I’m getting ready to lay a hardwood floor for the first time. Any tips/advice is appreciated???

Enjoy the way your back feels today because it will be a while before it’s the same!

Make sure you use a good heavy paper underneath. I used the pink rosin paper. What method of attachment are you using ?

So true!!
Plan ahead with your layout. That makes all the difference in both looks and applications.

I laid this Hickory at a 45* angle throughout three rooms by myself. Having someone help layout ahead of me would have been a big help. Try and keep short pieces spread out , if I remember right you can’t nail within like 4” of the end of each board.

Like said before, get the layout dialed. Start from high profile places and end in the back of the room or wherever will be hidden by tables or couches so the ripper isn't so obvious. Make sure you go close enough to walls so the base board covers. If the seam isn't tight beat it until it is. A good color matched filler will hide and weird butt joints or seams you couldn't quite get. Take your time and get it right the first time. Have fun!

The cutoff from the finished row can be used as stater for next row, at least three rows apart for any joints lining up, good set of knee pads, only hook the bottom strap and they will stay in place, I usually make the long way longest part of floor.

you can also lay floor faster by getting it set out ahead of yourself with the pieces in order of offsetting joints instead of trying to find them for each row as you go. that way you spend time figuring the pattern first and then just nailing and cutting.
we would put a couple rows down, then leave a space of about a foot, then start laying the correct size on the floor so all that was done was grab and nail.

The number one failure when installing hardwood flooring is failure to place the bundles of wood in the rooms where they will be installed to allow the wood to acclimate to the conditions of those rooms. The wood has never been in your house so there will be a difference in moisture content in that wood than what is in your house.
A friend of mine failed to do this and the wood cupped and swelled up horribly to the point that the wood along the edges crushed the drywall even though a gap was left there for some expansion.