Austin Scholar #47: Life Advice From Sahil Bloom (Teen’s Version)
& The Most Important Lesson I'm Taking Into 2023
Hey, y'all!
The key to helping your teenager make better decisions, improve their mental health, and get better grades lies in Sahil Bloom’s Twitter threads.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
This week from Austin Scholar...
Austin’s Anecdote: The Most Important Lesson I'm Taking Into 2023
Life Advice From Sahil Bloom (Teen’s Version)
My Other Favorites From Sahil Bloom
This past week, all of us at Alpha high have been working through the Prequel Audience-Building Course to help us grow our audiences. By the end of February, each of us needs to have over 1,000 followers. Because I already have 1,000, I need to be at 10,000.
10,000 Twitter followers. It’s going to take a lot of work to meet this goal, but I’m beyond excited to really kick-start my Twitter growth.
Austin’s Anecdote: The Most Important Lesson I'm Taking Into 2023
In the past, I've really struggled to find a balance between doing schoolwork and being a teenager.
I obsessed over achievements and spending all of my time "productively." I didn't like taking breaks.
During the pandemic, this obsession got worse. I would be awake until 3:00 AM doing school work because I felt like any time spent not working was a waste.
Because I was always at home, I couldn't separate school and normal life, which is how many of my Twisty Thoughts formed (about my self-worth being tied to how much work I did).
It was a horrible mindset. I started associating learning with being exhausted and miserable and needing a break. It was... not good.
In late 2020, something pretty personal happened that I'm not going to get into, but I was forced to take a break from school. I pretty much did no schoolwork for six months. During that time, I worked to create coping strategies to use when I got anxious or felt like I needed to work. I detached my self-worth from my accomplishments.
And in February of 2021, as I slowly began to build my "school time" back up, I noted when I was getting too stressed or when I stopped feeling fulfilled from school work. (As my Values Pie Chart only placed a 20% value on school, it was around 20% of my free time after I got home from school.) Whenever that happened, I tried to find my balance. I spent the rest of the day watching TV with my family or reading a fantasy novel or taking a walk.
I wanted to be productive and a successful student, but not at the expense of my mental health.
Throughout 2022, I was able to find stability in my routine and establish habits that allowed me to accomplish really great things–while still feeling fulfilled with my life.
How I'm going to continue finding balance in 2023:
I will...
Continue to separate school and home
Making time to watch TV with my family
Say "yes" to a social event at least three times per week
Not use TikTok until my daily goals are met (So that I don’t procrastinate my goals and consequently stay up too late trying to finish them.)
Now, I know that my specific problem isn't one every teenager has. But, every teenager will have challenges finding the balance that leads to a meaningful life.
One person might want to spend more time being productive in order to feel content, and another might want to spend more time on a sport. A person isn't "better" because they spend more time on school or "better" because they spend more time with friends. Each person is simply different.
It’s important to note, I wasn't able to find my balance the first time. You have to experiment and try new schedules or times in order to finally find it. It will take time.
But let me tell you: that time I spent in 2022 experimenting with my balance is going to make 2023 so much better.
Life Advice From Sahil Bloom (Teen’s Version)
One year ago, I took Sahil Bloom's audience-building course and I've been reading his tweets ever since. I've just recently decided to put his lessons into action.
One of his recommendations for growth was to find a big Twitter account you like, and find ways to provide value to the account's creator. The idea is to create something useful that the big account will share (which will in turn lead to more exposure for your own growing account).
Sahil shared the example of an artist–who created illustrations for Sahil's threads–which Sahil would then share, leading to lots of new followers for him.
Given that I'm both a fan of Sahil’s and a high school student, I've been adapting his ideas to make them applicable to teens.
Here are three of Sahil's best threads transformed into three lessons your high schooler needs to know:
1. Know Your Razors
Sahil wrote a brilliant thread compiling the best razors, which are "rules of thumb that simplify decision-making."
It got almost 100K likes and thousands of comments from readers explaining how the thread helped them make decisions more easily.
Why High Schoolers Should Know It:
High schoolers are known to be poor decision-makers. They, more than anyone, need tools for making good choices.
Knowing these razors can completely transform any high schooler's experience: from grades (Using Feynman’s Razor to better prepare for tests) to friends (Remembering the Opinion Razor and staying out of the drama that doesn’t involve you) to happiness (Realizing that your friend wasn’t trying to be mean, they were just ignorant).
How To Apply It:
Here are a few razors to keep in mind when you're making choices–both day-to-day decisions and big life changes:
The Feynman Razor: When you're studying for a test, explain it like you’re telling a five-year-old. If you can't define terms or describe processes without complexity and jargon, you probably don't really understand it.
The Writing Knife Block: To test yourself or establish what you know, write down everything you know about that concept. Mark down when you get stuck and identify the gaps in your knowledge. Fill in the gaps, then try again.
"Writing is the ultimate tool to sharpen thinking--use it as a "knife block" for life." –Sahil Bloom
The Opinion Razor: Unless you fully understand the other side (of a breakup, an argument, etc.), you haven't earned an opinion on it. Speaking on something you don't know can only cause harm.
Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." It is a crucial component of happiness in high school to recognize that not everyone is out to get you. Rude comments, forgetting important dates, not understanding your feelings, and so much more can–sometimes– just be attributed to the stupidity and ignorance of high schoolers.
2. The 1-1-1 Method
Sahil has tweeted about how journaling can improve your mental health–but, it's really hard to start.
He outlines a simple, quick daily journaling practice. I've adapted it to be more relatable to high schoolers.
Why High Schoolers Should Know It:
I can't explain how valuable journaling is to me–even if I just write two sentences a day. I've been journaling since 2020 (I did take a break last year, but I'm back at it), and because I journal, I am able to see proof of how I've grown.
Two years ago, I was not in the best mental state and wasn't happy with my life. It showed in my journal entries.
Any time I need encouragement, I can compare my "today from two years ago" and be proud of how much I've changed and improved my life.
High school contains a ton of experiences that can change someone's life. Teenagers are constantly changing as they try to figure out who they are, and it is so rewarding to actually see the transformations.
How To Apply It:
Sahil's 1-1-1 Method (Austin's Version):
Every single night, before you go to sleep, open up your journal and write down three simple points:
1 thing that made you proud
It feels really good to have one thing every day that you're proud of doing. It can be something like "I got a good grade on my quiz" or "I got out of bed on time." The tiny wins compound. Stack them up!
1 thing that made you stressed
Get the stress out of your mind and body and onto the paper. Abstract stress–stress without a clear name–can build up quickly. Define the stress and you might find it doesn't seem as scary.
1 thing that made you happy
Appreciate the small things every day that make you smile. Whether it's a conversation with a friend or a new food, all of these little things can add meaning to your life. Whenever you're having a bad day, look back at the things that make you happy and try to do them again.
It takes five minutes. The 1-1-1 Method works because of its simplicity. By celebrating your successes and points of happiness and letting out the stress, doing this is an easy way to start building a journaling habit that will improve your mental health in 2023.
For an example, here's one of my journal entries:
3. Small Ways to Improve Your Life
Sahil is constantly posting tidbits on simple, actionable ways to improve your life. This past week, he posted a massive life advice thread that got 20 million views.
Why High Schoolers Should Know It:
High school is hard. If there is anything a teenager can do to make each day a little bit better, they should know how.
We don't need to spend four years miserable.
How To Apply It:
Here is my adapted list of small ways to improve your life:
1. Hug your parents every day. Someday you'll find yourself in another state and wishing you could.
2. Recognize that rest is a necessity, not a reward. Take breaks when you need to.
3. If you feel like your actions are disappointing your parents, ask yourself if they are disappointing you.
4. Learn to be okay with admitting you were wrong and to compromise. You may win the argument, but if you lose the friend, what was the point?
5. If you're stressed about a quiz or angry at a friend, ask yourself if it will matter in one month. If not, let it go.
6. Stop trying to change people who don’t want to be changed. Don't pour your time and energy into someone who doesn't appreciate it.
7. Spend 15 minutes every Sunday preparing for Monday. Mondays have a reputation for being rushed and miserable, so those 15 minutes can save you an entire day of stress.
Scholar’s Sources: My Other Favorites From Sahil Bloom
Here are my 3 personal favorite Sahil threads that I couldn’t include in the article:
There are hundreds of other incredible threads from Sahil–these are simply a few that stuck with me.
Thanks for reading. Go crush the week! See y'all on Sunday.