Often, I intuitively know something but realize it only after someone says it out loud. If it's a movie insight, then there's no big deal. But if we're talking about an important life lesson, I sure as heck would've liked figuring it out by myself earlier rather than later.
So when I saw this post on r/AskReddit by u/PeakABoo_IFKU, I knew I was in for a treat. The Redditor asked: "What is the best advice you can give someone?" And after scrolling through some 2,000 comments, I think you'd like to see the best ones as well. From taking care of your body to working on your mind, continue scrolling and check them out!
This post may include affiliate links.
Imagine all the time that you spend worrying about your embarrassing moments. Now understand that almost everyone else does the same. Nobody is thinking about your embarrassing things. Just their own. I find this idea freeing.
Actually, I remember both the embarassing things that I did and that others did...realizing that everybody is continuously doing mildly stupid things is freeing as suggested above, though. Moreover, I guess we tend to overrate the "level" of embarassment of stupid things, i.e. the same mishap we would find more embarassing when happening to ourself to when we observe it from others.
Be careful who you have kids with.
They should use a different picture. The Bundy's raised two very successful kids. Both are actors.
Expect nothing, and appreciate everything.
You are only responsible for yourself . You cannot and should not try to control others even if you think you're being charitable. Similarly don't let other people control your emotions.
Unfortunately personal responsibility isn't something people are taught anymore. It's easier to blame someone else.
Document everything. A lot of people have bad intentions and are looking to screw you over for their personal gain. Having things documented and on paper will prevent them from taking advantage of you.
Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s inherently bad. Don’t s**t on someone because they find joy in something you don’t.
I’m referring to things like movies, music, art, food, etc.
It's okay to not be okay
I don't mind people telling me how they're not ok, it can be therapeutic for them to share what they're feeling. Sometimes all someone needs is some compassion to realize that it's ok to not be ok. But when they're always talking about their problems, aren't helped by a compassionate listener, and never do any thing to address their problems, then I feel that type of "not ok" is not ok—for them or for me.
Don't be so hard on yourself, sometimes life gets complicated, is not your fault, just do your very best in every situation, and let things go as they should
Drink water
It's amazing to me how many actually don't. I worked with a woman for years who drank nothing but diet Coke. Never saw her drink anything else.
Learn skills to make yourself as self sufficient as possible.
Yea this became glaringly obvious when the pandemic hit. Things everyone should know: how to sew, basic woodworking (you should be able to cut 2 pieces of wood and screw them together), and how to dress a chicken.
Never put anyone on a pedestal, they will have no choice but to look down on you.
This one I learned the hard way. Treat everyone equally as we all have the same value. No life's worth more or less. We all exist and each life is valuable. There's nowhere that states that a life is worth more because of skin color, gender, money, education, nationality, culture, success, etc.
If someone really loves you they won't intentionally hurt you.
You are only young once, but you can be immature forever.
Try it. Whatever it is you are debating, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, and isn't illegal, try it.
Not trying it is going to weigh on you far more than any minor embarrassment you may get from trying it.
Take responsibility for your actions.
3 rules I found in life that have found should followed...Dont lie, don't steal, and if you screw up admit it.
Is there anything you can do about it?
No?
Then don't worry about it.
Never lose sight of the parts of life you're absolutely clear about. The truest part of ourselves is found inside that clarity.
Also, never ever ever be afraid to start over. You will NOT be starting from scratch, you will be starting from experience.
Treat yourself as if you’re someone you’re trying to help
Don't go to college UNLESS you are REALLY READY to do so.
I strongly reject this one. There might be some truth for countries like the US where tuition will cost a fortune, but in general, I strongly believe that lifelong learning is essential, that it is *always* the right time to try out learning something new, and that *any time* in life is the right time to find out what you want to do; taking up studies may well be part of this process, regardless of whether you retain these or soon give them up again.
There’s only one person in the world that can possibly act in your best interests in every situation: yourself.
Take care of your teeth and body when you are young.
47 year old dude with bad knees from playing sports.
Every time my kid doesn't want to brush her teeth I tell her that she needs to look at the brown spots on mine
Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it
Don't react. Respond. The difference is reacting is a visceral emotional automation, whereas responding means to think and give an appropriate reply.
Not sure where i got this from but: If you were able to believe in Santa for 10 years or more, you can definitely believe in yourself for 10 minutes.
At a minimum, at least be honest with yourself. At least be true to who you are. And if you don’t know, figure that out.
Don't stay up late doing something that you would not wake up early for.
Meditate. Try. Every morning. It has freed me from some of the dark side effects of my mental illness.
Also, establish a great morning routine and night routine and stick to it. Practice gratitude every day.
Let go of resentment and hatred you have for others. No matter what they’ve done. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive does not mean you tolerate what they’ve done or that what they did was okay- but it is meant to free YOU. So you can move forward and reclaim the power you feel you’ve lost. You can be compassionately wrathful and stand up for what’s right without hate in your heart. Hate only hurts you in the end.
Ie. My brother was murdered- but I have never hated the man that killed him. I don’t have to live with that resentment in my life
Take advantage of health insurance when you have it
As in get regular physicals and preventative care, address small problems before they potentially turn into bigger problems at the same time as you lose your insurance. Sneaking suspicion that you might be pre-diabetic, or have the family high blood pressure? Get it checked out. Small painful lump, or mole that's looking different than it used to? Don't ignore it.
Sex is not worth the torment of sharing your children with someone you end up despising.
If you have to burry a body do so vertically. This way the search helicopters would have a harder time spotting the burial site as they would be looking for a human-sized patch of disturbed ground. When burying, have a bit of a buffer zone separated by dirt and top it with some bits of animal carcass before covering so the search team would assume that it was a false positive given by the k-9 when they are digging the spot up. Yogurt in the cavities would speed up the decomposition process and hinder identification. Top it off by planting an endangered plant on top. By the time they got the correct paperwork in place to dig that plant up, hopefully that yogurt would have finished the job or you’d be far away from there.
Don’t do things that you think are “cool” while in high school. The consequences range from traumatic memories to lifelong addiction depending on what happens
Get off social media
Exercise - even if it’s just a walk
Start investing early in no load mutual funds
Study whatever you find interesting, not the most prestigious or fanciest degree you can find. I’m a firm believer in, if you’re passionate about something you’re more likely to succeed, whatever the field is.
I fee for all the high achievers striving to become doctors, lawyers, scientists whether because they got good grades in high school. Do an arts degree if that’s what interests you. Success will follow if you’re passionate and committed
(Serious) never NEED anyone in your life. Sounds cold but trust me. Sure love people have people in your life create relationships but never make yourself vulnerable By feeling you cannot be without them. That's all societal bulls**t.
Your happiness doesnt depend on what others think or do to you. Happiness is from within, dont let others change that.
Don’t let people walk all over you. Being a soft and “kind” person lets the people in this world that are horrible and will never change have another toy to throw against the wall. You have a life of your own, so don’t waste it by letting others control it. I’m so glad I realized that when I did.
Don’t fry bacon naked
Take it one day at a time
Beyond money, beyond time, the most valuable thing you can have is your human connections. When you have no money left and no time left, those connections are the sum total of everything you will have earned.
Don’t take advice from someone you wouldn’t switch places with (in that specific aspect of their life).
yep. A person who is not a mult-millionaire, who is trying to sell you a multilevel marketing scheme, is a scam artist... why ? Because despite being part of a supposed get-rich-quick-scheme, she or he is dirt poor - because she or he is trying to sell you the product of the quick-rich scheme. Money advice: ask a stockbroker or investment banker. Religious advice: Ask a professor of theology or philosophy. Relatioship advice: Ask a psychologist. ONLY take advice from experts.
Save your money. I know it makes me sound like a grandfather but holy s**t if I saved my money I worked hard for in my early 20’s instead of pissing it up against the wall on good times I would have 3 houses by now. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Save your money….
On the contrary, life is for living. Get out there and party while you're young. Your time to settle down will come and you'll realise it when it does. Yes, save for a house or a rainy day but don't let that get in the way of enjoying life. You never know when your time will be up. Enjoy the moment.
Hobbies, past times, groups, meetups, communities.
After a certain age it's hard to meet new people and make friends. Also if you have trouble dating do all those things not because you want to find a partner, but because it makes you a more interesting person and gives you a chance to improve your social skills.
Don't care too much what other people think about they way you want to live.
I mean don't think everything you do is right, but don't force yourself to a lifestyle, job or anything else just because your family, friends or someone on the internet tells you to
The sooner you come to peace with the fact that no one gets out of life alive, the better. I use to spend a lot of mental energy comparing myself, and my accomplishments (or lack there of), to those around me. It was debilitating and really dragged me down. Once I just made peace with the fact that life is a game where the rules are made up and the points don't matter. I was, honestly, happier.
Don't be 100% sure you're right at anything. Always keep in mind, that there might be someone whos opinion holds more truth. Even if 1000 people around you say the same thing, there might be another 1000 people who will say the opposite, you just haven't heard their side. And there's still a chance that all of those people are wrong.
Actually, just defer to experts like scientists. Laypersons' opinions on most topics, outside of what music they like, or what food they like, are literally useless. Experts exist for a reason. Get expert advice on anything that is important, including who you vote for, and what vaccine to take.
Learn to be financially literate. Not only will to be better at managing your personal finance, retirement becomes a super achievable goal looking through those lens.
You can be loved by someone even if you don’t fully love yourself yet. You can grow that self love while being loved.
Don’t have kids young, 30+
I think people can choose when they want to, actually. If a couple really wants them aged 22, then it's none of your business.
You won’t be buried with your money.
Always have a plan. Making cookies...make a plan. Buying a new car...make a plan. Going on a date...make a plan. Are you alive...have a plan. Always know what you want to do. This will save you so much frustration in so many situations. Your plan may not always work out, but when your plan fails.....make a plan.
Contingency plans. When things go south isn't a good time to try to figure out what to do.
Say less, listen more
At minimum, get regularly scheduled oil changes and tire rotations for your car.
Don't take things personally
Have good intentions towards others and help anyone in need.
Set boundaries. Don’t help everyone in need. In a perfect world, with nice, friendly and empathic people, this would work. In the real world you will be used, abused and extorted most likely. Especially at work, don’t help too much, and only with set boundaries. Sometimes don’t even help people in danger though. Plenty people died, because they tried to help. Your own safety comes first.
Start your day with thoughts of gratitude. We are together on this planet today, who knows who will be there tomorrow.
Don't live for other people. If you spend your time supporting others success you will miss your own opportunities.
Do not gamble. Just don’t.
Expectations will let you down. Take everything as it is in the moment instead of what you were hoping for
I realize this is difficult because I still struggle with it but when I do have breakthrough moments of success, it’s incredible how rewarding this approach is.
I learned that from my family and friends to stop having expectations from people. Fastest way to break your own heart
Been through numerous unfortunate life events and with regularity that is actually worrisome… be positive. Whenever life throws me garbage, I smile and do my best to bear it. Fake it till you make it baby!
Pick your battles. When you battle, give it 100%, and when you don’t battle, find a way to let it go.
If you step forward to do something, you'll make enough of a difference
Don’t run from the police you’ll get in more trouble
But they'll shoot you in the back and maybe, just maybe, this situation will be seen by objective third parties. Cops aren't objective at any time, anywhere, with anybody.
There was a nice advice "Nobody is going to come" nobody is going to come and force you to do something or go to the places you always wanted to go etc etc.
Work hard today so you can be lazy tomorrow
This cycle might never stop though. Don’t work harder, work smarter. Automatize where possible. Make your work efficient, and/or ask others what they would do to increase efficiency. Also challenge some of your tasks of usefulness regularly. Maybe no one needs this anymore, or there is a better way to do it today.
Never take advice from random strangers
A lot of these would be great printed on a throw pillow or kid's shirt, but if you're living your life by words from a fortune cookie . . . let me hold your wallet. You look look really tired.
It's more like "be kind but don't be a mug, and always put on your own lifejacket before helping someone else into the lifeboat".
Load More Replies...
When you get the chance to sit it out or dance. I hope you dance.
A lot of these would be great printed on a throw pillow or kid's shirt, but if you're living your life by words from a fortune cookie . . . let me hold your wallet. You look look really tired.
It's more like "be kind but don't be a mug, and always put on your own lifejacket before helping someone else into the lifeboat".
Load More Replies... When you get the chance to sit it out or dance. I hope you dance.
