Being first means taking the hits nobody warned you about. It also means nobody’s footprints to follow but yours.

Going first means the mistakes are yours to discover and there is nobody to ask what happens next. That is genuinely harder, and it is also why it counts for something. You are not behind because the going is slow. It is slow because you are cutting the path.

If you are the first in your family or your friend group to try something, write down what you learn while you learn it. The notes cost you nothing now. They become the map for whoever comes after you.