The Days Are Long but the Decades Are Short — Sam Altman

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1. Never put your family, friends, or significant other low on your priority list.
2. Life is not a dress rehearsal—this is probably it. Make it count.
3. How to succeed: pick the right thing to do (this is critical and usually ignored), focus, believe in yourself (especially when others tell you it’s not going to work).
4. On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what you do for your work.
5. On money: Whether or not money can buy happiness, it can buy freedom, and that’s a big deal.
6. Talk to people more. Read more long content and less tweets. Watch less TV. Spend less time on the Internet.
7. Don’t waste time.
8. Don’t let yourself get pushed around.
9. Have clear goals for yourself every day, every year, and every decade.
10. However, as valuable as planning is, if a great opportunity comes along you should take it. Don’t be afraid to do something slightly reckless.
11. Go out of your way to be around smart, interesting, ambitious people. Work for them, hire them.
12. Minimize your own cognitive load from distracting things that don’t really matter.
13. Keep your personal burn rate low. This alone will give you a lot of opportunities in life.
14. Summers are the best.
15. Don’t worry so much. Things in life are rarely as risky as they seem.
16. Ask for what you want.
17. If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should probably do it.
18. Exercise. Eat well.
19. Go out of your way to help people. Few things in life are as satisfying.
20. Youth is a really great thing. Don’t waste it.
21. Tell your parents you love them more often.
22. This too shall pass.
23. Learn voraciously.
24. Do new things often.
25. Remember how intensely you loved your boyfriend/girlfriend when you were a teenager? Love him/her that intensely now.
26. Don’t screw people and don’t burn bridges.
27. Forgive people.
28. Don’t chase status. Status without substance doesn’t work for long and is unfulfilling.
29. Most things are ok in moderation. Almost nothing is ok in extreme amounts.
30. Existential angst is part of life. It is particularly noticeable around major life events.
31. Be grateful and keep problems in perspective. Don’t complain too much.
32. Be a doer, not a talker.
33. Given enough time, it is possible to adjust to almost anything, good or bad.
34. Think for a few seconds before you act. Think for a few minutes if you’re angry.
35. Don’t judge other people too quickly. Be empathetic.
36. The days are long but the decades are short.