"It Took Me A Long Time To Learn This": People Are Revealing The Profound Advice That Change Their View On Life, And I'm Obsessed With Each One
Even though a lot of people give unsolicited advice that makes your insides crawl, sometimes you hear a piece of advice that is so profound that it changes your life for the better. So when Reddit user FGodspeed asked: "What’s a random piece of advice you’ve received that turned out to be life-changing?" so many amazing examples were given that I had to round them up for you to see for yourself. Here are some of them below.
1."A task that is done and 80% perfect is better than a task that is 100% perfect and not done."
"It took me a long time to learn this. I worked with a guy, and I would say, 'But the project has this and that wrong with it.' He would yell, 'You know what it IS though? IT’S DONE!'"
2."Know the difference between 'want' and 'need.' Every time you start to spend money, ask yourself if you really need it or just want to have it."
"Then, once you realize which is which, also realize it's okay sometimes to still buy what you want. Not every purchase needs to be a need."
3."Never cross an ocean for someone who wouldn't cross a puddle for you."
"You are under no obligation to set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm."
4."Conversely, ask yourself if you would be as angry or critical of someone else as you are about yourself, aka be kind to yourself."
5."Don't take life too seriously; nobody gets out alive."
6."'Remember to make sure your oxygen mask is on before helping others.' I used to neglect myself while tending to my partners' needs."
"I feel seeeen. My husband has finally breached the big-ass wall pertaining to that. He has been telling me this for years. He says I tend to everyone else too much. But when I do think of myself, it makes me feel guilty. It is very slowly getting better I think."
7."Listening is more powerful than speaking."
8."When I was in the Canadian military on a training base, I didn't fill out a weekend leave pass in time. I was pissy about it, and the guy next to me was like, 'Just go anyway — it's not like they are gonna put out a manhunt for you.' It stuck with me because I did go out that weekend, and I realized I was a pathological rule-follower up until that point."
9."Only brush and floss the teeth you want to keep."
"My husband tells our son, 'You brush at night to keep your teeth. You brush in the morning to keep your friends.'"
10."'You are doing better than you think you are.' It's not meant to dismiss any wrongdoings, but it helped me get through times when I was being too hard on myself."
11."A therapist who told me flat out, 'You expect to wake up one day with your trauma erased, and that doesn't happen. It's going to hurt forever, so you need to accept that it hurts and figure out how to live with it.'"
"I love brutal therapists. I have had two in my life. My second therapist, I cried one day because I fell apart over hair ties. Yes. You heard that right. Hair ties. (I was in the service, and hair ties HAD to match your hair.) When I got out, I angrily purged everything related to the military to help me move forward from the years of stress, trauma, and other things. Six months later, I found four brown hair ties and freaking lost it.
When I talked to her a couple of days later: '[Name], your trauma WILL never go away. You know that right? You have to accept it. You are not a victim. You have allowed yourself to become the victim by letting it overshadow everything you do in life. Walk with it. Talk with it. Let it know it doesn't rule you. You have that choice."
I hated her for it but I needed to hear it. I love her."
12."How you're treated is more important than how much you like someone."
"I had a cool, older coworker who impressed this on me when I was starting out in my career. The second a manager starts to raise their voice or cross professional boundaries, I shut it down. I once had a manager drag me into an HR meeting to explain why I was being disrespectful, and he almost talked himself into getting fired as he explained that it was perfectly normal to shout at junior employees. They kicked him off all his active projects, and he left the company not long after."
13."Give your anxiety a name. Separate its voice as a 'monster' that sits outside of you. My anxiety monster's name is Fred. It doesn't make him go away, of course, but he is not me. He is this annoying tagalong that never shuts up, NOT me. With practice, it became easier to differentiate between my own thoughts and feelings and the ones that 'he' tries to force on me. It helps me feel less worthless and a little bit stronger every time I am able to dismiss his ideas."
14."It's a motivational quote from a famous historical person (Seneca). However, it's the ONLY motivational quote that ever stuck with me due to its practical application and weight. The quote is: 'If you don't know to what port you are sailing, no wind is favorable.' Basically, if you don't have set goals in life, it doesn't matter how much bad luck or good luck you have or how many opportunities you get or miss. The journey to the destination and probably the destination, too, is going to suck and isn't right for you."
15."It’s two pieces of advice combined into one: save at least 10% of every paycheck and keep your savings separate from your checking account. I even went as far as keeping them in separate banks. Before applying this system, I would always end up borrowing money from my sister at the end of the month. After applying this system, I had enough savings, and as an added benefit, I became magically more responsible with my spending."
"My company's payroll lets you split your deposit across up to three banks. I send one deposit to a bank that just pays bills out of that account and one deposit to a checking account that I can use for pocket money and one to my high-yield savings account."
16."Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from."
17."One time, someone told me, ‘Don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.’ At the time, I was going through a breakup and felt like everything was falling apart, but hearing that made me pause and really think before acting out of frustration or sadness. Now, I apply it to so many situations, whether it’s about relationships, career choices, or even petty arguments. It’s wild how just taking a moment to breathe and think things through can save you from so much regret."
18."When someone mentions that someone close to them died, ask them to tell you about a great memory with them. People love it."
19."If something is hard to do (being an introvert), pretend you are acting a scene for a movie, and just 'act.'"
20."Stress doesn't come from hard work; it comes from inaction on things you know you're supposed to take action on."
21.And finally, "If it’s going to take less than five minutes, do it now."
Is there a random piece of advice you heard that changed your life? Tell us what it is and why it was life-changing in the comments below.
