If you can get these life lessons down at as early of an age as possible, you will live a life full or more peace and joy. Most people learn from their experiences. You touch a hot stove, and it hurts, and you decide that touching hot things is bad from that experience.
The problem with learning from experience is that it's too slow and risky. You don't get one life, so you want to learn as quickly as possible without always depending on trial and error, and the best way to do that is to learn from others.
The collection of life lessons come from people much smarter than you and I, and people who have lived much longer lives. They have endured much pain and heartache to learn these lessons, and yet the knowledge us passed down to you for free. The best thing you can do is take it seriously and make the changes needed for success.
“You just can't let life happen to you, you have to make life happen.”
Types of Life Lessons
15 Hard Life Lessons
Surround Yourself With The Right People
You become what you hang around. If you hang around smart people, you value what they do, and you act more like them. If you hang around criminals, then you will adapt in the same way. Nothing can change you faster than the people you spend time with.
Take Care of Your Mental Health
It's easy to think about your physical health, but your mental health is just as important. You need to find things that you can do daily to regulate your mind and remove stress. The better you get at doing this, the fewer issues you will have with drug abuse and depression. Things like working out, meditation, and having a good social life can help your mental health.
Learn How You Learn
The amount of talent wasted in school each year because children are not taught how they learn the best is unreal. I did not learn how I learned until I read the book "Managing Oneself" by Peter Drucker. If you don't figure out how you learn best, you will never reach your full potential.
Benefit From Failure
Not only are you going to fail, but you will have some failures that hit so hard that you will not be sure if you can come back from them. The only thing that makes failure worth is finding a lesson or a way to benefit from that failure. If not, you get to experience pain for no reason.
Live Life to the Fullest Without Regrets
There is no time for regrets when life is so short. Chase the dream and do the things you have always wanted to do. Why lie on your deathbed thinking about what could have been? If you're reading this now, it means you still have a chance to take action today.
Put Others First
Contrary to popular belief, people get rich by putting others first. Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are a wealthy man because they provided the world with things that most people did not even know they needed. They focused on others' needs and put them first, and the result of that was wealth. In general, putting other people first is a more joyful way of living life.
Life Is A Bitch, and Then You Die
My mom always said this to me, and though it comes off as negative, it's true. Life is just really hard sometimes, and it leaves no explanations. Sometimes you want reasons and the chance to understand what is going on, which is only not afforded to you. In life, you're guaranteed to struggle, pay taxes, and die. No one avoids these things!
Comparison is a Bad Route to Take
Social media has drastically changed the world because it has made it easier than ever to compare yourself with others. The biggest problem with comparison is that you often lack context, and when you lack context, you can make a fair comparison.
People often don't show you the full story. They will show you the good stuff and try to hide the bad. The best thing you can do is focus on yourself and encourage others as much as possible.
Pay Attention
Life will reveal so many truths and answers if you pay attention. Not sure if you trust someone? Please pay attention to how they act and treat others. Want more opportunities? Pay attention to all of the doors around you. Look up from your phone for a second and observe everything that is happening around you.
Contribute More Than You Consume
Too many people are lifetime leaches, sucking up all of the resources they can but never contributing anything back. You see this in churches, and people look for what they can get instead of what they can give. People want promotions because they want more but don't think about what they can bring to the table.
Instead of just looking at pictures and videos, create your own. Instead of just consuming articles, create some for others. It takes 0 courage to consume, but it takes all of the world's courage to create.
Eat Less Junk Food
Anything titled junk should not be consumed. The less junk you eat, the fewer health issues you will have and the better your brain will feel. This one is a given!
Eat Until You Are Content
If you are anything like me, as a child, it was ingrained into your mind that you have to finish everything on your plate no matter how full you are. You were reminded of how some kids out there starve and would kill for your food.
The moral reason to never waste is good, but the health reasons don't make any sense. Put less food on your plate and eat until you are content. You will have more energy, and your digestive system will not have to work so hard.
Don't Strive for Average
I wrote the book Allergic to Average for a reason. One of the best things you can learn in life is that striving to be just like everyone else just to fit in will land you the most average life that you can get. No child seeks to be just like everyone else. You were made uniquely, and you should want to see your talents shine.
Never Underestimate Things That Compound
The power of anything that compounds cannot be estimated, or else it will cost you dearly. Think about things like interest or the power of habit. They start off small and don't make much of a difference, but when you keep saving or keep showing up for your habits, you are way ahead of people who did not take it seriously. Things that compound have the power to change your entire world.
Develop Great Habits
You are your habits. The results you see in your life is the total of your actions. The best way to ensure you take the right action is through habit. Habits are behaviors you don't even have to think about doing. Once you get a specific cue, the behavior or habit is automatic. If you build your life around good habits, it means that you are moving your life in the direction you want to go without thinking about it. That is powerful!
14 Life Lessons - Finding Peace
Walk As Much as Possible
Walking kills two birds with one stone, and it's easy to do. When you walk, you improve your health, but you also give your mind a chance to think. Some of the best thinking you will ever do will happen when you move around, not sitting at a desk.
Take Care of Your Health
There is no peace when you are constantly worrying about your health. Some health issues are unavoidable, but you should do everything to be disciplined and stay healthy in the long run. The easiest ways to accomplish this?
- Keep stress levels low
- Exercise regularly
- Eat as healthy as you can
Expect to Be Shocked
Expect people to surprise you. Sometimes they will surprise you in a good way, and sometimes it will be a negative shock. Recessions will come, the economy will crash. Expect life to shock you every once a while. After you get over the initial surprise, decide how you want to respond. Life is less about what happens and more about the response to what happens.
Patience is Everything
Everything takes time to develop. A baby is not born walking, driving, and cooking top-rated meals. Success takes time to grow and develop as well, and you need to have the patience to see it through until the end. Life will demand patience from you at every turn. The patience you develop, the better you will be at weathering the storms. That does not mean you don't work hard simultaneously, but you're just more willing to give things the time to develop.
Choose Kindness
Why choose any other way? You can be mean and treat people awful, but that will not bring you any peace. It will bring you to regret, and later on, you will look back on life and hate what and who you have become. Being kind is a universal language, and everyone desires to be treated with respect and dignity.
Be Aware of Having Too Much
Everyone is told to go and get more! More money, more life, more time, more food, etc. Some problems come from abundance as well. Too much food can lead to being obese; time can provide the opportunity to engage in unfavorable behaviors. Keep your eye on the abundance in your life and make sure that you are making the most of it and not allowing it to destroy you.
You're Going to Lose
No matter how good you are, how much you prepare, or how hard you work, you're eventually going to lose. Be ready for that loss and know that some of the losses will hurt bad. No one wants to expect to lose, but you should be prepared for the reality that you could lose. When people don't prepare for losses, it makes them hurt so much more.
Learn to Love Silence
If you want to experience peace, you need to learn to love time alone in silence. Most people today can't deal with silence or just being in their thoughts. Silent time is usually broken up with cell phones or some form of technology. There is a peace that can be found when you can spend time alone and just think.
Life is Always Moving Forward
Time never stops. Whether you decide to make the most of the day or not, time will continue to move forward. Time is not anyone's friend, and if you want to accomplish something in your time on earth, you need to take action and make it happen. Success takes time, so you better get started today.
Let Go of The Past
You can't do anything to change what happened yesterday. The past is a great thing to learn from but a horrible thing to live in. You have to live in the moment. Making the most of this moment will allow you to build the future that you want.
It's Okay To Miss Out
The fear of missing out is real, and it can leave you very unsettled and force you into some poor choices. Instead of trying to get in on every experience, come to grips to miss out on mist things. Be okay with that! Instead, put your energy into making the moments you have as impressive as you can.
Write Daily
There is so much going on in life, and in your head and writing is a great way to process a lot of this. Even if you hate writing, it won't hurt to improve your writing skills when it is such a widely used form of communication because of the internet and technology. Writing allows you to clear your thoughts each day.
Not Everyone is Going to Like You
You can be the juiciest peach in the world, and someone is still going to hate peaches. You can be kind, nice, charming, and it doesn't matter because there will always be someone who hates everything about you. That is their problem, not yours. The worst thing you can do is try to please everyone because you will lose that battle.
17 Life Lessons - Mindset
Find Your Own Path
The easiest way to lose your way is to feel that you have to follow the same road as others. Maybe others grew faster than you, went to college first, or made a million when you thought you would. That is ok, and you have to focus on your own path and understand that everyone's journey will be different.
Take Action Right Away
Stop procrastinating! When you know someone thing needs to be done, do it as soon as you can and not as quickly as possible. Feelings will leave you broke and lonely, but acting based on principles leads you to the good life. Don't do tomorrow what you can do today.
Make Sure Today Matters
Today matters more than any other day. If today does not look the way you want it to, it was because of your choices yesterday. If you want to ensure a better tomorrow, it will always come down to what you do today. Today is the most important day you have lived.
Act in The Face of Fear
Some people step up in the face of fear, whereas others crumble and bow down. If you're going to be successful, you need to find all the courage you can. You will have moments that will scare you, but you will need to step up and find a way to get it done anyway.
Always Look For the Positive
You either have a mindset that only lets you see the worst of every situation or a mindset that focuses on the positive. There is no in-between with this. Focusing on the positive also does not mean that you choose to ignore hard truths blatantly. It means that you see the silver lining and the way out no matter how bad things are.
Find That Thing to be Grateful For
No matter how hard life may be, there is always one thing you can hold onto and be grateful for. You could have everything in life, but if you don't find a way to be grateful you will never be happy. You will also notice all the things you don't have instead of seeing all the good in what you already do have.
Embrace The Simple
There is something beautiful about keeping things simple. For something to be useful it does not need to be complicated at all. You need to approach everything you do with the mindset of simplicity. Simple is taking something complicated and breaking it down so that a 6-year-old can understand it.
Live Outside of Your Comfort Zone
Nothing great happens within the comfort zone. If you want to live your best life, you need to get outside of your comfort zone because you push yourself to new levels. When you're comfortable, you keep doing what has always worked, but when you get pushed, it forces you to think differently and develop new and better ways to get things done.
Always Be Hungry to Learn
Being a learner is a mindset, and it's about much more than just reading books. Learners are curious people, and they want to know more and be better at all times. That learning can come from a book, a course, YouTube, a coach, or a mentor. When you're hungry to learn, you are willing to push your ego to the side and admit that you don't know enough. The hungry learner makes sure that they are a little bit better each day.
Be The Best You
What is the best that you can be? That is the mission! You should wake you every day with this on your mind. It helps you get away from the competition with others, forcing you to focus on what you can do to get better. You can be at peach with any result when you know you prepare as best as possible and give maximum effort.
Work Hard to Achieve Your Dreams
You can dream all you want, but you can't be foolish, and they think they will just be handed to you. Anything worth having has to be fought for. You have to be willing to give everything you have and sacrifice many things that most people will not. You have to be ready to wake up and grind longer than your eyes want to stay open.
Accept What You Cannot Change
It's delusional to focus on things you have no power over. If you can't change it, learn to accept reality, and search for the best way to respond. Your response is what shows what you're made of. Strong people are always focusing on the things they can control. Weak people are always talking about things they have no control over.
Live For The Challenge
The challenge is where all of the fun is. If you go after easy things, life will be easy, but you will not feel fulfilled. Purpose comes from doing things that are hard and knowing what you were able to overcome. No one looks back on life and thinks about the easy times. What comes to mind is often all that you have overcome.
Read a lot of Books
One of the easiest ways to change your entire mindset is by reading books. One book can get you inside the head of someone with a completely different perspective than yours. You can learn some of the greatest lessons from so many different people. Reading changes how you think, how you see the world, makes you more appealing in conversation, and can build your confidence.
Believe in Yourself
If you don't believe in you first, no one else will. If you think confidence comes from other people, you are mistaken. Nothing matters until you can look in the mirror and believe in what you see. No amount of learning, mentors, or help is more powerful than believing in yourself. You have to know what is coming before it will ever come your way. If you think you're not worth success, it will never come your way.
Stay Humble or Get Humbled
You can pick your poison here. You can either keep yourself humble, or you can wait for life to do it for you. No amount of money or power can overcome this. Everyone who thinks they are too big to be humbled eventually learns a hard lesson. The scary thing about being humble is that the second thing you have it you have lost it. It's a constant work in progress.
It Takes a Decade of Work
There are no short cuts. You have to prepare yourself for success taking about ten years mentally. If you expect it to come quicker, you will most likely be very disappointing. Its only in the movies that success comes fast. When you think someone has had it quick and easy, the truth is that you don't know their full story. There was blood, sweat, and tears behind the scenes that you have heard nothing about.
10 Life Lessons - Money
Save Some
One of the best lessons you can learn early about money is that you always need to save some of it. Life is full of curveballs, and unexpected events, and nothing creates anxiety, like not having the money for something you need. You could lose your job, and your car could break down, have an unexpected health bill, and so on. Make saving at least 10% of your income automatic, so you don't even need to think about it.
Give Some
You want to make it a habit to give some of your money away as well. There is no point in just stacking up dollars for yourself and never thinking of others. It won't feel good to know you have all you could want, and everyone around you has nothing. If you can give and help others, you should. The more you give, the more the money finds its way back to you anyway.
Spend On What You Need
Nothing kills wealth, like unnecessary spending. Your goal should be to build your net worth, and you do that by increasing your assets' value. Avoid things that rust, rot, and depreciate like cars. Cars lose value consistently. They are horrible investments! Get used cars that have already lost a chunk of their depreciation. Buy what you know you need in your life and save the rest of your money for a while.
Live Below Your Means
Living below your means requires a lot of discipline. To do it well, you have to act like you make less money then you do. Most people run into the problem that they end up making more as they get older, and as they make more, they spend more. The more you increase your expenses, the harder it becomes to maintain that lifestyle if you face hardship. Find a good place to live where you have what you need, but you don't need to max out your debt to maintain that life.
Don't Buy to Show Off
Buying to show things off means that you are trying to keep up with your neighbors. Only buy things that are you would want if no one else ever knew you had it. A lot of people purchase pricey cars because of how it will make them look to others. The only person you should look to impress is yourself. There will always be someone who has more than you, stop trying to compete.
Don't Wait for Retirement to Live
You don't want to be the person who goes to the other end of the spectrum either and never does anything fun at all their entire life until retirement. You want to be disciplined, but you also want to find ways to enjoy life. Maybe you don't have to spend money to enjoy life, but you should not think that fun is only for retirement. You may not make it to live that old, and by that point, you have no idea where your health will be.
Outsource Things You Hate to Do
Money is of value, but time is of more importance, and outsourcing will teach you this. If you spend all of your time getting money, you are losing your life. But if you can be smart with your money you can use it to repurchase your time. If there are things you hate doing, like cleaning, accounting, taxes. Cooking or other words, you can outsource stuff so that you don't need to worry about it. Spend your time doing the things you want to do.
Time is More Important than Money
You have to keep reminding yourself that time matters more money. Most people do not act this way, and we learn how to work based on what society does. Most people spend their whole life getting money, and they never think about their time and how valuable it is. You only get one life to live.
Always Have Financial Goals
No matter what age you are or where you are financially, you should always have financial goals. It could start as simple as trying to get out of debt, then move into making your first significant investments, and then into different wealth preservation forms. Money with no plan tends to find itself in someone else's pockets who knows how to treat it better.
Avoid Impulse Buying
In the age of the internet, where you can buy whatever you want, you need to be careful about purchasing dumb things on impulse. Impulse spending will leave you broke, and it shows that you lack discipline. You need to develop rules where you don't buy items over a specific price point without discussing it with one other persona and taking a certain number of days to think about it.
15 Life Lessons - Relationships
Stand Up For People
If you stand for nothing, you fall for everything. If there are people, you care about the best thing you can do to show that you love them is to stand up for them.
God First
When it all is said and done, what is this life you are living all about? I found Jesus and realized that making him number one feels better and makes more sense than anything else. He is eternal, and my time on this earth is fleeting. Spend some time in your life, making God's way your priority, and you will develop one of the most important relationships that a human can produce.
Family After That
Family needs to be a priority if you're going to have thriving relationships. Whenever someone has many family issues, you know it's going to lead to problems with trust and other things. If you can't be close with the people you share blood with, how can you get close to others? Family are the people that are going to come to help you when everyone else has turned their backs.
Reconcile With Those You Love
When you have poor relationships or strife with someone you care about, it can eat you alive. It's not great for your health to live this way for an extended period. It creates resentment and other negative emotions that you don't want to carry around. Be quick to find reconciliation, even if you have to be the bigger person.
Trust Your Intuition About People
We often go against our gut feeling when it comes to people in our life. Learn to trust that instinct that tells you to stay away from someone. There is nothing wrong with taking a relationship slow. You give that person time to show you who they are because you can only fake it for so long.
Give People Another Chance
You have been given plenty of chances throughout your life. Even if you think you are a perfect little angel, someone has given you a second chance. Since you have been given that chance, you should provide that same grace for others.
No One Loves Perfect
Speaking of being a perfect little angel, perfect is boring! People can't relate to perfect because most people have made so many mistakes. Its why we like stories where someone failed repeatedly and kept trying, and they eventually figured it out. That story is essentially all of our lives.
Deal With Problems Right Away
Don't be the type of person that tries to avoid problems and just hopes that they will magically go away. They will not go away! The only way to deal with your problems is to face them straight up, and the quicker you do this, the faster it goes away.
There is No One Who Does It Alone
One of the most powerful life lessons you can learn when it comes to relationships is that you need other people. There is no good life without other people. Success requires the help of others, and enjoying success requires that you share it with others. The quicker you understand this, the better your relationships will be.
Praise Those Who Have Helped You
Don't forget who has helped you get to where you are today. It does not matter how simple of an act made a difference, and you should praise them. When you tell people that their life mattered in your life, you help them feel like they made a difference. Everyone wants to feel like they made a difference in their lives.
Build Healthy Work Relationships
Work is dreadful when you hate everyone you work with. You don't need to be friends with everyone, but you can build healthy work relationships where you work well with other people, and they know they can count on you. Building healthy work relationships cant be a selfish endeavor. Every person is different, and you have to think about what they need and try and adjust to meet those needs. You can control what you do, but you can't control others.
Stay Loyal
There is nothing sweeter in life than loyal friendships that last decades. If you have that cherish those friendships. If you don't have that, then you need to be faithful and built those relationships.
Communicate With Openness and Honesty
Don't spend your whole life holding back the truth. Say what needs to be said and make sure your honesty always comes from a place of love. Being honest with people will be received better when you tell the truth to build up and not tear down. In the end, people trust you more when they know you will be honest with them.
Encourage Others to Go For Their Dreams
It's not enough to just be a success. You should be encouraged others to live their life to the fullest. When people have ideas of things they want to do, don't just rip them apart, guide them, and help them find their path. Your encouragement could come only at the right time.
Relationships Die if You Don't Water Them
A simple life lesson that you need to remember is that relationships work just like plants. For a plant to grow, it needs water, sun, and time. Relationships need to be taken care of in the same way. If you don't water a plant, it will live for a while, but eventually, it will begin to wilt and die.
Marriage is Hard Work
Marriage in the movies makes it look like this dream walk in the park with your soulmate. It may start that way, but keeping it that way will take a lot of work. Marriage can be one of the most important family relationships that you build, and it can be the most rewarding. It also has the potential to be one of the most painful ones, so be smart.
Conclusion to These Life lessons
70 Life lessons are a lot, but there is also a lot that you have to deal with in life. The best thing you can do is to take these life lessons seriously. It's better to learn from others' mistakes than it is to have to make the mistakes yourself because they will cost you much more.
You also can't tackle them all at once. Start with a few that will have the most significant impact on your immediate life and then work your way out. If you can get most of these lessons down, your life will improve drastically.
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