In personal news, I turn 50 today. In celebration, I am posting 50 things that I’ve learned over the years. (0/50)

The second beer is never as good as the first. (1/50)

You don’t need to eat that. (2/50)

Some need to learn to give, and others need to learn boundaries. (3/50)

Whatever age you are, be the older person people look forward to seeing. (4/50)

Read the actual news. But not too much of it. (5/50)

Food can be very complicated for people. Don’t push them on that. (6/50)

Your experience is valid. (7/50)

Stop feeling guilty about the size of your email inbox. (8/50)

Invest heavily in your kids as you or they may need to make large withdrawals later. (9/50)

Ambition consists of an endless cycle of trying to get into the meetings, and then trying to figure out how you can skip the meetings. [original source unknown] (10/50)

Take the stairs. If you are able. (11/50)

Life’s too short for lawn care. (12/50)

It is permissible for men to not give a damn about sports. (13/50) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/first-person/article-ive-always-hated-sports-but-my-daughters-are-changing-my-mind/

Nobody on the planet needs the Vente size.(14/50)

Be constantly alert to not just your age but everyone else’s - not just “older than me” and “younger than me.” Things are different at 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 and 75. And so on. (15/50)

You have knowledge no one else has. (16/50)

Everyday male privilege is illustrated by all the pockets on men’s clothes. (17/50)

Leave while you’re having a good time. (The one wise teaching of George Costanza.) (18/50)

Make big mistakes; just try not to make them twice.(19/50)

t’s okay if your musical preferences congealed when you were 18 as long as the rest of your ideas and thinking haven’t. (20/50)

It’s their choice so shut up.(21/50)

Just close all your tabs and you will feel a sense of relief.(22/50)

If you’re completely confident over and over about what you’re doing, it might be time to move on to something new.(23/50)

If you go back and watch “The West Wing” they really were know-it-all snobs.(24/50)

The big impact is to show up when you don’t have to. (25/50)

Don’t be faked out by others’ arrogance and ego. You’re not behind. (26/50)

There is no generic “they” (“they said on the news”; “they closed the building”, etc.) Identify and name who exactly holds the power and you will take back a little for yourself.(27/50)

Every age is the best age.(28/50)

Figure out a way - any way - to eat vegetables with little effort every day. (29/50) https://gph.is/g/a99xVdo 

People who say they love a debate do so because they are determined not to change their mind. (30/50)

Don’t be a traffic signal leader; be a roundabout leader. Empower people to make their own judgments, rather than telling them what to do and not do. (31/50)

Somebody out there needs your time more than you do.(32/50)

Make it simpler and shorter. (33/50)

Do not assume that everyone who you disagree with agrees with each other. (34/50)

“The main thing about money, Bud, is that it makes you do things you don’t want to do.” - Wall Street (35/50)

Identify the most powerless person in the room and give them some of yours. (36/50)

If you don’t know what you want to eat, drink, or generally feel like doing, you want water. (37/50)

There is no way to make a traffic story interesting.(38/50)

Be wary of anyone who feels the need to assure you that honesty and integrity happen to be important values for them. (39/50)

Many things do not actually need to be said. (40/50)

Get outside every day. (41/50)

You have the power to make someone, somewhere, feel at least a little bit better about themselves. (42/50)

The route to happiness does not lie through controlling other people. (43/50)

Whether good, bad or whatever, don’t make assumptions by projecting your own family situation on to others'.(44/50)

Preserve the magic and never watch The Breakfast Club again. (45/50)

Changing lanes in a traffic jam is never worth it. But this does not necessarily apply to the rest of life. (46/50)

No tweet ever needed to be made urgently. (47/50)

Don't half-prepare for meetings. Invest your time selectively and either just wing it or go in loaded for bear.(48/50)

If you aren’t reading writers that irritate and annoy you, you may not be reading widely enough. Especially if you’re white and male. (49/50)

Nothing can surpass this quote whose source is unclear (though often attributed to Maya Angelou): “People will forget the things you do, and people will forget the things you say. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” (50/50)