"+100. I can tell the guy writing this essay is young. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'd love to be young again too. But when I look back over my twenties I don't find myself wishing I had worked more hours on my startup." [1]

Perhaps not "uplifting" on the surface of it, but it had a rather profound impact on me nonetheless when I stumbled across it about three years ago. (See my reply[2] and the rest of the thread for a bit more context.) However indirectly, drumdance (among others) made me realize that I still had a chance to make my own path through my twenties.

A couple months later, I decided to pick up and move to Berlin. Today, my life is full of the things that I decided would make up my personal definition of happiness:

"I want to take advantage of my youth to discover more things that make me happy. I want to travel—a lot. I want to learn new languages. I want to meet amazing people. I also want to design and build things, but I don't think that it has to take over my life." [2]

(Forgive me for quoting myself!)

So thank you drumdance, mrooney, simonsarris, neilk, and michaelochurch. I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't read your critical yet encouraging words.

[1] https://smackernews.com/item/4341926 HN

[2] https://smackernews.com/item/4342680 HN

  "If I could talk to my 14 year old self, I wouldn't 
  recommend any particular books.

  

  I would say, "Don't stress and worry so much about school 
  or your grades, because absolutely none of that is going 
  to matter in 10 years. Learn how to make things. Start 
  now, and never stop. Learn how to use technology to the    
  fullest, both software and hardware. Learn how to write, 
  speak and communicate ideas as effectively as possible. 
  Learn how to hack people and understand how social 
  structures work. Take that seriously. Most importantly, 
  don't let anyone change who you are. Choose a path and 
  follow it doggedly."

  

  Ironically, some of the best advice I've seen came from a 
  book: "Who you will be in five years is determined by who 
  you meet today and what you read today" [0]. But a 14 
  year old doesn't need to read a whole book to gain that 
  particular pearl of wisdom, or many of the others. I read 
  a lot now, several of the books mentioned on this thread 
  and many others. But that's because I'm old, and it's too 
  late 
  for me. If I could talk to my 14 year old self, or any 
  14  
  year old, I would tell them that there is significantly 
  more to life than what can be learned in a book.


  [0] The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp " 

[via] https://smackernews.com/item/9268981 HN

This comment by jasonlbaptiste in response to "Ask HN: How to become a millionaire in 3 years?":

https://smackernews.com/item/1447467 HN

Best comment I've ever read here.

I'm not sure its uplifting but it made me chuckle and is some pretty good advice https://smackernews.com/item/287767 HN

anamax 2424 days ago | parent | flag

If they don't have the money to pay you, you're not an employee, you're a founder and you get the same deal that they get.

If they balk, suggest that they find another code monkey while you find another biz monkey and let the market decide who ends up with the bananas.

I have a whole folder of help seeking Ask HNs. I think they are a big part of what makes HN a true community, not just a news stream.

This whole discussion on depression was insightful and inspiring. https://smackernews.com/item/7891017 HN

DanielBMarkham's comment: https://smackernews.com/item/1474454 HN in the thread Ask HN: What were your naivetés in your twenties?: https://smackernews.com/item/1474094 HN

This one from zedshaw immediately came to mind: https://smackernews.com/item/6805807 HN

I've got this comment from Jonathan Blow bookmarked and I like to read it from time to time: https://smackernews.com/item/7789438 HN

PG's answer to my silly self-doubt question: https://smackernews.com/item/5220936 HN

Patio11 on going to university: https://smackernews.com/item/1182552 HN

Vijucat's comment (top comment) on this article really reworked my own perspective. I think it's probably the most inspiring comment I've read on HN: https://smackernews.com/item/9337863 HN

Eight years ago I was burning out in China and started a thread to ask for help. The comments were exceedingly insightful (the top-listed comment rang especially true for me): https://smackernews.com/item/69097 HN

The thread itself and all of the comments :

"I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea" (https://smackernews.com/item/3102143 HN).

Here's a spreadsheet of the most upvoted HN comments each month, which gives a sample size of good comments: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZwonVX_KlDYhuhPnAAnV...

Note: said comments may not be considered "uplifting."

I bookmarked this one from Arjuna as an antidote for bouts of "woe is me, everyone has more time and does more than me than me"-itis: https://smackernews.com/item/7076143 HN

A taste: "You have to do the work. There is no one else that can do it for you. It is entirely up to you; actually, it has only ever been you, because it is you that rolls out of bed early to bring it. No one is going to do that for you. If you want to do it, then you will figure out a way to make it happen."

https://smackernews.com/item/9325068 HN

I like comments that hop out and look at the meta. I also like comments that confirm that I'm not the only one that thinks about things a certain way.

For example, dimillian comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=9341181&goto=item%3Fid...

I am going to take a slightly different position. I am very new to all of this, and i learn more from the arguments that occur than the back slapping. This is because i am nearly ignorant of all the things i am interested in [crypto, mesh nets, managing Devs] and i personally learn more when verbal sabers are crossed. Obviously, i am talking fact +opinion v. fact + opinion, not troll v. snipe. i completely believe that positive comments have a larger net positive splash and i think the positivity push here on HN is great.

Edit: Spelling

Third comment, but I wanted to share this too:

https://smackernews.com/item/9086475 HN

It was the discussion asking founders what their lifestyle is like. I found it to be a really good glance inside their lives and it helps motivate me to continue working.

Every few months I go back and read this thread to help center me again on expectations: https://smackernews.com/item/7473787 HN

I have about 10 threads bookmarked, but this one gets the most views over time.

These from swamp40 and junto about habits, summing up the related article perfectly: https://smackernews.com/item/8852430 HN

Most of the comments here https://smackernews.com/item/9291040 HN as they were quoting poetry.

This comment from antirez: https://smackernews.com/item/8433770 HN

There was a discussion about the age of startup founders: https://smackernews.com/item/9086670 HN

I found this uplifting because being constantly barraged with the success of people 2/3rds your age can be depressing.

I really liked this comment from graycat, who was advocating for being a solo founder (which is what I'd like to do):

https://smackernews.com/item/8640126 HN

grandalf's comment on procrastination:

https://smackernews.com/item/9285481 HN