I like to joke that I am who I am today because I did everything wrong in my 20’s. I’ve always been fearless, and it often got me in trouble. I wasn’t afraid to start a business, borrow a bunch of money, or quit a well-paying job to travel the world.

我常開玩笑說，我之所以是現在的我，完全是因為我二十幾歲時把一切事情都做錯了。那個時候，我什么都不怕，所以經常惹麻煩。我不怕為了創業而借一屁股的債，又或者是辭去高薪的工作只是為了周游世界。

At the same time, the fact that I took chances (and often failed) gave me the wisdom that I have today. Lessons learned through failure tend to be much more meaningful than lessons learned otherwise.

也正因為那時候的我抓住了很多機會(雖然經常以失敗告終)，才讓今天的我學到了許多智慧。相較之下，從失敗中吸取的教訓比從其他地方學到的東西更加深刻。

Now that I’m in my 30’s, life is pretty good. While I haven’t learned it all, I feel my head is screwed on straight enough that life is much less stressful. I’ve come into my own and built the foundation for a secure and prosperous future.

現在，我過著幸福的三十歲生活。盡管我還沒有掌握到生活的全部，但是我覺得已經足夠讓自己的生活不太有壓力。我有著自己的生活方式，并且給未來打下了安全、繁榮的基礎。

Even though things are going well, I often imagine what it would be like to go back into the past and teach myself what I know now. I know enough to be certain that I lost most of my twenties to a struggle with debt and poor decisions. If I had done things differently, maybe I could have been where I am now at age 22.

盡管一切都在順利的進行，我還是經常想象，如果我回到過去并且把我現在學到的東西教給那個時候的我，事情會變成什么樣子。我非常清楚，二十幾歲的我大部分時間都在和債務以及自己的糟糕決定糾纏。如果我能用另外一種方式去做事，也許在我22歲的時候就能有今天的成就。

Could you imagine? Self employed and almost financially independent at age 22? No… not almost. My expenses were much less back then… I would have been financially free!

你能夠想象在22歲的時候就自己當老板并且財政獨立么?不，不可想象啊。我那時的花費非常的低，說不定那時我就可以財政自由了!

I know, it doesn’t do any good to ask what if. If I had known it all at age 22, I probably would have been a little cocky. Doing things the hard way seasoned my character. I like who I am and I wouldn’t change a thing.

我也知道說“如果……”是沒有什么意義的。如果我在22歲的時候就能知道這些了，我可能會變得有些驕傲自大。困難讓我成長。我喜歡現在的我，我不打算去改變什么。

But what if…

但是如果……

What I’d Tell Myself at 18

如果我回到18歲我會告訴我自己什么呢?

Sometimes I imagine that I’m in a fishing boat, thousands of miles away from the life I know, slowly drifting across a lake. As I recline at an uncomfortable angle created by the wood bench and aluminum hull, I glance over at the 18 year-old version of myself and upload my wisdom to him.

有時候我會想象我在一艘漁船上，離真實的生活千里之遙，慢慢的在湖中漂蕩。我不太舒服的躺在木凳上，瞥一眼18歲的自己，然后把自己現在的智慧傳給他.

Here’s what I say:

我會告訴他：