Hey Pandas, I Turned 18 A Few Days Ago! Do You Have Any Advice For Me?

YES !
Please try to be yourself. It is important for some people to "fit in)
You are perfect

Take care of your teeth as a good digestion is capital to good health, and take care of your feet as they support the edifice.

Watch a movie you always wanted to see because you deserve it! Don’t try to grow up too fast. Make some cookies or anything you like!

Take an hour for yourself every day

Stay true to who YOU are, always make sure you have time for yourself to unwind and recharge, keep yourself grounded, lean to fix and mend things, learn to cook, always vote, do whatever makes YOU happy and not what will make others happy, keep feeding your curiosity, always make sure you are somewhere you feel safe - whether it’s a job, home, or a partner.

Re: Romantic relationships - you cannot fix anyone else, and it is not your job to try. Other people cannot fix you, and it is not their job to try. If someone says something like "you complete me," or "you fill the holes in my heart," - run. That person doesn't need a relationship, they need a good therapist. Don't expect your partner to fulfill all of your emotional needs - that's too much burden to place on another person, and will lead to a toxic relationship.

Workout and eat right, drink plenty of water, and be kind to your joints especially your knees.

Always carry an emergency $20. (Or equivalent local currency wherever you live.) It teaches you to set aside money and can get you out of a scrape, whether it's being stranded and needing a taxi or phone call, or just getting stuck with an unexpected bill. Having a little extra cash stashed around the house is helpful, but an unchanging emergency 20 in your purse is a balm for anxious souls. I've found having even a little safety net like that can help me be more adventurous.

(And if you're doing well enough to replenish it the next day, it's nice to have cash for a spontaneous pizza delivery.)

The Golden Rule. 'Treat others as one wants to be treated'. I'll bung in a free one, always be polite. Good luck on your journey.

Travel as far and widely as you can.

Plan for the future but live for now and always say it in your head before it comes out of your mouth. Lead with love but don't become a doormat. Last but not least just be true to yourself. Happy birthday 🎉

you're going to get slammed hard in your life through no fault of your own. get help, talk

Retirement guy here. Money. Invest in your 401k or Roth IRA with whatever % you are comfortable with. Don’t touch it till you retire.
Keep 6 months expenses in savings. It will take a while. Don’t touch it unless something major/eviction etc happens.
Always live within your means. There is no $ amount here, within YOUR means.
Always pay your credit card off unless you like paying interest. You can leave a $50 balance on there to build credit rating though.
Keep emergency cash in a small safe or well hidden, you never know.

Happy Belated Birthday! and many happy returns of the day. My advice may be in one of the posts above, but my advice is to start saving immediately. Compound interest is your friend if you're saving (but your enemy if you're in debt), If you start young enough, saving even a small amount will build up before you know it. I read somewhere that mine is the last generation that may actually be able to retire, because debt has grown so much, and savings so little. I just retired, a little early, with a 7 figure nest egg, by saving as much as I could, and investing aggressively when I was young. I wish I had known, when I was younger, that a lot of the things I was spending money on... fancy clothes, evenings out, etc. . . . mean very little to me now. Have fun, as much fun as you can while you're young, but maybe not so much expensive fun =0}

Congratulations on this milestone! My advice would be to critically talk to yourself. We all have times when we lash out, when we act in ways that make us think "that's not me!!", and when we leave a discussion feeling confused. Practise reviewing these kind of moments, systematically evaluating by asking yourself: 1) what just happened? (just the facts: what was said, what actions were taken); 2) how do I feel about what just happened?; 3) why do I feel this way (and probe a bit... do I really feel what I think I do, or is there another, underlying emotion at play?); 4) how was how I feel or felt reflected in what I did (and did how I act actually reflect my true feeling, or was I accidentally expressing something else?); 5) if I could re-do this situation over, how would I have more accurately connected my thoughts and emotions to my actions?
When you practice this kind of critical evaluation with yourself, it becomes easier to practice with others, and it becomes easier to understand what others are really feeling and meaning to express (human beings are terrible communicators sometimes…). This approach is at the root of a method called “non-violent communication” (if you’re interested, you can read more here: https://positivepsychology.com/non-violent-communication/), which emphasizes trying to better understand the unmet needs others are expressing during conflictual encounters.

Relatedly: please talk nice to yourself 😊. When you talk to yourself in an unkind way, it sets the pattern for what you will accept from others. If you call yourself stupid or ugly, you more easily accept when others talk to you that way.

Don't go to a University that you only know about from Television or the Internet. Instead, apply to a real university, such as UCLA or Michigan State or the University of Utah. If the college says they have job placement, make sure it's in the field you are paying for. I got burned at 20.

Stay curious. If you have a smart phone [and you do] if you have a question about something, look it up. How fast are cheetahs? Look it up. Who was the first female marathon winner? Look it up. Why does light bend? Look it up. The handheld computer contains a wealth of knowledge.

Whenever you apply for a job, near in mind that hundreds of others have done so, too.
So bone up on the company, history, values, etc. Don’t just apply for the job; explain why you fit in it.

1. Be careful with gaining weight, keep yourself fit, exercise, eat healthy.

2. Take care of your mental and physical health above all. Regular checkups, take vitamins, don't be afraid of therapy if needed.

3. Life-work balance. Don't overwork yourself, avoid burn-outs because it will harm you and make you weaker. You will be more productive by having proper rest and some fun.

4. Learn time-management while you are studying, learn to manage your time from young age. Avoid doing things at the last minute. Be early instead of on time.

5. Be faithful to your partner.

6. Think things through properly.

7. Be kind to yourself, learn to love yourself for who you are.

8. Learn to manage your money.

9. Don't take things and people for granted.

10. Know when to say No and avoid toxic people and environment where possible.

This is a little long - apologies. I really applaud you for asking others. You'll get a lot of different advice, for sure. But those of us who've got a quite a few decades on you probably give you the best "long view" advice. There's definitely a time for fun, work, seriousness, laughter.

1) Learn to follow and work sensibly at what interests you, and pursue your passions as a hobby. Passion fades. And, quite honestly, it rarely pays the bills. Just because you see the few hundred people online for whom following their passion worked, remember it doesn't for the majority of the people on the planet. Being able to support yourself is vital. I learned the hard way that wishful thinking and hard work together don't achieve what you want. You have to have work that genuinely pays the level you wish to live at.

2) Learn to budget, track and project costs. Always understand every bit of your finance. Check your accounts, your credit cards, bills, invoices, insurance policies, and all such things to make sure nothing funny is going on. Don't assume all is well - that how people get ripped off or stolen from.

3) Don't join MLMs. I'm serious. At least, not unless you already have an income that allows you to pay for ALL of their fees, products, trainings, and seminars without ever making a single cent. Because if you can't afford that part, you can't afford to join them. After 5 decades of being part of many different ones, that is the lesson I learned. Even if you earn an income from them, your expenses will, in 99% of cases, exceed what you earn - by a LOT. Only the people who found these things, or are at the 1% at the top earners, make any kind of real money. Don't be fooled - they are good at pulling you in emotionally. Every single one will claim to be different from the other. They are also a good way to destroy your relationships with friends and family - so really, stay away from the sales and "business owner" part. Buy their products if you like them/can afford them, by all means (if there are no strings attached). (This also goes for self-help gurus - they will eat your money).

4) Discover how to think long-term - financially, family and relationship goals, you name it. This means learning to think logically, not emotionally. That's a hard one, because our emotions are fleeting, changeable and can fool us. Most of us make decisions with emotions. I don't know what your mindset is like but as someone who went into music because I was passionate about it, I can guarantee that thinking "it will all work out and I'll have everything I want eventually (enough money to live on, children, etc), You need to have a life partner with the same goals from the outset. Understand what the probable consequences of a particular decision will be.

5) Forgive, laugh, work hard at keeping your family and friends close. Don't let fights or grudges get in the way. Once someone is gone from this earth, you cannot find them in the empty space where they used to be. Relationships are most important. Love God, love others. Find beauty and enjoyment everywhere during your life.