What would y'all do if you were 16?

[Andrés08]

Would you get a job? Would you start a business? Would you focus on High School? What would you guys do if you could go back years in time and be 16 again?

 

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[ZackerySprague]

1. Finish High School.
2. Get a job immediately.
3. Save every penny, live with mom and dad until I can make it on my own.
4. Learn a specialized skill to earn a higher rate per hour or more income in less-time.
5. Create a Six-month Savings Fund IMMEDIATELY for any down falls.
6. Create an $1,000 dollars immediate savings funds.
7. Apply for a credit card at 21 to use as debt to fund future ventures.
8. Start a business by listening to what people are saying or problems around me I have pinpointed.
9. Keep your Junker car, will save you tons of money down the line.
10. Never start or create an out to eat habit. Create a schedule or a habit of eating home, but don't forget to go out every once and awhile to celebrate

Pro Tip for starting at 21 -> Don't use credit as a means to look like your rich or wealth. You should not use it as supplemental income source. As MJ states, do it based on costs, not affordability. Don't take out personal loans, they can/might become a hassle.

Pro Tip: Create an excel spreadsheet of all your "Fixed Costs". "Income Sources" and "Debt Columns". See example below, you will thank yourself for this later.

 

[perchboy]

Start a service side-hustle/business and make $100/hour while expanding your business skills.

Car detailing
Window cleaning
Gutter cleaning
Lawn aeration

Advertise online and/or d2d and book yourself to make a grand every week while still in school.

 

[Subsonic]

Would you get a job? Would you start a business? Would you focus on High School? What would you guys do if you could go back years in time and be 16 again?

I'd say spent time learning instead of earning.
The ammount of money you can make at 16 years old with no skills is literally irrelevant on a longer time horizon.
Skills you learn however will pay you dividends for the rest of your life. Getting good at coding will be such a advantage in the future. Same goes for other valuable hard skills.
Don't worry if you don't make money for now. Anything before 18/21 is pregame and the best you can do is giving that future you as many advantages as possible.

Making money obviously doesn't hurt but don't go after things that give you more money now but don't develop your skills as much.

If you learn one new skills (coding, web design, google/fb/tiktok ads/ copywriting/ cad product design/ sales...) every year untill your 21 your earning potential will be so much more, that it wouldn't even matter, were you to not earn a penny in these years.
You could make 20k a year if you really put your all to earning right now, while staying in school.
Or you could learn these skills and then be able to create a 20k a month profit business at age 21.

 

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[Andy Black]

If I was 16 again...

I'd still work hard at school (how you do anything is how you do everything).

Given I'm in Ireland and college is heavily subsidised I'd probably still go to college. I wouldn't study Maths again but would study some skill in depth. I'd pick something that people can get a job at and can pick up clients on the side at. It would also be something I'm super interested in already because 3-4 years studying anything will be a drag otherwise.

While 16 I'd pick up clients on the side creating short-form videos out of their long-form videos. I'd learn as I went about hooks, transitions, story-telling, marketing, etc. I'd post to all the platforms for clients. I'd pick up clients by asking around family and friends first if they knew anyone who needed help. I'd build a portfolio by doing the work for free for large YouTube channels that don't have decent short videos. I'd post them up on a channel made specifically for them, and give the channel to the creator. If they wanted more they can hire me. If I loved it maybe I'd study video production?

I'd lean heavily on AI tools and ensure I understand how to get the best out of them. That's going to be an in demand skill right there.

I'd learn people skills and learn to enjoy interacting with people.

I'd appreciate family and friends, especially parents. They're making it up as the go along, and they're not going to be there forever.

I'd be very careful of social media. I'd try to reduce time on my mobile.

I'd relax and not be in such a rush.

 

[MRiabov]

Books. Many, MANY books. 4 hours of books per day, if you can.

I honestly don't know why guys above give advice like "wait till you 21", because this is bs. If you want success, you'd better start working for it ASAP.

How to start working for it? Well, you need to know what to do, exactly. That's where books come in. Books revolutionized my life and they will do it for you too.

Oh, and watch Hamza on youtube, he will tell you EVERYTHING that you need to know about "what would you do if you were 16.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

Dating girls + hanging out with friends.

You can make money well into your 70s.

But you can't get your teenagehood back.

Never understood why people were in such a hurry to "succeed".

The average successful entrepreneur's age is 46 (or something like that).

 

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[MRiabov]

Dating girls + hanging out with friends.

You can make money well into your 70s.

But you can't get your teenagehood back.

Never understood why people were in such a hurry to "succeed".

The average successful entrepreneur's age is 46 (or something like that).

If you are not progressing you are regressing.

Want to be average? Go on, waste your teenage years drinking and "having fun".

Want to be successful? Well, gotta put in the work.

Because when everyone else will be having fun and enjoying their life, YOLO!!! you'll be sitting down and understanding how the game is meant to be played.

And trust me, you'll overachieve those who are wasting their life by a mile.

 

[fridge]

I'd focus on finishing HS, running a local service business (potentially a part time sales job too at a supplement or phone store just to get a grasp of basic sales), lifting a lot, building a network, and learning kickboxing/jiu jitsu. Hard to go wrong with that combo.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

If you are not progressing you are regressing.

Want to be average? Go on, waste your teenage years drinking and "having fun".

Want to be successful? Well, gotta put in the work.

Because when everyone else will be having fun and enjoying their life, YOLO!!! you'll be sitting down and understanding how the game is meant to be played.

And trust me, you'll overachieve those who are wasting their life by a mile.

I've read somewhere that community-based businesses are the hardest businesses to operate.

I wonder how the admin of this forum have had the patience to keep it running for so many years.

 

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[heavy_industry]

• Shut down all bullshit and distractions (thread)
• Max out education
• Max out training in the gym
• Start/Grow your business
• Have awesome friends
• Do awesome things

This works at any age, but the sooner you start, the better the results.

You've very fortunate to be 16.
You'll fully understand this after 10 years.

Your 26 year old self is judging you very harshly for what you are doing and not doing right now.

Do not disappoint him. One day, you will meet him.

 

[Matt Lee]

@Johnny boy probably has some good things to say

 

[BellaPippin]

Might be an unpopular opinion but as long as you don’t get into trouble, I’d go back and do the same thing and enjoy my HS years. You don’t get them back. I have very nice memories and had very nice times with my friends. We did fun stuff. Hell I wish I could go back, I’d get As without studying so all my time was free time. I was able to live in the moment, I didn’t have anxiety over the future or my purpose in life or any of that crap. School was easy. My body still let me play competitive sports and it was fun. I’m not saying don’t ever get to work, but if I went back I still wouldn’t start until I graduate. I think it’s okay to be a kid.

So to me my answer would probably be the same as everyone else, but after graduation. Until then I’d enjoy.

 

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[Subsonic]

Books. Many, MANY books. 4 hours of books per day, if you can.

I honestly don't know why guys above give advice like "wait till you 21", because this is bs. If you want success, you'd better start working for it ASAP.

How to start working for it? Well, you need to know what to do, exactly. That's where books come in. Books revolutionized my life and they will do it for you too.

Oh, and watch Hamza on youtube, he will tell you EVERYTHING that you need to know about "what would you do if you were 16.

Bad advice.

Hamza is cool but honestly his advice on business things sucks. Reading is not the solution but instead a way to avoid taking action.

I say wait till your 21 but not in the way you claim I am saying it. I say, delay gratification of earning and focus on learning first. You will still make money during that process, mind you.
Part of practicing web design is doing projects for other people. If you get good at skills and help people, money will come to you naturally because you provide value.

If you try to make as much money as possible right away its going to be capped and you are limiting the learning you do.

I was at 1k a month with my business, as seen in my thread but I quit it to pursue things that develop more skills.


Another point, no you dont need to know exactly what to do. You need to help people. 4 hours a day of reading feels productive but its almost as bad as 4 hours a day of tv.

Now, if you say that all the people here are wrong, whats your credentials ?

 

[Brandonistaken]

Would you get a job? Would you start a business? Would you focus on High School? What would you guys do if you could go back years in time and be 16 again?

Well there is lot of things.

-Start my business
-Learn new things every day
-Go to the gym
-Learn to identify problems and solve them
-Take care of my health
-Buy educational things such as books
-Create daily habit tracking
-Meditate
-Write my short term & long term goals
-Spend time on business forums ( if there were any when i was 16 )
-Create a yt channel and post content
-Socialize with everyone
-Journal at the end of each day

 

[The Sandman]

At 16 I had a job and a car. My focus was to hang out, smoke week and bang hot chicks.
If I could go back knowing what I know now? I'd be SO MUCH BETTER at it.

I'd also mine bitcoin on my 486sx25 and be a billionaire by now.

 

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[MRiabov]

Bad advice.

Hamza is cool but honestly his advice on business things sucks. Reading is not the solution but instead a way to avoid taking action.

I say wait till your 21 but not in the way you claim I am saying it. I say, delay gratification of earning and focus on learning first. You will still make money during that process, mind you.
Part of practicing web design is doing projects for other people. If you get good at skills and help people, money will come to you naturally because you provide value.

If you try to make as much money as possible right away its going to be capped and you are limiting the learning you do.

I was at 1k a month with my business, as seen in my thread but I quit it to pursue things that develop more skills.


Another point, no you dont need to know exactly what to do. You need to help people. 4 hours a day of reading feels productive but its almost as bad as 4 hours a day of tv.

Now, if you say that all the people here are wrong, whats your credentials ?

You know, quite frankly - I've only recently discovered the "help people" thing... But before that, I've failed 3-5 businesses, where, for 2 years, I didn't make a single sale.

A single sale, for 2 years.

I've never read a book while I was working on them. And only recently, when I discovered reading - 3 months ago, it became my obsession. It became a message I wanted to share with the world. The things that I knew nothing about - (like marketing!) suddenly became so clear and understandable - after reading Dotcom, Expert and Traffic Secrets (from Russel Brunson, probably the most epic marketer around there). I learned the basics of copy through 3 books...

Before it, I knew nothing and only failed. I didn't even know what I'm doing.
Hell, reading 3-4 hours a day is what led me to reading The Millionaire Fastlane 3 days ago - and, well, for the first time of my life, I've understood that - yes, business is about helping people after all!

That's why I honor reading so much. So far, it has opened more knowledge and wisdom than anything I did before.

 

[Subsonic]

You know, quite frankly - I've only recently discovered the "help people" thing... But before that, I've failed 3-5 businesses, where, for 2 years, I didn't make a single sale.

A single sale, for 2 years.

I've never read a book while I was working on them. And only recently, when I discovered reading - 3 months ago, it became my obsession. It became a message I wanted to share with the world. The things that I knew nothing about - (like marketing!) suddenly became so clear and understandable - after reading Dotcom, Expert and Traffic Secrets (from Russel Brunson, probably the most epic marketer around there). I learned the basics of copy through 3 books...

Before it, I knew nothing and only failed. I didn't even know what I'm doing.
Hell, reading 3-4 hours a day is what led me to reading The Millionaire Fastlane 3 days ago - and, well, for the first time of my life, I've understood that - yes, business is about helping people after all!

That's why I honor reading so much. So far, it has opened more knowledge and wisdom than anything I did before.

Its great to hear that you now understand things more.
But what have you DONE so far. Knowledge is only valuable if it changes the way you act in a way to changes you life circumstances.

I agree that reading is valuable and I spent some time reading every day, however its secondary to the most important thing out there: Action.

I learned more about running a business and making money and marketing from my cleaning thing than I did from all the books I read. And I only did it for a month.
The real actionable knowledge of "How do I get a website running that brings me customers" or "How do I start a business legally" and much more is only unlocked through doing. That is because you cant know what you need to know untill your stuck somewhere.

 

[crystal_]

Bad advice.

Hamza is cool but honestly his advice on business things sucks. Reading is not the solution but instead a way to avoid taking action.

I say wait till your 21 but not in the way you claim I am saying it. I say, delay gratification of earning and focus on learning first. You will still make money during that process, mind you.
Part of practicing web design is doing projects for other people. If you get good at skills and help people, money will come to you naturally because you provide value.

If you try to make as much money as possible right away its going to be capped and you are limiting the learning you do.

I was at 1k a month with my business, as seen in my thread but I quit it to pursue things that develop more skills.


Another point, no you dont need to know exactly what to do. You need to help people. 4 hours a day of reading feels productive but its almost as bad as 4 hours a day of tv.

Now, if you say that all the people here are wrong, whats your credentials ?

Curious on why you quit the business instead of trying to scale it? Didn’t see the thread.

Seems like you could learn while reinvesting money trying to scale it from 1k to 2k, 5k, etc.

 

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[Subsonic]

Curious on why you quit the business instead of trying to scale it? Didn’t see the thread.

Seems like you could learn while reinvesting money trying to scale it from 1k to 2k, 5k, etc.

Longer answer is in the thread but in short:

I dont like the business, I dont provide a good service, I did not solve a big problem, I dont want to spent my next 10 years or more in the cleaning industry.

 

[Johnny boy]

@Johnny boy probably has some good things to say

I would be ONLY having fun, breaking rules, trying to get with every cute girl in the entire school, and being a legend.

My mistake was being a good boy who tried a bit in school, dated one girl the whole time, and spent time outside of school playing baseball. None of those things ever really helped me in life. Not the schoolwork, not the monogamy, not the sports.

 

[heavy_industry]

My mistake was being a good boy who tried a bit in school, dated one girl the whole time

So out of character!

When did you make the switch to the giga chad that you are today?

 

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[StrikingViper69]

Find the last music teacher I had, not goto university or 6th form, and study with him online part time, working some crap part time job to get by.

 

[Andreas Thiel]

For me, the top priority would be socializing and networking.

 

[Johnny boy]

So out of character!

When did you make the switch to the giga chad that you are today?

figured it out once I left school

 

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[Boy Muhammad]

I'd definitely learn Forex Trading, get the hang of it and start managing funds for prop firms and hedge funds at 20.

 

[Panos Daras]

Get laid with 16-year-olds...DA! It is legal at this age. And one thing I would not do is look at porn. Also, do not drive drunk and stay safe.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Dance.
Talk to babes.
Have fun.
Not get into drinking.
Not watch porn at all.
Read some books.
Begin selling my own stuff. (my dad is an enemy of money. He didn't want use getting used to money.)

 

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[rjdgreat]

Would you get a job? Would you start a business? Would you focus on High School? What would you guys do if you could go back years in time and be 16 again?

If I would be 16 again I would...

• Do compound workouts
• Create/join brotherhood
• Avoid porn/ and drugs
• Limit social media use
• Eat clean
• Learn critical thinking, logical reasoning, rational thinking
• Read Holy Bible
• Avoid narcissistic people
• Learn boxing
• Limit junk food and liquor

 

[heavy_industry]

figured it out once I left school

Did something very similar to you.

The tragedy of life is that we only get the knowledge that we need, AFTER we needed it the most.

Say for example you desperately need to change a car tire and you don't know how. You will know how to do it only AFTER you've already done it.

Same happens with life.

You'll know the optimal strategy of living your teens and 20s once they are over.

The only solution to this catch-22 is to:

• Acknowledge the fact that you know nothing and you desperately need more experience
• Listen to and learn from older successful people, not from the average retards - being older doesn't always mean wiser
• Do as many things as you can in order to gain experience and set yourself up for success in the future