If you're in your 20s and haven't "made it" yet, listen up.

Things are about to get really hard.

This might be the most important post you read this year.

(coming from someone who "made it" unconventionally in their mid-20s):

- The #1 skill to possess in 2026 and beyond is being high agency. Information is no longer a moat (you can now prompt AI and find out anything at any time). Your biggest moat is your mental agility and speed. How fast can you spot an opportunity, act, fail, learn, get up, and repeat again? This is how I define high agency (essentially acting instead of waiting).

- Stay curious. Read, explore, go down new rabbit holes, try new products, speak to new people. The last point is critical because society has become too isolationist. People WANT to work with other good people. So many good ideas come from collaborating, thinking, and brainstorming. Don't rob yourself of that.

- Avoid bullsh*t at all costs. Things I define as bullsh*t: Video games, social media (unless you're researching/posting for a reason), junk food, chasing women, basically anything that isn't essential to your mission. Yeah, there's a time for fun - but I've found it's better to operate in absolutes than in the middle (i.e., either lock the f*ck in for 3 months, then do a week of full switch-off - don't mix the two)

- Prioritise health. Diet/exercise/sleep are the 90% variables here. And of that 90%, sleep is half of it. If you're going to optimise one single thing in life, it's sleep. I've found the work sorts itself out if you're firing on all cylinders mentally.

- Prioritise real work. Identify the top 3 needle-movers the night before, and attack those tasks upon waking. Nothing else matters until they're done. The work needs doing. No one else will do it for you. How many days can you stack in a row of doing this? Momentum snowballs. Make being a hard worker your identity, not a fad. I work 14-hour days every day, 7 days a week. I burn out occasionally, then I pick myself up and do it again. The world is changing fast; you can't afford to be slow.

- Simplify your life to "anchor" habits. You only need a few high-impact habits to compound into huge results. 2 examples: 1. Bedtime alarm (you'll sleep better > feel better > get more work done). 2. Identify your main 3 priorities done each day (this way, even if you slack for the rest of the day, you've moved the needle)

- Arbitrage. The second you can afford it, get an EA. They're cheap (global arbitrage). The second you can get a 2nd employee, do it. And keep going. Invest in more staff and not on watches/designer/lifestyle - I've done this, I own multiple Pateks, a Maybach, Loro suits, you name it - trust me, it's all bullsh*t.

- AI. AI. AI. You need to dedicate a minimum of 10 hours a week to just learning about AI. And another 1-2 hours a day using it. As we speak, I have ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini open - all with custom prompts/skills (i'm not using them to write - tip: Using AI to write is a sh*t way to build a brand, + writing is fun as it's a mental challenge - don't rob yourself of cognition for the sake of expediency).

- Emotional intelligence > IQ. So many people are f*cking dumb. Not in a book-smart sense, but in an emotional sense. In business, put yourself in others' shoes, don't be a jerk, think about your actions, if you mess up - reflect on it and be honest with yourself. Stop deflecting blame. Stop blaming the world. Yeah, sucky stuff happens in life, many things are out of our control. But you CAN control how you act.

- Build a personal brand. The reality is, everyone has a personal brand. Some people have a "brand" that only their friends/family see, some people have a brand that millions see online. I'm not saying become a cringy "influencer" - but accept you have a brand. And then make a decision as to whether you want to take that brand public. Building in public is the best way, this is how I grew my account. I was just sharing my thoughts/trades. It ended up changing my life. I was a 20-year-old kid in my parents' house in Australia, now I'm friends with billionaires, VCs, and founders (all stemming from the fact I started tweeting).

- Put most of your energy into high-upside vehicles. Obviously, to acquire the necessary capital to pull this off (not just $ capital, also knowledge and resources), you may need to start with a lower upside vehicle (i.e. a lot of SAAS founders started with agency/info models before scaling).

- Don't follow your passion. I know this sounds controversial, but by limiting yourself to a single passion, you may be limiting your ability to discover another passion. Personal example: As a teenager, I was super into music - I wanted to be singer. I started researching finance/crypto, it wasn't my passion but I found it mildly interesting. Little wins compounded into bigger wins, I got addicted, ended up loving it, and now I couldn't imagine music holding a candle to the thrills of being an entrepreneur. It wasn't my passion but now it is. Just stay curious, try stuff, and you may stumble into a career you never expected. This open-mindedness will be more than needed heading into an era of rapid change.