You live and you learn, right?
That’s how life goes, and sometimes it’s good and other times it’s bad.
It’s important that we all learn from our mistakes, but it can also be frustrating and downright painful to think about how we could have done differently or the lessons we wish we’d learned earlier in our days.
What lessons did you learn too late in life?
AskReddit users discussed this interesting question.
1. Good tip.
“Use your turn signals, but do not trust anyone else using their turn signals.
Lesson I still remember from driver’s ed 30 years ago: there’s only one thing you know for certain when you see a car with its turn signal on. They have their turn signal on. That’s it.
You have no way of knowing if they plan on turning, if they change their mind at the last second, if they just forgot to turn it off.”
2. Don’t start.
“Smoking isn’t worth it.
Don’t even get curious. Tobacco isn’t like weed, it’s quickly addictive.
The stupid marijuana PSA’s with ‘one puff can ruin your life’ should be used for cigarettes.”
3. Not your problem.
“Some people just won’t admit they’re wrong.
Don’t waste time trying to get them to accept it.
Wasted too much of mine own time trying to correct people.”
4. Take care of those teeth!
“The importance of dental health.
I didn’t take care of my teeth in my youth and now that I’m older I very much regret it.”
5. This applies to all areas of life.
“If you wait ’til you’re ready, you’ll be waiting forever.”
6. Doesn’t always work out that way.
“Working your hardest and going above and beyond at your job doesn’t guarantee you’ll get any farther there.
It WILL guarantee an unrealistic workload and pace that you can’t maintain for the long term with your employer though. No better way to burn yourself out into total misery!!! The best place to be with work is just doing your job and clocking the f*ck out. You’re far more likely to advance at a career by being well liked.
Do yourself a huge favor and just strive for middle; take an opportunity to shine every once in a while, and maintain your mental health so you aren’t a d*ck to your coworkers. I’m 33 and it’s taken me this long to truly and fully understand this concept.
Average is not always a bad thing, especially in corporate America.”
7. THIS.
“BOUNDARIES are healthy and important.
You never really know someone until you tell them no. Its okay to drop people who don’t respect your boundaries.
And if someone respects your boundaries until they’re angry, they don’t respect your boundaries.”
8. Focus on a few.
“You don’t need a million friends.
Maybe less than 10, maybe 5, good friends.
Put a LOT of effort into those relationships instead of spreading yourself too thin.”
9. Walk away.
“It is okay to walk away from toxic family.
I am not the monster they paint me as. I can’t fix or save them.
I can only protect my kids.”
10. Nothing wrong with that.
“It’s okay to be selfish and take care of yourself over others.
One day you may look and see there’s nothing that you feel proud or accomplished by because you were living your life trying to please others vs doing what you want for yourself.”
11. Words of wisdom.
“Don’t kill yourself working at a job that would replace you without a second thought.”
12. Think about this one.
“If your irreplaceable, you’re unpromotable.
Missed several promotions early in my careers because I was “Too valuable” in the position I was in.
If you want a promotion, work hard enough to get noticed, but not so hard that they’re dependent on you.”
13. You just gotta do it.
“There’s never a good time to change things. You just have to choose when you’re gonna make the change and put the time, effort, and discipline in to make it happen.
Example for me is quitting smoking. For years I told myself that I would quit smoking when things settled down and over a weekend where I’ll be home and stress free. But then I would always start back because some stressful event happened and I “needed it” to help cope. The fact is, sh*t’s always gonna happen but the difference is I need to change HOW I react to it.
But that method is helping me in other areas. I used to game heavily and procrastinate on my adulting duties. Often I would neglect them as I would get so into a session I would lose track of time and be tired. I still do it from time to time as I’m working on changing my approach I.e. I will dust and vacuum everything BEFORE I get on. But it’s absolutely no where near as bad as I used to be.
You know what you need to change. Just start on one thing. Mine was quitting smoking. Since then I’ve focused on my health by walking more and exercising as well as using my newfound time gained from each 5 minute smoke break I had to invest into myself.”
How about you?
Do you think there are any lessons that you learned about too late in life?
If so, please talk to us in the comments!
