The title of this blog is hyperbole, but the sentiment isn’t. When you’re young, it’s best to focus on yourself, and not do too much to try and help others your age. You can help your peers, but make sure they’re actually your peers and that the relationship is mutually beneficial. Otherwise, you shouldn’t be looking to help people unless it’s in a structured way.
People will use you
The whole world is full of people who will use you if they think you have money or time to offer them. This will become more and more true if you’re a young person. This is because most people will assume that you’re a rich kid. All money, no braincells. So they’ll just use you and ignore you.
The people you will help can’t help you
This is the unfortunate reality of being too willing to help others. If you do it while you’re young, you’re likely going to be dealing with the bottom of the barrel performance wise unless you’re working with a charity. These people often won’t use the help you give them, and they won’t necessarily be able to help you.
Your advice isn’t good enough
What do you know at age 24 to be telling people about the world? 25 is the absolute bare minimum age at which anyone can start giving life advice. Even then, it’s cringe. Your advice will likely start to get good in your 30s. Don’t waste your 20s trying to be Socrates. Build your own thing.
You should be working
This is really the key. The time that you spend helping random people when you’re young is time that could have been better spent working. The more you work, the more power you have to actually change lives.
Your partner should be able to take care of themselves
Being the rich husband or wife doesn’t sound like any fun and it’s not the move. If something happens to you, the entire family is screwed. Work hard but spend your free time looking for a partner who also has their stuff together. Meeting someone who’s also a hustler is the best way to build something great.
If you’re going to help, help in an organized fashion
Charity or volunteering is the way to go if you want to help people and you’re young. Go in, do your good deed, get out. The more scheduled and regimented, the better. It sounds harsh, but this is how you produce. The sooner and more you produce, the sooner and more you are able to help in a real way.
Know your financial limits
Meaning know how much money you can and need to make. This way, you know exactly how hard you can plan on working in your 20s. Don’t overwork. But do the work so that you can profit.
You shouldn’t spend too much of your 20s helping others. Focus on yourself. If you want to improve your morality, focus on how you can do good work to help the world, and on how you can be a better human in day-to-day activities. Don’t become selfish. But don’t spend too much time trying to get random individuals to fix their lives. The return on the time invested is almost always low.
Thanks for paying attention.
