What I Wish I Knew Before Turning 18

10 years ago, I was just months away from starting my freshman year at Duke University, feeling ready to take on the world.

Four years after, I landed what was then my dream job at Google and moved to New York City.

During my first six years in NYC, I had the privilege of...

• helping launch major products at Google,
• putting on dozens of live shows for up-and-coming artists through Dancing Pineapple,
• spearheading cause-related social media campaigns that reached millions of people, and
• co-founding Civics Unplugged—a social enterprise (honored by Forbes 30 Under 30) dedicated to empowering Gen Z to build a brighter for humanity

While Civics Unplugged is only on year two of our decade-long journey, we are off to a strong start, with partners and supporters like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Andrew Yang, Ethereum Foundation, and the Smithsonian—who have committed to doing whatever it takes to help our Gen Zers create lasting change and build a brighter future for us all.

The past decade has felt like a lifetime; and although it may have looked like smooth sailing from the outside, I made?so?many mistakes that caused me a lot of pain and wasted hundreds of hours. But making mistakes isn't a bad thing like they teach you in school. It's an opportunity to learn something.

I get a lot of questions from the young people I work with asking me to share what I've learned over the years, so I decided to compile 42 principles I swear by. Hopefully, they can help you save a ton of time, and spark some reflection on what your own principles might be!

Love,

Gary

1. ?? Question all advice you are given: Most advice is bad advice
2. ?? Treat sleep as sacred: Sleep recharges everything that makes you magical
3. ?? Appreciate the beauty and mystery of life:?When you start to appreciate all that life has to offer, you are able to see reality more clearly and find more meaning
4. ?? Cultivate deeply meaningful relationships:?Connecting with people is the most rewarding thing you will do
5. ?? Find and foster community:?A loving support system is essential to your development and success
6. ?? Fall in love with (the process of) learning:?Learning is both intrinsically rewarding but also the key to your life satisfaction
7. ?? Don't be afraid to ask "dumb" questions:?Asking dumb questions helps you get smart
8. ?? Figure out how you learn best:?You won't enjoy learning if you don't learn in the way that best suits the way your brain works
9. ?????? Live by design, not by default:?Life will be full of suffering if you don't live it on your own terms
10. ?? Take time to make sense of the world:?Your ability to make good choices depends on your ability to understand the environments in which you are making the choices
11. ?? Learn how to think for yourself:?Independent thinking is the key to liberating yourself
12. ?? Invest in understanding and developing yourself:?To understand the world and make it better, you must understand yourself and develop yourself into someone capable of making it better
13. ?? Discover and use your superpowers:?Everyone has different gifts they can unleash for their own and others’ benefit
14. ?? Learn how to communicate:?Communication is key to creating shared understanding, which is needed to do anything collaboratively
15. ??Learn how to listen:?You will not be able to understand and appreciate other people if you don't listen lovingly
16. ?? Learn how to set goals:?If you are not setting your goals, your goals will be set by people who don't have your interests at heart
17. ?? Learn how to say "no":?Taking on opportunities, career pathways, and societal/family expectations that aren’t connected to who you strive to be does a disservice to your future
18. ?? Learn how to stay organized:?Cluttered physical and digital spaces create a cluttered mind
19. ????♀?Learn how to sit alone with your thoughts:?Alone time forces you to confront uncomfortable truths about your life
20. ?? Learn about human nature:?Studying this will help you understand how to support the well-being of yourself and others
21. ?? Take risks:?Take calculated risks that have the potential to greatly support your success and flourishing
22. ?? Learn what words mean:?Words help you make sense of the world
23. ?? Be careful when making judgments:?It's normal for your mind to jump to false conclusions
24. ?? Express your gratitude often:?It makes people's days to know they are appreciated
25. ?? Don't depend on external validation:?Caring too much about what other people think sets you up for a life of people pleasing and mediocrity
26. ?? Don't put yourself or others in a box:?People are more than even how they choose to identify
27. ?? Enjoy changing your mind:?It signals that you have courage and humility to learn and move on from a previous position
28. ?????? Take the time to get to know your teachers:?Creating genuine connections with your teachers, professors, mentors, and other inspirations will take your learning to the next level
29. ?? Be candid:?The truth will set you (and others) free
30. ?? Self-impose structure onto your life:?Structure helps you ensure that you fit in time for what's important
31. ???? Pursue what intrinsically motivates you:?Doing what naturally energizes you makes living life a joy
32. ?? Build things that empower people:?Humanity will only overcome the many crises we face if we radically improve our ability to help people realize their potential
33. ?? Treat money as a tool, not a God:?Those who pursue it as an ends itself can lose sight of its power to advance common good
34. ?? Track and reflect on what you think and do:?You know yourself less well than you think you do; daily, weekly, and monthly reflections will supercharge your self-understanding
35. ? Protect your time and attention:?Actions taken to protect these two sacred assets preserve your freedom
36. ???♂? Start your day with strenuous exercise:?Pushing your body prepares you for the mental challenges of the day
37. ?? Do things that suck:?Choosing to do hard things (like taking cold showers) prepares you to handle the hardships life will throw your way
38. ?? Eat what sustainably energizes you:?The quality of your conscious experience has everything to do with what you put in your body
39. ?? Identify with the spirit of evolution:?In this age of chaos, change, and opportunity, it's never been more useful to be extremely open-minded and adaptive
40. ?? Lead yourself and your family before trying to lead the world:?Trying to change the world before you develop your capacities to make your immediate surroundings better is a recipe for disaster
41. ?? Turn off autopilot:?Living on autopilot disengages us from both our present and our future, and disconnects us from our innately human creative potential
42. ???? Assume you know nothing:?The truth is more elusive than you may realize, but you have your whole life to explore the beautiful mysteries of the universe

You made it all the way here?! Thanks for reading.

Let me know in the comments?which principles you'd like me to elaborate on. And if you enjoyed this,?please click the thumbs up?below so others can see your recommendation.

?? Follow me on LinkedIn to see my future posts. I plan to post a lot more frequently moving forward.

?? If you are or know a high schooler (anywhere in the world) who is determined to grow as a leader and solve problems in their communities, nominate them or get them to apply for the Civics Unplugged Fellowship! ??