Some Words on Advice

I recently discovered a song by the 70s rock band Faces called "Ooh La La" and I instantly took a liking to it.  The melody and music are all very good, but the lyrics are something... and they got me thinking.  The chorus of "Ohh La La" goes: 

I Wish That I Knew What I Know Now, When I Was Younger

I Wish That I Knew What I Know Now, When I Was Stronger

Take a minute and listen to the song for yourself...

The song is especially appealing to me because I am still young and do not have many regrets.  But I am 2o years old, and I therefore would like to offer some advice to the younger kids:

1) 

Do well in school.  Listen to your teachers, do your homework and study.  I don't know why it took me until freshmen year of college to figure this out.  It's so simple; do the hard work in highschool so you don't have to do it in community college.  Even if it means staying in for a couple of hours on the weekend, it is well worth it, believe me.  Even though you think it's funny and think it will score you chicks, don't be this guy.

2) 

Get a job! It will keep you on top of things, you'll save up some money and you will be satisfied with yourself.  Aim for a job that tips.  Being a busboy is probably the easiest for first time job seekers.  When you're older and looking for a job, they'll ask for your past experience... make sure you have some.

3)

Travel Travel Travel.

4)

Read. I know it sounds boring, but I really wish I would have read more when I was younger.  You will learn a lot of new material and build your personal lexicon.  The best part of reading is that it can be done virtually anywhere and with so little time/effort.  I take the bus to school everyday and instead of listening to an Ipod, I read a book.  The bus is about 45 minutes round trip, at this rate I finish a book about every 1 to 2 weeks.  I just finished City of Thieves by David Benioff, a historical fiction about the Siege of Lenningrad.  Check it out.  

5)

Establish a healthy diet.  I have always had a somewhat good diet, but when your older you really must always eat healthy.  One of the easiest and most beneficial tweaks is to cut out soda, energy drinks and juices.  All of these are essentially just sugar+water+high fructose corn syrup.  Eat eggs for breakfast instead of cereal.  Eat Chicken over red meat. etc. etc. 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  If anything else comes up I'll post it.  Please excuse any grammatical errors, I wrote this rather quickly.  In the comment section, I invite those older than me to submit their advice to me or others my age.