17 Life Lessons (I Wish Someone Had Told Me)

So, ladies and gentlemen, I grew up without a father. I'm an only child, and the reason I'm telling you this is because I am going to share 17 life lessons I wish someone had told me as a teenager. These are things that I had to find out the difficult way, and that's why I'm sharing them with you today—so that you do not need to go through the years and years of pain, struggle, and soul searching that I went through.

You can just bypass all of that if you listen and take heed. I've got a couple of things written down, and honestly, I'm just gonna spitball these 17 lessons. Lesson number one is: you need to extend your timeline.

I know that is very difficult when you watch my videos; it's very difficult when you are on TikTok and you see these 18-year-old, 21-year-old millionaires. I understand that I am even a part of that issue, sitting here at the age of 23 years old with tens of millions of dollars. It is so easy to see the final product and think that you need to rush, when quite frankly, you don't.

I can tell you that I have missed out on so many hangouts with friends, grabbing a beer, or watching the football game. My childhood and my teenage years had none of that, which is why I want you to understand: extend the timeline. You want to become a millionaire?

Great! Give yourself five years. Give yourself ten years.

You don't need to rush. Now, I will say, if you can get rich faster, go for it. If you can learn a high-income skill—and we'll talk about this a little later down the line—or if you can start a side gig that then turns into a small little business, and then a very large business, go for it.

But just alleviate the pressure. Stop thinking you need to become a millionaire in a year, two years, and even in my position, I understand I did not have a normal person's journey. It is not normal to amass the sort of wealth that I have amassed, and by the way, as I said, that came with a lot of drawbacks.

So don't just think it's all roses and sunshine. Even me, in my position, you can see videos of me in 2015 and 2016 when I was just starting out my business, with acne on my face, reading books, going to the gym, and being an absolute loner. I say this because please keep this in mind anytime you watch my video or some TikTok; this stuff does not happen overnight.

It has been nearly a decade since I started reading a book a week, since I started meditating, going to the gym, and setting the building blocks in the foundation for the man that I would go on to be. So, please keep your foot on the gas; keep pressing, but extend your timeline. Time is your biggest asset at the moment.

The next life lesson is: walk with purpose. I remember, even from the age of 15 or 16, I would walk down the street, and you could tell I was on a mission. I think that was really just a sign of having a clear direction—a vision for what I could become.

So when you walk down the street, I'm not saying that you need to sprint; keep your shoulders back, look straight, and walk with a clear direction. Look like you know where you're going. Now, the next thing is to focus on practicality and not purpose.

I hear this whole thing of, "Oh, I'm not starting because I just need to find my purpose. I need to find my passion. " Stop it!

Focus on practicality. When you are a teenager, you will not know your purpose. You will not know your mission, and even in your 20s—even in the phase I'm in—it will morph and it will change.

So instead, focus on practicality. Focus on learning skills that are practical. Focus on starting businesses or careers that are practical.

Focus on getting an apprenticeship or even a low-paying job that isn't the destination of where you want to get to but is practical and will teach you the core foundation and the core principles to then go on and succeed in your 20s. Now, the next life lesson—and this is so important, and I know I'm just speaking to men here. A lot of times in my content, I speak to men, but for reasons that I've previously mentioned, it is important for me to put out content and nurture the next generation of men.

So men, listen to me when I say: focus on becoming a gentleman. In this world, and especially in the West, I see some of the most disgusting behavior from men. It does not surprise me that so many women treat you with disrespect because you are not men even worthy of respect.

Do not listen to all of these guys who have never lived in the real world telling you, "Oh, you're a simp if you pick up a girl, if you drop a girl home after a date, if you pay for the bill. " I don't know who raised some of these kids because quite clearly, they're not actual men. The way that I was raised is that, as a man, you pay for the bill.

And if you cannot pay for the bill—if you cannot afford to—when I was younger, I was in that position. Well then, guess what? Get to work.

Don't take girls out to dinner; put your head down and focus. If you're taking a girl to dinner, you pick her up, you drop her home, and you do the gentlemanly thing. I cannot express how important these things are to learn in your teenage years.

Other things include understanding a girl's alcohol tolerance. I see so many idiots that give girls drink after drink after drink, not seeing that they are quite clearly intoxicated. As I said, I don't know how some guys were raised, but the way that I was raised, if you are with a woman—if she's your date or she's one of your friends in that situation—you are responsible for her, so act accordingly.

If you want to be a man of honor, if you want to be a man that deserves respect, then you must learn how to treat a woman properly. Never, ever let her cross your boundaries. And just remember, if you are a man that is worthy of respect, then obviously never accept disrespect from another party.

Just think: in this world we live in, so many men are afraid of, you know, coming across as being a simp if you pay for the bill or if you pick her up on the way to a date. That is absolutely no way to conduct yourself as a man, so learn these principles as a teenager, and they will carry through for the rest of your life. Especially if you stack them up with all these other life lessons, then you are going to be a man of honor.

You are going to be a man that other women respect, and I can tell you that that goes very far in life. The next thing is I want you to enjoy the journey. I want you to remember that these are your glory years—these years right now, as a teenager, and especially in your early teens.

These are the years you're going to look back at with fondness because these are the years that you built your character, the person that you are going to become. I can tell you right now that my most fond years were probably the year before I started my first-ever business when I was 16 and a couple of years after that. The years where things were tough—they were not easy.

I was making sacrifices; it was difficult at the time. But I have so much appreciation for it now. So please, if things are difficult or hard right now, take a moment to appreciate it because these are the years you're going to be talking about in a decade, two decades, when you're sitting outside with your boys, your beachfront property, having a cigar or drinking a glass of wine and reminiscing about the good times.

Now, if you're in your teens, I want you to start investing now. I don't care if it's ten dollars a week or thirty a week or fifty dollars—whatever you can do. Even if it's five dollars a week, it's not about the money and it's not about, you know, the eighth wonder of the world, compound interest, because I'll be honest, at this stage, it really doesn't matter.

Hopefully, in a few years, you should be making a very, very good income that far exceeds anything you could ever make from investing. All it comes down to is simply good habits. I do not believe that if you won't invest ten dollars when you make a hundred dollars a month, that you'll invest ten thousand dollars when you make a hundred thousand dollars a month.

If those numbers sound crazy to you, I can't imagine ever making a hundred thousand dollars a month. Just park that in your mind for now, okay? You don't need to worry about that.

But I'm telling you, it's a very, very strong reality. If you're consuming content like this and you dedicate your life to building over the next year, three years, five years, ten years, I can tell you numbers like that are almost guaranteed in your future. But I know for a lot of you, that will overwhelm you, so just park that to the side for right now.

If you make a hundred a month, just invest ten. It's simply having good financial hygiene and building those good habits early on. The next life lesson, if you're a teenager, is to build high-income skills.

A high-income skill could be content creation, it could be sales, it could be copywriting. These are things that, no matter what, I don't care if the year is 2023 or if the year is 2040, these will always be important skills and these will always be highly paid skills. So please, do not get caught up in short-term fads or short-term trends.

Ask yourself, "If I learned this skill today, will this pay dividends in five years, ten years, twenty years? " And if the answer is yes, well then maybe you should consider learning it now. The next life lesson, and this especially applies to men, is to focus on building muscle and your physique, especially between the ages of 16 to 21 or 22.

If you can get in the gym, if you can do exercise—whether that's a standard sort of bro split routine, whether that's powerlifting, whether that's CrossFit, whatever you decide to do—building muscle at a young age gives you that mind-muscle connection. You're going to keep that on and you'll carry that through for the rest of your life. You know, I started going to the gym when I was 14; some would argue that that was even too young, but I'm very happy that I did, and I'm very happy that I built up muscle in my teenage years.

Because now, I do a lot of tennis, I do a lot of running, some boxing, and I never really worry about losing muscle or my physique or anything like that because I had more than half a decade of nurturing that. Especially for men, as our testosterone starts to decline in our mid-20s onwards, use these years to your advantage: lift heavy things, push yourself, train hard because you have this incredible advantage that will carry through for the rest of your life. The next life lesson is to be confident, but acknowledge your age and your lack of wisdom.

I started my first business when I was 16 years old, and by the way, this was in a business where I was hiding behind a computer; I was front-facing with clients, pitching multi-million dollar businesses. So, I had to walk in with confidence. I had to be presentable, I had to talk, I had to communicate clearly; I had to be confident regardless of my age, and I had to do that front-facing, publicly, to potential clients.

But at home, when I was alone, in solace, in peace, I understood that even I, sitting here at 23—hundreds of thousands of people, even millions of people around the world, looking at me as a hero, an inspiration, and a mentor—understand that at the end of the day, I still have so much to learn. I understand that, of course, I got started so early; I had my first employee at the age of 17. I dropped out of school at the age of 17 to support my mom and me.

I've experienced so much by this age, but no matter what, wisdom is solidified through decades and decades of experience. So, if you are in your teenage years, be confident. Walk through life with confidence; don't let your age, especially when it comes to business and your career, weigh you down.

But in moments of peace and quiet, acknowledge that no matter how well you're doing, wisdom is only truly forged through decades and decades of life experience. The next life lesson—and once again, this relates specifically to the men—is to get comfortable talking to girls. Listen, of course, I believe that as a teenager and in your early to mid-20s, those are your years to build.

But it doesn't matter if you're even 15; get used to speaking to girls. Don't let yourself become one of these 25-year-olds who goes on to become a multi-millionaire but is just creepy around women. Get comfortable speaking to girls; if you're in a café and you think a girl is cute, just talk to her.

What's the worst that could happen? And even better, just give her a compliment, and that's it. Don't ask for her number, don't ask for her Instagram; just give her a compliment, and that is the least you can do.

You have to get comfortable speaking with women, holding your ground, keeping your chin up, and staying confident. Don't let it consume your life because I do not believe that women should be your goal in your teenage and early 20s. As a man, your best years really are from the ages of around 26 to 28 all the way up until your late 30s, but nonetheless, just learn how to carry yourself around the opposite sex.

The next lesson is to keep your word, and start learning this lesson from a young age. If you say that you're going to give someone a certain percentage in your business, then give them that percentage. If you say that you can show up to something, then show up to it.

Your word is your reputation, and your reputation is the most important thing that you have. So learning from a young age to show up and to keep your word will build trust and respect, and that will carry on for the rest of your life. The next life lesson—and once again, I know this relates specifically more to the men—is that in your 20s, it doesn't matter if it's your early, mid, or late 20s; these are your years to build.

If you do things correctly, your 20s will set you up for the rest of your life. So, I made this video specifically for teenagers, but it's really just to say that your 20s are a time to mentally prepare yourself because this truly will be your make-or-break period in your life. The next life lesson is to learn to say no more than you say yes.

Learn to say no when people want to go out; learn to say no to business opportunities. I know you have that friend watching this video who has a business idea and wants to go 50/50 with you, but your gut instinct tells you they would be a bad business partner. Why do I need a business partner in this?

I could just do it myself. So just learn to say no; learn to stand your ground. I can tell you right now that yes has ruined more people's lives than no ever has.

People saying yes to relationships they shouldn't be in, people saying yes to starting businesses they shouldn't, people saying yes to going out when they shouldn't. As I said, learning to say no will be one of the most invaluable skills that you can learn from a young age. The next lesson is to learn how to dress well.

Learn how to find good quality clothes. I know that I'm wearing a shirt with a graphic right now, but I'm in the comfort of my own home, and I'm very relaxed. However, when you leave the house, you should be presentable—no big labels.

By the way, later down the line, once you've found your style and what works for you, you can spruce things up; you can get a little bit more funky with it. But at first, from a young age, learn how to find clothes that fit you well—not too tight and not too loose. By the way, most people make the mistake.

. . Of finding clothes that are way too tight for them, and I can tell you something that's actually quite funny.

Over the years, I've noticed, especially with my jeans and my trousers, the more money that I've made, the looser my trousers have become. So that's just—I found that that holds true for most of the multi-millionaires that I know. So, learn how to find clothes that have no branding, that fit you well, that fit your style.

Learn how to layer clothes, and then also learn how to start getting stuff tailored. You can buy trousers that are thirty or forty dollars and take them to a tailor; they'll get them tailored for you for fifteen, twenty, thirty dollars. I know that's an additional cost, but you will look far better than the people spending hundreds of dollars on all this designer this and that, etc.

, etc. So, I believe in your teen years, it's very important for you to learn how to dress well. Obviously, your style will morph and change as the years go by, but in your teen years, just learn the basics, learn the classics, and learn how to dress in a classy, elegant way.

Later down the line, especially once you have more money, you can start sprinkling things up with, you know, a graphic tee and maybe some nice jewelry here and there, whatever you want. But for now, just stick to the classics and the simple things. The next thing is you need to learn how to keep strong boundaries, and this is probably one of the biggest reasons I've been able to have the success that I've had.

Once again, I don't know, maybe it's because I have a Russian mother. Russian people are just very, uh, they have no issue saying no; they have no issue keeping strong boundaries. So, maybe I was just raised a certain way, but from a young age, I knew how to have strong boundaries with my friendships and my relationships.

I believe learning that from a young age has carried on for the rest of my life, where I can honestly say that my friendships, the people that I work with, and my companies—any of my romantic relationships—we have such mutual respect for each other. We have an understanding for each other's boundaries, and that was all built off the back of, from a young age, learning to say no, as I mentioned earlier on, and learning how to have strong boundaries with the people around me. The next thing that I want to talk about, and I know that for some of you I have atheists watching, so maybe you might roll your eyes, whatever you want to believe in, go for it: build your relationship with the Creator.

Whatever the Creator means to you, whatever religion you follow, whatever it is—maybe you're just spiritual—but build a relationship with whatever the Creator means to you. Because I can tell you, you will have some of the highest highs in your life, and you will have some of the lowest lows if you live life properly. Because the worst life you can have is just flatline.

So, if you follow all of these life lessons, then you will have a life of incredible highs and incredible lows. And as I said, that is what makes a good life. The only way to stay sane and not go crazy in those periods is to be humbled by the Creator, as I said, whatever that means to you; it is to understand that there is something bigger than you.

The only way that you're going to get through this crazy, turbulent, tumultuous life is by having a strong relationship with the Creator. I remember I was six or seven when I started praying to God, and the reason that I started praying to God was that I had a very, very difficult upbringing. And it's funny, the only people that I see that don't have a relationship with the Creator, whatever that means to them, are the people who have had a life like this—the people who never went out there, never took risks, never fought for the life that they wanted.

For some reason, they're always the ones that seem to turn to atheism. So, I can tell you from firsthand experience: life will get crazy, and the only way to stay sane when times are good and when they're bad is to have a relationship with God or the Creator or whatever you want to refer to it as. The last and arguably the most important life lesson for teenagers is: take ownership of your life.

Something great happens in your life? Great! You can take responsibility for it, as well as the Creator.

Something bad happens in your life? Great! Take responsibility for it.

Radical ownership of your life—no excuses. It is only you and you to blame, and I know sometimes it will be difficult. I know sometimes there will be a clear thing or a person or something to point to, something else to blame outside of yourself, but don't fall for that trap.

As I said, take radical ownership of the things that happen in your life. So, ladies and gentlemen, I genuinely believe that if you're watching this and you're in your teens or your early to mid-20s, if you follow these 17 life lessons, these 17 principles, you will live a life of abundance; you will live a life of honor that you could never even imagine. And as always, I'll be watching from afar, and I'll be rooting for you.