I’ve seen it all. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen so much that I don’t even talk about most of my life experiences on this blog. That isn’t because I’m waiting to be able to drop a memoir or slice-of-life novel. It’s because I still need to let these experiences marinate, so that other people can really understand the quality and type of wisdom that I’ve acquired over the last 25 years. I’m now at a point where life is simple and easy. On the flipside, I’m not very likable or popular. I went through hell to be able to understand what I want out of life, my industry, along with how to find balance. I’ve experienced what it’s like trying to get started from an economic standstill and have made a lot of progress in the task of being able to provide for myself while living in a 3rd world country. I’ve gained a lot of strength, and even more wisdom.
Living life at full speed is dangerous. You’re going to meet bad people, try unadvisable things, make errors, and random bad things might happen to you. This is because you’ll be young and doing lots of things. It’s impossible to do everything perfectly all the time, and that’s mainly because it’ll be your first try. You’ll make mistakes and run into problems. If you’re doing really crazy shit, you might even die. But if luck is on your side, you’ll make it out with a bunch of wisdom, stories, and great ideas. You’ll also know what not to do, while all of your friends make basic personal life errors in their late 30s and 40s. I’m only in my mid 20s, but I’ve seen this many times over. All the rich nerds make weird mistakes in their 40s. The guys who struggled a lot when younger are more dialed in, provided they were intelligent.
If you live life at full speed, you have a story. That story can shape how you interact with the world forever, and in a positive way. You just need to make sure to stand your ground and own your mistakes. Live your truth and show the world you’re honest by taking accountability when you know you’ve fucked up. You’ll have a lot of haters in the short run, but it’ll be worth it once you weather the storm.
You don’t need to necessarily be involved in risky business or activities to live life at full speed. You just need to go hard at whatever you’re doing and be committed to doing as little harm as possible. When I was younger, I was more abrasive and cruder, but I never went out of my way to destroy anyone, except perhaps in arguments. This is why I’m still free to write these articles, despite having met a lot of crazy people and seen a lot of crazy things. Basically, have some guts. Try that thing, and then try the next. Don’t look back. You make things worse by looking back, and you’re likely to create more problems for yourself. This was a tough lesson for a thinker like me to learn.
I stole this article from the @BowTiedBull on Twitter. I’ve referenced them in other pieces that I’ve written. They used to have a blog, but for some reason decided to switch to Twitter and Substack exclusively. If you read this blog, you should also follow their Twitter and Substack. They’ve inspired a lot of my thinking, and while we’ve lived very different lives (they’re also older), I think we’re similar in a few ways. They tweeted about living life at full speed a few months ago. I thought it was a terrible idea, having gone through such a tumultuous time in my early 20s. But now that I’m solidly in my mid 20s, I get it. You want to be sane, out of the woods, and have learned all your lessons by 35 or 40, when you still have the time horizon and energy to recouperate from them. It’s painful but worthwhile, because even if you’ve made some bad mistakes, the consequences likely won’t drag on for more than 15 years. If they do, you either got really unlucky or did something really bad. So live fast and learn a lot. It’ll take you to the top eventually. Whatever that means.
Thanks for paying attention.
