I’m 16 male and just wanted to know how life was at 16 for all the guys out there. I mostly focus on school and my studies and do martial arts (Brazilian jiu jitsu). But socially I’m pretty lost I’m always alone definitely outside of school I mostly just study a lot which most kids think is boring. I hope to be able to practice medicine in the future.
23 comments
What would I personally have done? Argued less with my parents about dumb shit, talked to my grandma more before Alzheimer’s set in, taken my high school relationship a **lot** less seriously, and gone to college for something practical instead of following my passions.
What advice would I give to you? If you want to make friends, you’re going to have to put yourself out there. Talk to people in class, join some clubs, and invite people to hangout outside of school. If you don’t want to make friends, keep your head down and do your thing.
“stop trying to be cool and macho, you’re into some girly/nerdy stuff just embrace it”
i was definitely overcompensating for my lack of interest in sports and cars in high school when i should’ve been doing stuff i enjoyed, like reading books and watching romcoms
if i’d continued down the faux-macho route i probably wouldn’t have met my now-wife
I honestly would have tried to hook up with girls more. I was so insecure and uncomfortable, plus very religious and I’m not at all now.
Fuck Healthcare. Fuck politics. Fuck fraternities. Don’t waste so much time as you did on that and go for zoology. Study big cats and go work on a nature resort/safari. Nothing in this world will make you as happy
Well im lucky cause my 16 year old self is like 5 months before bitcoin took off the first time so im getting rich, but not going to college and starting a business right away. Get my GED and be the worst student at school,
Would have not interacted with certain people who I became friends with.
I would tell myself to save more. And to recognise my worth and stop putting everyone else before me
Quit being a knuckle head.
Stop smoking dope.
I would have never smoked pot or played Everquest (later WoW).
Buy lots of bitcoin
“You’re going to miss these moments. I know it sucks right now. I get it. Also, dumbass? Do. Not. Let. Hailee. Go. Apologize, make amends. Be the friend I know you can be. Even a little bit of effort is going to go a long way. I know you’re confused. Trust me. Also bet on the following teams the following years. Get us nice and rich.”
Convince myself to invest in bitcoin.
When I was 16, I legit remember seeing bitcoin mining threads on 4chan and just thought it was the dumbest shit ever.
#OH, HOW WRONG I WAS!
You are young. Go fucking make some mistakes. 🤷🏽♂️ you can’t become old and wise if you weren’t first young and stupid.
you need to go put yourself out there and let life teach your a few things.
You will actually understand when you are older. My guess would be around age 28-32 somewhere x
ASK HER OUT IT DOES NOT GET BETTER
Absolutely nothing.
Times may have been tough and I could have a subjectively “better” life, but right now is good. I have a wife, a kid, I’m happy in my job. There could be any number of things that I could have done differently and I wouldn’t end up here.
What I would do differently isn’t necessarily relevant to you. Instead, I’ll give advice for your situation.
Look up the entry requirements, acceptance rates, and placement rates for colleges you’re interested in now.
Doctors go to med school. Take all pre-med classes you can with professors rather than TAs. You want to build relationships with them, because they will be writing your letters of recommendation. Go to their office hours and shoot the shit.
Unless you’re crazy disciplined, use the academic success center at your college. If you end up not needing it, you can always find tutoring jobs through them.
Join clubs on campus. If it’s even a moderately sized school, there will be many.
Stay in school. Leaving at 14 due to physical and mental health reasons, whilst understandable, was a terrible idea because now future me is kinda fucked over due to it.
Go into software engineering!
I would have looked into careers more and focused on myself early on. I’m doing great now but wish I would have had someone to show me there were good paying blue collar jobs like welding and electric lineman. I ended up in the trades but got a late start.
Keep studying and please keep doing Martial Arts, your older self with thank you for not dropping your passions! Steadiness and discipline will take you a long way in your life. Better to be lost at 16 trying yo find yourself rather than for it to happen in your twenties. Alls im trying to say is, passions and things you like right now will lay the foundation for who you will be and want to be.
Ex.
Continuing Studying Medicine = going to college, making friends, meeting girls.
Continuing Martial arts = learning how to fight ( witch builds confidence and is a needed skill as a man), make friends, travel, impress girls etc.
One thing I learned as a man is never let society or the outside world influence who you are. You’ll be much happier going your own way! Studying medicine is cool, we meed more men like you!
There is a whole book of [letters to your 16-year old self](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451649649/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1451649649&linkCode=as2&tag=openculture-20) and it’s pretty good.
If you don’t go for that: *Be Intentional*. It is easy to do this when you’re 16 and becomes progressively more difficult as your responsibilities expand throughout adulthood. So start now and build the habits you will need five and ten and fifteen years from now.
*Be intentional about your health* — meaning that you need health and fitness goals and some plan to achieve them. That’s really important because health is not a given. So if you have a family history of (for instance) heart disease, adopt a plan of diet and exercise that will keep your numbers where they ought to be.
*Be intentional about your career.* In the short term, nobody cares how hard working you are, or how well you relate to other people, or (in short) whether you are someone they would like to work for instead of work with. But in the long term, that makes all the difference. If you get promoted against the wishes of your peers, you won’t last.
*Be intentional about your finances.* If you’re, say, 20 and borrow $80K to buy some dipshit truck that you spend the next ten years paying off, you’re giving up about four million dollars in retirement money (four million dollars is just $80K earning a 10% return for 40 years). Think about the best use of every dollar you spend, and for the love of God do not piss it away on stupid shit.
*Be intentional about your attachments.* Let people solve their own problems; its the only way they learn. People need to do a lot of dumb shit in order to figure out what they really want, but understanding that doesn’t mean you have to enable it. And don’t love anything that can’t love you back.
*Be intentional about your marriage.* Who you choose to marry (or not) is the single most important decision you will make — financially and emotionally, at least. It will have a greater effect on your happiness than anything other than your health. A good marriage will help you achieve levels of confidence, security, and success that you could never reach alone. A bad marriage will make you sick and miserable.
Advice me as a 16 year old would listen too? I’m old enough to know that’s probably a good errand
Damn probably leave my family in the dust financially abused me for almost 20 years