1. Great grades in high school = admission to great college. Great grades in college = admission to great Grad school. Great grades in grad school = meaty starting salary and opportunity for advancement. This clearly all starts with doing what needs to be done in high school. Being cool and popular is great, but at some point you're going to have to say "fuck it, I am staying home to study tonight, the rest of my life quite literally hinges on this fucking exam."
2. SAVE and INVEST. - Here's a little interesting tidbit for you:
Guy A and Guy B are the same age.
Assume a 10% rate of growth.
Guy A starts putting $2,000 a year into an IRA when he's 25 and stops when he's 35.
Guy B starts putting $2,000 a year into an IRA when he's 35 and doesn't stop until he's 65.
When they're both 65 Guy A still has more money in his IRA though he only invested for 10 years and put in $20,000 in principal and Guy B invested for 30 years putting in $60,000 in principal. Compound interest is a wonderful thing.
Start early, put it in mutual funds, don't touch it.
3. There's no such thing as "the only girl for me". They will come and go, much as you would prefer they not.
4. NOTHING that happens to you, a breakup, a car wreck, a robbery, the death of a loved one, etc., is "the end of the world" as long as you can wake up the next morning. THE ONLY thing that is the end of the world is just that, a terminal disease. Everything else is a bump in the road.
5. DO NOT fuck up and get someone pregnant before you get through college. DO NOT DO IT. It makes life harder, limits your options, cripples you financially, adds stress, and takes away some of the better part of your youth. I've seen dozens of friends do it, and it always sucks. The few minutes of fun aren't worth the lifetime of trouble. Have a kid when you're emotionally and financially ready, on your time and on your terms, not when it's thrust upon you. Stick it in her ass or jack off and even if she's taking the pill wear a condom.
6. GET IT IN WRITING. People will just plain lie to you and fuck you around so if you are going into any kind of deal with anybody, get the shit in writing. IF they won't put it in writing they're looking for a chance to fuck you.
7. Get out and do shit while you're young. Take two weeks to backpack across the country during the summer when you're in college. When you're 35 and employed you aren't gonna have the energy, the time off from work, the money or the ability to disappear from your house for 2 weeks. Go do some shit even if you aren't sure you're that geeked up about it because the day will come that you'll wish you had.
8. NEVER EVER EVER EVER flirt with, fuck, date, kiss, hang out with, talk on the phone to, or otherwise be involved in ANY WAY with a friend's girlfriend or ex-girlfriend. Once one of your boys has dated a chick, she is off limits no matter how hot she is, how much she wants it, or how hot you are for her. It's a violation of the Manly Code of Ethics and it's just plain wrong.
9. Do not cheat on your girlfriend or spouse. Why? Because if you can't be honest with the person you're living with then you are just a fucking liar and you'll have to look at yourself in the mirror everyday and realize that you are a shitbag who can't be trusted. Someone trusts you with all her heart and would be CRUSHED if she found out that you were lying, and you're doing it. Just plain lame. If you want to fuck someone else, get divorced, breakup, whatever, but be honest about it. You don't want to have to look at yourself in the mirror and realize you're a lying dirtbag who can't be trusted.
10. Spend some time with your grandparents. They aren't going to be around forever and there's plenty of cool shit they can tell you about and teach you, and one day they're going to be dead and all that amazing information is going to die with them if you don't let them pass it on to you. Call one of them today.
The usefulness and quality of advice are things that are determined solely by the recipient. The best piece of advice in the world, unheeded, is worthless. So my last piece of advice to you is to condense this thread to a few sentences that will carry serious meaning to you, and (no shit) put one copy in your wallet, frame one and put it on your desk, and remind yourself who you want to be and what you have to do to get there by looking at it in writing. You're more likely to follow your own plan if you see it, have to face it daily, and allow it to reinforce itself through repetition.