What I Wish I Knew At Age 19

Here's everything everyone wish they knew at the age of 19. If it's good advice, hit the upvote button. The number next to it indicates the age the author wrote it at. Feel like there's something missing? Add a new message!

Hey 19 year old, You're an adult, and legally, you can watch porn. The problem is when watching porn consumes your life so much that you ignore what's important, that it becomes an addiction. Look up on porn addiction for more help. Porn in moderation.

Hey 19 year old, If you're an adult and yet you don't want to drink, it's okay to say no. It doesn't mean you don't know how to have fun. Often people who can only have fun when drinking are the most boring people.

Hey 19 year old, If you have questions about sex, don't look for answers in porn because it's not realistic. Look up sexplanations on YouTube from a professional sex therapist, or at least look up "list of sex education websites," online.

Hey 19 year old, Women are allowed to be sexual, and men are allowed to be nonsexual. Yes, women can also watch porn, masturbate and have orgasms. Yes, men can also prioritize romance over sex, not even want to have sex, or just be virgins too.

Hey 19 year old, I don’t see the wisdom of this plan [I do not think that it is a good idea ]

Hey 19 year old, If you need to make bigger decisions or even need help with smaller ones, learn to just write down the pros and cons of each decision. Then you can rate it with plus or minus points, depending on how personally important each is to you.

Hey 19 year old, Learn to have a balance of improving strengths and decreasing weaknesses. If you focus on strengths all the time, get out of your comfort zone with weaknesses. If you lack focus on improving what you're best at, focus on strengths.

Hey 19 year old, Be careful when getting life advice from movies, whether in your relationships, your studies, your mental health, and more. When looking for advice, trust non-fiction over fictional sources. Recognize the assumptions media makes.

Hey 19 year old, If you have trouble speaking in front of an audience, imagining people in their underwear often doesn't work. Instead, think about how someone, even one person, could have a better day due to what you say, after being so stressed.

Hey 19 year old, If you need help with social situations in all kinds of relationships or in future/present workplaces, study books or at least articles online on different body language. It will help you find insight in how people work.

Hey 19 year old, Even if it turns out the universe has no meaning, then know that you can create your own meaning. Your subjective sense of what matters has meaning even if it's not objective, because all human desires in the end are subjective and emotional.

Hey 19 year old, If you don't know who you are and are confused, know that you're not just one thing. You're a multitude of things, all combined into one person. Identity isn't something you can answer in one word or one sentence. Write a whole book.

Hey 19 year old, We're all going to have times where we sacrifice some sleep for college, but don't let studying for college sacrifice your health to the extreme. If you're going to at least pass, risking fainting from exhaustion is not worth a perfect grade.

Hey 19 year old, Study hard if you're in college, but don't let your grades define you as a person. I'm not saying don't care about studies at all, but it's not the only thing about yourself that you should value. You are more than that, really.

Hey 19 year old, Thomas Frank and Scott Young's blogs really helped me through college. They got a lot of packed shortcuts, tips and tricks to studying I don't usually find elsewhere. Not saying their advice is easy, but it beats the dread of college without it.

Hey 19 year old, I suggest if you want some beginner personal development websites to look up, there is Marc and Angel Hack Life, Lifehacker, Brian Tracy, James Clear, The Emotion Machine, Tiny Buddha, Zenhabits, Pick the Brain, and Live Bold and Bloom.

Hey 19 year old, If you have trouble figuring out what to do with money, look up some personal finance apps to try, such as Mint, YNAB (You Need a Budget), Monny, Wallet, Monefy, Money Coach, Money Manager, Buddy, and Spending Tracker.

Hey 19 year old, If you want to know more about your emotions, there are mood tracker apps like Daylio, EMMO, DailyBean, Moodnotes, Tangerine, Thinky, CBT Thought Diary, Moody, MojiNote, Gratsy, 7 cups of tea, and Pixels.

Hey 19 year old, Progress isn't always a straight line. Sometimes growing up, things get worse since when you were a kid, rather than getting better. It's okay. It's normal. It's natural. Fall down 7 times. Get up 8 times.

Hey 19 year old, If you want to find places online that are untraditional open minded spaces to talk about career advice, there is rebelsatwork, Ask a Manager, Classy Career Girl, Chief Happiness Officer, Human Workplace, and the Way Women Work.

Hey 19 year old, There are many depression blogs if you would like to read some, such as Time to Change, Depressed While Black, Therapy for Black Girls, HeadsupGuys, A Splintered Mind, Blurt, Lawyer Depression Project, NAMI, and more.

Hey 19 year old, If you use Google Chrome, look up the Chrome Web Store to find some free useful extensions related to things like productivity, accessibility, search tools, shopping and even the fun section that can come surprisingly in handy for nearly everything.

Hey 19 year old, If you want help practicing self care and you like podcasts, you can look up ones like Self-Care for Extremely Busy Women, Therapy for Black Girls, Brown Girl Self-Care, The Science of Self Care, The Self Care Chronicle, and more.

Hey 19 year old, If you're stuck on what to do in life, look up a list of life goals, bucket list ideas, list of hobbies/interests, or New Year's resolution ideas (even if it's not the New Year), if you want some ideas on what to do with your life.

Hey 19 year old, Learn a new vocabulary word everyday. It will help you communicate with all kinds of difficult situations growing up, and more words can also allow you to better describe problems you have so you can understand it. Then use it in real life.

Hey 19 year old, If you still want to connect with your inner child as an adult, you can. In your remaining free time, try building things with LEGO, making things with clay, scrapbooking with stickers, watching cartoons, coloring books/apps, and whatever you like.

Hey 19 year old, If you're stuck on what to do to calm down at this age, look up "calming hobbies," "relaxing hobbies," or "hobbies for stress," like gardening, cooking/baking, puzzles, reading, collecting, fishing, running, biking, DIY, woodworking and so on.

Hey 19 year old, If you want help releasing stress, I recommend finding a place where you can be alone, or perhaps a loud enough place where no one can hear you, and just scream out all of your stress. Shout everything that stresses you out at the top of your lungs.

Hey 19 year old, Whatever career path you choose, look for online communities on it. If you're in IT, look for a programmer forum. If you're in the arts, look for art videos. If you're in nursing or training to be a doctor, look at med school memes. Research.

Hey 19 year old, You can also volunteer online if you want to help without going outside of the house. Look up "ways to volunteer online," "how to help your community online," "how to volunteer at home," "volunteering apps/websites/forums," and so on.