (downhill, big mountains, big jumps).
• Even after I met my wife, as a gf she was by my side and we together had a lot of fun.
• We travelled a lot, across the world. We explored and discovered ourselves.
• We did everything we could think of, from camping to helicopter rides.
• I raced cars, cheap and expensive
• had a few side hustles (always)

I am not sharing this to brag. I was also poor back then, because I had no silver spoon, most of the above was done on a budget. And ALL of this was out of my own pocket.

——


So you see, this isn’s some “go with the flow of life and do nothing“ advice. I was always active, worked hard on my goals and played hard.

The thought behind my advice is simple: you don’t know if you die tomorrow or 100 years from now. Why wait? Enjoy what you can when you can it, but be mindful that you may live 100 years more (if you are a teen).

Imagine you are approaching 100 years of age and know your time is almost up, what regrets do you have? Do you regret not spending more time in front of a computer or working? Maybe, if you are broke! But I’d like to think with tools given on this forum, every person should be able to at least be NOT broke… so that leaves us with: regret of spending too much time working when young. Or working inefficiently and not spending enough time with your family. Or never having a family at all. And so on…

And I’ve met a few people who were 100% committed to business and business only from a young age. Yet some didn’t make it and some are still behind me. Why is that? Because being well rounded helps. Having a life helps become well rounded.

Dive a little deeper with me … do you think that some people are naturally better at some things than others? Like some people naturally learn math faster? If yes, than it makes sense to find out what you are naturally predisposed to being good at. Because that something can bring a huge financial return easier than for a duck learning how to run. Duck wants to swim.

——

I don’t remember when I made my first million. That’s the truth. Because business life isn’t linear and it’s not like a lotto either. What I mean is that typically the success you see out there wasn’t built by 5% annual growth, for 20 years. Nor was it “easy” like scratching that lotto ticket and getting your exit number all at once.

More often than not, it’s like a roller coaster ride. You get to a high right before a rapid down only to ride high again. Some people hate that roller coaster, they puke, come out and say “never again”. Others, like me, we love it, we go “wheeee!!!” and can’t wait to ride more and bigger.

You see, even in business, have fun - you must learn to love it, love THAT “game”.

And when you do all of that, one day, you have kids, they bring joy and pain. When your kid gets sick, you wish it was you, and again, none of that “business” or “Lambo” matters. Nor the hobbies I had in my teens or 20s… it faded. I have no regrets but I bet that if you only work on your business 24/7, you’ll regret not having a life early too. Don’t wait for that.

If you still don‘t believe me, look at younger audience here. Maybe take Johnny boy, he’s young. Yet he works super hard and then shoots guns, travels, enjoys life as much as he can too. Or better yet, take Kyle @Kak - he is a perfect example of a young person who lives life on his own terms. Sure he grinds too, but do you know how many times I get pics from his latest BBQ, golf, kids, shooting etc.? You’d get the impression he never works, but he does.

That’s what I mean by my comment. Hope you and other young forum readers find it helpful.

Interesting mindset. There's not much out there to teach it though, so young people will often not come across it. You have many books that teach you how to be successful and work hard. And general society teaches you how to slack off and be lazy. But your POV isn't passivity – it's to be active with everything, including business and fun.

The issue is that imo there really aren't any books or literature advocating this mindset. You have the Goggins, go hard mindset, and then you have the laid back, chill and relax mindset that people usually go to spiritual books for

Personally, I'm a fan of unbalanced today for a balanced tomorrow, but this runs the risk of tomorrow never coming – not in the sense of never achieving goals, BUT in the sense that you keep moving the goalposts farther and farther as you grow.

 

[Kak]

Interesting mindset. There's not much out there to teach it though, so young people will often not come across it. You have many books that teach you how to be successful and work hard. And general society teaches you how to slack off and be lazy. But your POV isn't passivity – it's to be active with everything, including business and fun.

The issue is that imo there really aren't any books or literature advocating this mindset. You have the Goggins, go hard mindset, and then you have the laid back, chill and relax mindset that people usually go to spiritual books for

Personally, I'm a fan of unbalanced today for a balanced tomorrow, but this runs the risk of tomorrow never coming – not in the sense of never achieving goals, BUT in the sense that you keep moving the goalposts farther and farther as you grow.

I’m a firm believer that you can “have it all.”

You can have a great family life, lots of personal non-business fun, and also be a great entrepreneur. You can have a dog. You can travel for fun. You can can have kids. You can have a wife. You can spend MORE quality time with them than a slowlaner, if you set it up that way.

My wife and I both work from home most of the time. We have only been married for 7 years and we have probably spent more time together than most couples that have been married 20+.

There is a strong prevailing mindset on the forum that it’s all about you and your abilities. If you make it about you and your abilities you’ll hit a ceiling and be limited by the 24 hours in a day that we are all limited to.

On the other hand, if you make your business about more than just you and your efforts, it can grow infinitely independent of the hours in a day you are limited to.

Hence my harping on leadership being the #1 most important thing in business.

There’s a reason why Jeff Bezos has a 200m dollars… Or whatever. It’s because thousands of hours are worked in his name every minute. And each one of those people’s lives are enriched while they do it. Let that sink in.

It’s about more than you. You’re just the conductor. The orchestra makes the music. Instruments by themselves aren’t that cool, but a large orchestra creates beautiful music.

 

[WillHurtDontCare]

How? I keep hearing from old guys wishing they spent more time having fun/not taking it too seriously in their early 20s. I take everything seriously and treat life as a game meant to be won. This sentence you said went off the top of my head. If you could take the time out to elaborate, I'd appreciate it.

Here's my attempt to half answer your question / half spew out ideas that have been in the back of my mind for a week or two.

I think that the answer here is to achieve your goals as fast as humanly possible, and to understand how your own psychology will change over time in a somewhat predictable fashion.

If for example you had $5M in cash at 25, you'd be able to have fun and run a profitable business by hiring out other people, and you'd have the energy to do both well without having to dedicate an insane amount of time to either.

And regarding the proper age to do things (adventure, kids, business, establishing a global dictatorship, etc) - think more about what you want to achieve prior to doing certain things. For example, rather than asking about the right age to have kids, ask yourself what you want to achieve before having kids, then get that done ASAP so that you can have kids as early as you'd like (or do something else).

Here's a rough outline of people's priorities over time.

< 15 years old - who cares

15 - 20 - anxiety, awareness of lack of identity, trying things out, socializing, having fun, optimistic, lots of energy

21 - 27 - picked some sense of career, acquiring skills, focus on making money, adventure, developing identity, dating, boundless energy,

28-35 - awareness that you're getting older, desire to set up roots, anxiety over status because other people around this age have become successful and reaped the fruits of their labor, building families

(I'm 32, so the rest of this is second hand insight)

35-50 - focus on family, maturing in business / career, confusion about what young people are saying, have experience with real hardship like divorce, seeing loved ones die, taking people to the emergency room;

51-60 - awareness that you're old, partial loss of identity when kids move out

61-70 - chill and spend time with your family, coast on business

70+ - indifference to being old

A lot of what I've just outlined can justifiably be critiqued and criticized (some exceptional people will have gone through all of that before they are 30), but that's a useful vignette on stages that people go through. I also got tired of writing midway through this because I bounced around and none of this was written linearly.

It's important to have older friends and to spend time with older family because they will give you perspective on how you might be when you're their age.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

I’m a firm believer that you can “have it all.”

You can have a great family life, lots of personal non-business fun, and also be a great entrepreneur. You can have a dog. You can travel for fun. You can can have kids. You can have a wife. You can spend MORE quality time with them than a slowlaner, if you set it up that way.

Good post. Imo often the real problem isn’t believing that you can have it all, but actually wanting it all.

I believe that if I want it, I could have it all. But take something like style / physical appearance / clothing.

I can care less about it. Sure, I believe if I did care, I could get an amazing wardrobe and refine my appearance a lot more. In fact, scratch that, I know I can do it.

But it’s simply not one of the things I care about, because I wasn’t educated to care about it. I don’t really see its value. Contrast me with someone like @Johnny boy who lists “style” goals for himself. Or “adventure” goals. I list neither of those two because I wasn’t taught to value them.

My values are pretty much family (parents, girlfriend, close relatives), intellectual growth, fitness and business. To me, for example, a woman liking me because of my style, or adventures would feel like an insult — like she doesn’t like me for who I am, but for these external things.

Likewise there are people out there who aren’t educated to care for things other than business. It’s not like they decide “let’s sacrifice personal life for business success”… “personal life” doesn’t even exist on their map of values — they don’t see why it matters. So it’s not enough to tell them “oh look, you don’t need to sacrifice your personal life, you can have both!” because they already know that. Their problem is different.

 

[Chet Shen]

Good post. Imo often the real problem isn’t believing that you can have it all, but actually wanting it all.

I believe that if I want it, I could have it all. But take something like style / physical appearance / clothing.

I can care less about it. Sure, I believe if I did care, I could get an amazing wardrobe and refine my appearance a lot more. In fact, scratch that, I know I can do it.

But it’s simply not one of the things I care about, because I wasn’t educated to care about it. I don’t really see its value. Contrast me with someone like @Johnny boy who lists “style” goals for himself. Or “adventure” goals. I list neither of those two because I wasn’t taught to value them.

My values are pretty much family (parents, girlfriend, close relatives), intellectual growth, fitness and business. To me, for example, a woman liking me because of my style, or adventures would feel like an insult — like she doesn’t like me for who I am, but for these external things.

Likewise there are people out there who aren’t educated to care for things other than business. It’s not like they decide “let’s sacrifice personal life for business success”… “personal life” doesn’t even exist on their map of values — they don’t see why it matters. So it’s not enough to tell them “oh look, you don’t need to sacrifice your personal life, you can have both!” because they already know that. Their problem is different.

Looks like some people value things differently than others from this post

This just mean that everyone is different and may value something more than the other?

One might find personal life worth sacrificing for entrepreneurship and one might value personal life over getting rich. It all depends on the person so we shouldn't push any agendas onto other people?

 

[Kevin88660]

I am now getting close to my A-levels and with that the end of my time in high school.
Since uni is basically free in Germany (the best private Unis take like 2k per semester and some take literally less than their bus ticket costs) I will go there as long as nothing crazy happens in the next few months. If all goes well, my plan is to get a master’s degree in six years or less and then have some valuable technical skill that helps me provide value to the world.

No, I don't want the forum to make a life decision for me. What I am asking for, are some suggestions, things to check out and options to think about. I am also looking at other sources and options such as getting into a trade or simply starting an entry job as a dev which teaches you the needed skills from step one and onwards.
What I hope to find are simply some ideas that I might not have thought of.

Thanks in advance,
Subsonic

It is very hard to tell in advance when we are teenagers without too much work experience.

It is a very personal based questions.

University is an academic place that most people will find it hard to learn “useful stuffs” that can be directly applied.

What you learn in an engineering degree is only relevant when you really want to become an engineer. Even as an engineer most things relevant to the jobs are learnt on site.

I definitely learning applied math is a safe choice for most people.

First thing it’s part of STEM.

It is going to be rigorous enough on your mind so that you train you to become proficient in learning ability which is useful for the future.

It is not as “uselessly abstract” as theoretical maths.

It can serve as a useful bridge later once you have a clearer direction in life.

When you do things hard enough in life that has a higher entry barrier it usually has some links to do with mathematics. Maybe an applied math degree is an overkill but it surely is going to help one way or another.

 

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[Kevin88660]

Good post. Imo often the real problem isn’t believing that you can have it all, but actually wanting it all.

I believe that if I want it, I could have it all. But take something like style / physical appearance / clothing.

I can care less about it. Sure, I believe if I did care, I could get an amazing wardrobe and refine my appearance a lot more. In fact, scratch that, I know I can do it.

But it’s simply not one of the things I care about, because I wasn’t educated to care about it. I don’t really see its value. Contrast me with someone like @Johnny boy who lists “style” goals for himself. Or “adventure” goals. I list neither of those two because I wasn’t taught to value them.

My values are pretty much family (parents, girlfriend, close relatives), intellectual growth, fitness and business. To me, for example, a woman liking me because of my style, or adventures would feel like an insult — like she doesn’t like me for who I am, but for these external things.

Likewise there are people out there who aren’t educated to care for things other than business. It’s not like they decide “let’s sacrifice personal life for business success”… “personal life” doesn’t even exist on their map of values — they don’t see why it matters. So it’s not enough to tell them “oh look, you don’t need to sacrifice your personal life, you can have both!” because they already know that. Their problem is different.

I think most people want to have it all eventually.

But it is about developing everything together or solving the problems one by one.

 

[skyflare]

@Saad Khan thank you!

It is a legitimate question and I’d like to clarify a few things:

1. I don’t feel old, and hope I am not acting like some “old guy”.
2. ”…wishing they spent more time having fun” I don‘t have such regrets, so my comment isn’t to self, but to younger people. There is a way to live a life, achieve things, have a dog and a family, have fun as a young adult, all of that - AND become successful in business.
3. I have some bad news for you. Life is not a game. And If it were, you’d lose because we all die. That’s the end. Every single person - dies.

But I know where you are coming from, you meant something different than a “winning the game of life” and will do my best to share my perspective.

Winning in life for me means many things:

• Becoming the best version of myself
• Having love, laughter, joy, health, experiences and being useful. Useful to other humans, especially to my family.
• Leaving a legacy, not just financial, but hopefully with some wisdom to pass down generations (lofty goal, I know).
• I believe we are all here on this earth for a purpose, and finding out what mine is a life-long goal too. I don’t think we are nothing and going back to nothing. I think our lives have meaning.

You will notice that none of the above has a “Lambo“ in it... I am no monk either, if you read my posts you’ll know me as a type-A hard driving person. Yet believe me, I enjoy my life as much as possible and I do that on purpose.

My story of teens to 20s:

By the time I was 19, I’ve

• studied abroad on two continents (on academic scholarship and paid my way … all the way)
• learned and became native speaker fluent in English.
• surfed, kayaked, had fun and gorgeous girlfriends

in my 20s

• got a university degree AND a professional designation...
• worked many jobs, shitty and good and then great…
• learned golfing, then mountain biking (downhill, big mountains, big jumps).
• Even after I met my wife, as a gf she was by my side and we together had a lot of fun.
• We travelled a lot, across the world. We explored and discovered ourselves.
• We did everything we could think of, from camping to helicopter rides.
• I raced cars, cheap and expensive
• had a few side hustles (always)

I am not sharing this to brag. I was also poor back then, because I had no silver spoon, most of the above was done on a budget. And ALL of this was out of my own pocket.

——


So you see, this isn’s some “go with the flow of life and do nothing“ advice. I was always active, worked hard on my goals and played hard.

The thought behind my advice is simple: you don’t know if you die tomorrow or 100 years from now. Why wait? Enjoy what you can when you can it, but be mindful that you may live 100 years more (if you are a teen).

Imagine you are approaching 100 years of age and know your time is almost up, what regrets do you have? Do you regret not spending more time in front of a computer or working? Maybe, if you are broke! But I’d like to think with tools given on this forum, every person should be able to at least be NOT broke… so that leaves us with: regret of spending too much time working when young. Or working inefficiently and not spending enough time with your family. Or never having a family at all. And so on…

And I’ve met a few people who were 100% committed to business and business only from a young age. Yet some didn’t make it and some are still behind me. Why is that? Because being well rounded helps. Having a life helps become well rounded.

Dive a little deeper with me … do you think that some people are naturally better at some things than others? Like some people naturally learn math faster? If yes, than it makes sense to find out what you are naturally predisposed to being good at. Because that something can bring a huge financial return easier than for a duck learning how to run. Duck wants to swim.

——

I don’t remember when I made my first million. That’s the truth. Because business life isn’t linear and it’s not like a lotto either. What I mean is that typically the success you see out there wasn’t built by 5% annual growth, for 20 years. Nor was it “easy” like scratching that lotto ticket and getting your exit number all at once.

More often than not, it’s like a roller coaster ride. You get to a high right before a rapid down only to ride high again. Some people hate that roller coaster, they puke, come out and say “never again”. Others, like me, we love it, we go “wheeee!!!” and can’t wait to ride more and bigger.

You see, even in business, have fun - you must learn to love it, love THAT “game”.

And when you do all of that, one day, you have kids, they bring joy and pain. When your kid gets sick, you wish it was you, and again, none of that “business” or “Lambo” matters. Nor the hobbies I had in my teens or 20s… it faded. I have no regrets but I bet that if you only work on your business 24/7, you’ll regret not having a life early too. Don’t wait for that.

If you still don‘t believe me, look at younger audience here. Maybe take Johnny boy, he’s young. Yet he works super hard and then shoots guns, travels, enjoys life as much as he can too. Or better yet, take Kyle @Kak - he is a perfect example of a young person who lives life on his own terms. Sure he grinds too, but do you know how many times I get pics from his latest BBQ, golf, kids, shooting etc.? You’d get the impression he never works, but he does.

That’s what I mean by my comment. Hope you and other young forum readers find it helpful.

Thank you so much for taking a time and writing this down!

I have always heard people advising to enjoy the "best years of my life", but it seemed like they are having regrets and only say this because "you are inevitably going to spend your next 40 years sucking at a job" so compared to that, teenage / early adult years really could be the best.

@Black_Dragon43 kind of mentioned that people often go to the extremities of either grinding down their full lives / living in a spiritually fulfilled life, and really balancing is where the uniqueness comes in imo.

Throughout the past years I have grown this vision that @Kak has as well, that you can have it all. (Or who knows maybe we never lost it?) I often have this little thought in my head that whatever I do will bring me success. Combining that with this limitless belief that one can achieve anything is truly magnificent.

 

[Pain Brain]

Skip CS if you are considering the tech route. A lot of theoretical nonsense that will not be applicable outside the classroom. There's no advantage to learning CS to better your understanding of AI outside of machine learning.

 

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