I ask this question to people in my life who, by my standards, "made it". It's usually a person who successfully sold his startup, is leading research field expert or otherwise distinguished in his career (e.g. a president of huge corporation).<p>The question is vague for a reason - to not bias the person. I am interested to hear about everything: technical, financial, social, professional, etc. My thesis is that while we cannot look forward in time (well, not yet) it is easy to look backwards and connect the dots. Hence, I ask this question to learn what's ahead and get prepared for it now.<p>There are few things that usually come up, for example: be humble, work backwards from end-goal, hard work is basis for most things, it's often worth scarifying short term goals for a longer term pay-off, learn to appreciate simple things in life.<p>So, HN audience, what do you wish you knew in your early twenties? It would also be great if you could tell how old are you, where you are now, how long it took you to get there and how.