Being alive means you’re automatically enrolled in the School of Hard Knocks, and what a great teacher it is! A real major mistake will teach you a lesson for the rest of your life. That being said, you should never learn all your lessons through consequences and failures. Sometimes, some great advice can make you avoid serious pain and problems.
Bad advice is easy to find. It’s everywhere. Getting good advice is difficult, which is sad, since it’s a life-changer. That’s why I collected 30 people and asked them what the best life advice was, and why.
- “My dad noticed that I was in a toxic relationship with a girl who equated martyrdom to love. It was killing me slowly, and I was losing myself. He told me, ‘You are responsible for your happiness. You cannot help others if you are miserable and unhealthy. Don’t set yourself on fire to keep her warm.’ Something clicked. I dumped her the next day.” – Rodney, 35
- “Boundaries are not only healthy; they are the building blocks to your self-esteem. If someone keeps crossing them, you need to cross them out of your life immediately. It helped me get rid of a lot of bad friends.” – Steve, 22
- “Oh, you want to be popular? You want to be liked? Listen to people, and stop trying to come up with something else to say in the meantime. At the end of the day, people want to feel funny, important, and respected. Do that, and they’ll love you.” – Darius, 34
- “Listen to your gut. It often picks up on things your brain won’t. That saved my life from an oncoming truck.” – Ashley, 29
- “Who you were doesn’t matter as much as who you’re working to become. Past results never guarantee future returns, after all. Really important for anyone that needs to change their life like I did.” – Marina, 25
- “What others judge you for doesn’t matter. Their inconvenience is not your emergency. Your goal in life is to live it how you want to and enjoy it. More often than not, the most judgemental people out there are the most miserable. Misery loves company, and people who need to judge others are never satisfied with your conformity, anyway.” – Judith, 40
- “Question why something is socially expected of you. If it doesn’t make sense, it’s probably something you should rethink.” – Mark, 28
- “My low self-esteem was killing me. I started fixing my life after my friend told me that self-esteem comes from accomplishing things and working to be the person you want to be. He said, ‘Life is like an MMORPG. Why aren’t you customizing your character?” – Josh, 29
- “Right before I left an abusive relationship, I got advice I tell others to this very day: if you would never do something to someone, why would you let them do it to you? Judge others by the standard you set for your own treatment, and act accordingly.” – Mariana, 37
- “Anger multiplies, makes you lonely, and makes you stupid. If you want to lash out, by all means do. Just realize it’s you who will suffer most of the consequences, including a bad reputation.It’s better to let go of rage.” – Bill, 40
- “You might really want something to be true, sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. Opinions aren’t facts. If you can’t accept that, you will end up making stupid decisions.” – Judd, 33
- “Never be loyal to a company. They will never be loyal to you.” – Luis, 23
- “Be kind to everyone, and always try to take the higher road. You never know who knows who, or how it can pay off later on.” – Sam, 26
- “After I failed out of school, I felt useless. I never really failed at anything major before. My friend explained that failure was a skill. Overcoming failure and working on your flaws are two skills that will take you far, but can’t be taught in school. The more you get used to failure and learn from mistakes, the more you will be able to do well when others will crumple.” – Kayla, 20
- “Faking it until you make it is not about everything; it’s mostly about confidence and how you carry yourself. If you act successful, people will see you as successful. Faking it is not advisable in bed, though.” – Tony, 27
- “People are not psychic. They can’t tell what you’re going through. They can’t always figure out what you want. They need to be told what you want, and what you need. It’s okay to speak up. Sometimes, it’s the only way to get things going in the right direction.” – Hayley, 22
- “The worst thing a person can do is wait around for someone to approach them. I did this all my school life to no avail. People won’t notice you if you don’t reach out to them!” – Joey, 19
- “If you are not able to uphold yourself financially, you are going to end up in deep shit. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will hurt you eventually. You cannot rely on anyone to keep paying your bills forever. Money is power, and if you rely on others’ money, they have power over you.” – Ian, 31
- “Take time to figure out why you feel the way you feel, or why you behave the way you do. This is the first step to gaining self-awareness and overcoming serious social skills. The next step? Ask yourself how you would react to seeing someone behave the way you do.” – Laura, 21
- “You know what’s good advice no one wants to hear? You need to face reality. No, not everyone can be anything they want. You have limitations. You have natural skills and problem areas. If you ignore the reality and refuse to have a plan be, you’re going to have a very bad time.” – Omar, 23
- “There are three great ways to invest in life: through finance, through education and through people. If you invest in finance, your money will take care of you. If you invest in people and do it wisely, your people will take care of you when money is gone. If you invest in education, your knowledge will carry you when all else is gone.” – Paolo, 30
- “Want to live your dreams? Be realistic about what it’ll take to get there, and have a Plan B if things don’t work out. Understand that many dream jobs will not pay well, and that extremely competitive markets will likely chew you up and spit you out. Still, it’s better to try and fail than wonder what could’ve been.” – Lara, 23
- “If you don’t know something, say so. Ask for help. You won’t learn otherwise. If you can’t ask, stay quiet.” – Shawn, 40
- “Who you’re related to doesn’t always matter, especially if they treat you poorly. You can always pick your own family.” – Aiden, 19
- “The best self-defense is prevention. Don’t start trouble, and you won’t have to end it.” – Riley, 32
- “Stop believing in Hollywood-style love stories. True love is hard work. It’s honesty. It also isn’t between people who have almost nothing in common and wouldn’t even be attracted to one another. You can’t barter attraction, nor can you badget it out of people. Love is teamwork, honesty, and talking. It’s not always fun, nor does love pay the bills.” – Monica, 27
- “You can’t have any kind of healthy relationship with someone that you don’t view as human. If you can’t understand them or stop seeing them as someone to be conquered, nothing will make it work.” – Alexis, 21
- “If you do things right, the most devastating blow you can give people who treat you poorly is your absence.” – Frank, 26
- “Failures usually seek out advice from people they feel good around, even if they aren’t successes. This doesn’t work, because they never were successful while standing in your shoes. Look for successful people, and ask them for advice.” – Gary, 43
“People are always nice to you when you have something they want. Before you trust them, see what happens to people who can’t offer them anything. Also, never marry someone before you see them angry.” – Miranda, 23
