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.

我常开玩笑说，我之所以是现在的我，完全是因为我二十几岁时把一切事情都做错了。那个时候，我什么都不怕，所以经常惹麻烦。我不怕为了创业而借一屁股的债，又或者是辞去高薪的工作只是为了周游世界。

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.

也正因为那时候的我抓住了很多机会(虽然经常以失败告终)，才让今天的我学到了许多智慧。相较之下，从失败中吸取的教训比从其他地方学到的东西更加深刻。

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.

现在，我过着幸福的三十岁生活。尽管我还没有掌握到生活的全部，但是我觉得已经足够让自己的生活不太有压力。我有着自己的生活方式，并且给未来打下了安全、繁荣的基础。

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.

尽管一切都在顺利的进行，我还是经常想象，如果我回到过去并且把我现在学到的东西教给那个时候的我，事情会变成什么样子。我非常清楚，二十几岁的我大部分时间都在和债务以及自己的糟糕决定纠缠。如果我能用另外一种方式去做事，也许在我22岁的时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!

你能够想象在22岁的时候就自己当老板并且财政独立么?不，不可想象啊。我那时的花费非常的低，说不定那时我就可以财政自由了!

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.

我也知道说“如果……”是没有什么意义的。如果我在22岁的时候就能知道这些了，我可能会变得有些骄傲自大。困难让我成长。我喜欢现在的我，我不打算去改变什么。

But what if…

但是如果……

What I’d Tell Myself at 18

如果我回到18岁我会告诉我自己什么呢?

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.

有时候我会想象我在一艘渔船上，离真实的生活千里之遥，慢慢的在湖中漂荡。我不太舒服的躺在木凳上，瞥一眼18岁的自己，然后把自己现在的智慧传给他.

Here’s what I say:

我会告诉他：