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Depending on who your role models and mentors were when you were growing into adulthood, you might’ve received great life advice when you were a kid in school, or maybe at your first job, or maybe from your parents.
Heck, maybe you even got great advice much later in life.
It’s different for everyone and it’s good to remember that you can get some nuggets of useful wisdom at any point.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Here’s what people on AskReddit had to say.
1. Good advice.
“I was in a pretty negative place in college, being quite cynical and sarcastic and really insecure with myself, so much that I was ragging on friends and generally trying to build myself up by putting other people down (you know the type, the friend who thinks he’s busting chops but really is kinda just being a d*ck).
My well-liked, popular roommate/friend noticed this and sent me this little bit, which I always hang onto:
“Immediately stop picking on peoples weaknesses, do what I do, expose their qualities and strengths, it makes them feel good about themselves and you too for noticing. When you make people feel good when you’re around, they are going to remember that feeling whenever you show up, you’ll be well received and missed often. Plus don’t you want your friends to feel good about themselves?”
It made me re-visit the way I’d been treating people around me.”
2. It’s yours to use!
“”Use your vacation hours, and don’t be afraid to call in sick every now and then either”.
No need to work like a dog and ignore your benefits to please a boss who doesn’t notice. Vacation/staycation days are gems that everyone should take!”
3. The way you say it.
“It’s not what you say, but how you say it.
Changing the way one phrases things can have an incredible effect.”
4. A good fix.
“My current boss says something as a joke that has helped me a lot more than he realizes.
I am a mechanic but am not always the most confident (even when I know what I’m doing).
He says “only one way to fix it, fix it.” Weirdly enough it always makes me focus and remember there’s no secret trick he knows that I dont, just got to do it.
Applied that to other areas of my life and it helps so much more than I would have thought.”
5. Aim high.
“Marriage shouldn’t be a 50/50 split.
It should be a 60/40 split where both are trying to be the 60%.”
6. He was right.
“During my first internship, I was super keen to please my supervisors and was an eager little brown-noser. Anything they would ask me, I would respond with an enthusiastic yes and rush to do that, even with mindless things like, typing out someone’s meeting notes, going out to buy office stationery, and even served coffee to some guests a couple of times, no matter how much I hated doing it.
Two months into the internship, the boss called me for a catch-up and bluntly described me as ‘servile’ to my face, and said that with my attitude, I would never grow professionally.
He said, “it doesn’t matter if you’re an intern or a manager, if you do not get over your habit of wanting to please everyone, you’ll never learn or achieve anything of value.” Though I was shaken then and even hated him a little bit, I eventually came to realize the truth in his words.”
7. Don’t worry about it.
“Don’t worry about whether or not you “belong” somewhere, or if you’ll fit in.
Do your part, respect and support others.
If you do that and people don’t accept you it’s their problem not yours.”
8. Be kind to yourself.
“When you’re being too harsh on yourself, imagine if the person with those issues is one of your friends.
Treat yourself like you’d treat that friend.
That helped me be way kinder to myself than before.”
9. You do you.
“Do your future self a favor.
This relates to prepping for the next day (clothes ironed, lunch packed) to saving money to making healthy choices.
It makes for easier decisions and a better life.”
10. Own it.
“”Pick a failure.”
Sometimes the only options available involve some sort of failure. That’s ok. Just pick one, own it, and move on. There’s almost never an instant, magic solution without long term consequences.
That rare time there is, learn to really embrace it.”
11. Words to live by.
“Don’t be an idiot.
It changed my life. Whenever Im about to do something, I think, Would an idiot do that?
And if they would, I do not do that thing.”
12. Be wise with your money.
“Save your money and always live within your means.
As someone not working now, having some stashed away has kept our family afloat.”
13. People REALLY aren’t paying attention.
“Nobody’s looking at you.
They’re worrying about how they look.”
14. It’s okay to say NO.
“Learn to say no.
This is especially helpful for codependents. Any kindness you pass onto others will be far more genuine if you’ve taken care of your own needs first.”
15. Sounds like a smart guy.
“I went to work in construction right out of high school.
Before my first day my grandfather told me, to be successful, keep your ears open, your mouth shut, and constantly outwork the person next to you.
I lived that advice and it has served me very well.”
How about you?
What do you think is the best life advice you’ve ever received?
Talk to us in the comments!
