I, like so many of you before me, have recently left the plantation. Here's what I have immediately noticed in the month I've had of solitude.

1) My financials are in a state they haven't been in years. The experts really are right, it's not about money coming in, it's about money going out.

2) Life is really uncomplicated. I wake up, fry some eggs for me and my boy, spend the morning studying, sandwiches for lunch and whatever I feel like cooking for dinner.

2a) Gents, learn to cook. It's really not difficult. If you can read a schematic, write code, operate machinery, follow strict directions in the work place etc. you can damn sure follow a recipe

3) Silence is golden. I lived for eight years with a television set turned on somewhere in my house. Now? My son hasn't had "screen-time“ in a month, and has become far more attentive and respectful. The boy's only three.

4) You are absolutely worth investing in. Do not put your own health on the backburner. Get sleep. Eat right. Pump iron. My energy levels haven't been this high in ten years, and I'm currently in the best shape of my life.

5) Introspection and meditation are paramount for a balanced psyche. Know where you stand as a man, and know every hard line. Never cross them. Persevere. Uphold your principles and let neither hell nor high water compromise them

6) This is more a footnote than an observation and goes without saying but; for all you gents just starting out in the world, follow the three rules you see stated time and again on this site:

DO NOT MARRY
DO NOT COHABITATE
DO NOT IMPREGNATE

Don't put yourself through a decade of suffering for no reward. Life is too short to be drama-filled and overly complicated.