We go to school to learn about how the world works. Unfortunately, some lessons we can learn only the hard way – by experiencing them firsthand. Then, at the end of our lives, we can only regret the things we did or didn’t do.
In 2011, researchers at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management asked people about their biggest regrets, and most adults talked about their love lives. Other areas where people wished they had learned crucial life lessons earlier were family interactions, education, careers, finances, and parenting, respectively.
Bored Panda has gathered some advice from two online threads where people shared the things they now wish they had known earlier in life. Some focused on health, and others on relationships, but most agree – these are the things most of us should know as we go through life.
#1
You are influenced by everything you surround yourself with, be it people, hobbies, or environment. Therefore, choose wisely.
Image source: anon, kues1 / freepik (not the actual photo)
#2
Don’t take your health for granted.
Image source: MsAnthrope23, karlyukav / freepik (not the actual photo)
#3
To stop caring of what people think.
Particularly people I don’t know/care about. I value the opinions of my family/friends (somewhat).
Image source: Zaquarius_Alfonzo, eugeneshemyakin9 / freepik (not the actual photo)
#4
Not too late but the fact that nobody actually cares that much about you is liberating. Stop being so nervous!
Image source: Hardstyler1, EyeEm / freepik (not the actual photo)
#5
If you let people take advantage of you they will.
Image source: AlessandraAngelo, wayhomestudio / freepik (not the actual photo)
#6
Just because someone tells you something in a soft supportive tone, doesn’t mean they are actually supporting you.
Image source: anon, photoroyalty / freepik (not the actual photo)
#7
Cut your losses.
Don’t cling to a mistake just because you’ve spent a lot of time and effort making it.
Image source: Ohanaette, The Yuri Arcurs Collection / freepik (not the actual photo)
#8
“Baby on Board” indicates that the driver is distracted/tired.
Image source: IAMATruckerAMA, Steve Jurvetson / flickr (not the actual photo)
#9
Smoking that first cigarette was a bad choice.
Image source: anon, jes2ufoto / freepik (not the actual photo)
#10
That all people are flawed and I need to figure out what kind of person I want to be for myself, instead of just emulate someone I idolize.
Image source: Whacktober, krakenimages.com / freepik (not the actual photo)
#11
Friends in high school are not as Important as you think they are.
Image source: anon, jet-po / freepik (not the actual photo)
#12
“Keeping your options open” is a terrible idea. Just pick one thing to become amazing at, and stick with it. When I was young, I wanted to keep my options open. Now i’m old, and I’m pretty good at a hell of a lot of things, but great at nothing. Life’s too short to explore all those other options anyway. Just pick something and pour your heart into it.
It’s as true with romance as it is with your career.
Image source: thudly, Svitlana Hulko / freepik (not the actual photo)
#13
To not spend so much of my life running in circles justifying other people’s poor treatment of me. I thought it was just something I needed to be less sensitive of, that everyone has different motivations & if someone has his reasons I could work out a way that made it ok. Nope. I can decide that their motivations don’t mean anything, and nope right out if they can’t correct it when I tell them how they’ve hurt me.
Image source: anon, thanyakij-12 / freepik (not the actual photo)
#14
You need to be careful with your diet.
Image source: Titibu, freepik (not the actual photo)
#15
You can’t wait for opportunity. You have to find and grasp it. Nobody gets what they deserve, they get what they think they’re worth.
Image source: Swysp, pressmaster / freepik (not the actual photo)
#16
Nobody has a clue. Most people have insecurities and problems and are too busy worrying about their own to give a care about your minor mess ups.
Image source: CaptainAwesomey, freepik (not the actual photo)
#17
You cannot help another person, if they are not ready to receive help.
Image source: MiriamFerri, freepik (not the actual photo)
#18
I probably could have dated in high school but at 26 and never even kissed a girl (so now I don’t know how) I think that ship has sailed.
Image source: GorillaS0up, wavebreakmedia_micro / freepik (not the actual photo)
#19
Some people aren’t worth it.
Image source: anon, freepik not the actual photo)
#20
Just talk to her, you have a much better chance than you think.
Image source: anon
#21
That I’m smarter than everyone said I was. When I was little I was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome and immediately placed in special ed classes. My parents thought I couldnt do homework so for about 10 years they did 90% of all my homework. Around my junior or senior year of high school I decided I want to try and do my own work to see if I could. I passed with all C’s. After graduating I tried to enter the military but because of my diagnosis I was told I couldn’t. I decided after that to try community college. I struggled at first but learned for to properly study and use time management and passed school with a degree in CADD with a 2.6 GPA. Looked for a job, but ended up working at a factory where I gained confidence in myself and enrolled at a university. Currently I am 24 and a college softmore with a 3.2GPA and tons of student loan debt. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about where I would be if i had just done my own work in school.
Image source: KingSilver, The Yuri Arcurs Collection / freepik (not the actual photo)
#22
All the middle-aged people complaining about their bodies? Yeah, that’s real and i should have worked harder to stop it. My back hurts at 29.
Image source: ledivin
#23
That time is the only non-replenishable resource. You can make more money, you can find new friends and relationships, but if you waste years of your life not living the way you want to live, those years are gone forever.
Image source: Gonefullhooah
#24
That high school and school in general is just practice with dealing with people very different than you are.
Image source: drleeisinsurgery
#25
Just cause you’re kind to someone doesn’t mean they’ll be kind to you.
Image source: prayingthegayaway
#26
Schools actually not for fools.
Image source: Easy-_-poon
#27
All of my anxiety and problems were caused by the amount of alcohol I was drinking to escape my anxiety and problems.
I’m glad I worked it out but I wish it had been 20 years earlier.
Image source: ksanthra
#28
That I’m pretty and have a nice personality. Always thought I was a freak.
Image source: puzzled_exoticbear5
#29
Time flies – make the most if it.
Take calculated risks.
Image source: DanaBrookesTit
#30
Its not what you know, its who you know.
Even better, I was actually raised to believe that people who use their social connections to be successful are cheats, incompetent, etc.
Image source: paleo2002
#31
Most of the people realize too late in their life about how important the old persons around us (especially our parents) are.
Image source: ethereumlover
#32
No one will like me until I like myself.
Image source: pajamakitten
#33
Having a social life matters, the value of dedicated saving, the need for regular exercise, and picking up an acceptable hobby.
Image source: rhunter99
#34
If it’s gonna sit in your room to collect dust, don’t buy it.
Image source: custycrustysalty
#35
Should have just chose the college that is in my area instead of going so far away.
Image source: cain62
#36
Finding someone to love and share your life with means wading through a sea of rejection, friendzones, getting stood up and breakups. Unfortunately I bought into the idea of “the one” and would let these setbacks devastate me far more than it should have.
I kinda wish I hadn’t given up on it so early in life but on the other hand so far I’ve met a few very interesting people and made some great friendships so far getting back into it at this stage in my life and quickly making up for lost time.
Image source: Diarhea_Bukake
#37
It’s never too late.
Image source: anon
#38
Excelling in my chosen career came at a cost to my family. The better course for me would have been to forgo that big promotion so I could spend more time with my kid when he was young. The money wasn’t worth it, looking back.
Image source: Picodick
#39
That women owe me nothing.
Image source: Knort27
#40
That I really could do anything that I put my mind towards.
Image source: el-toro-loco
#41
Tell people you love them. Ask them questions about their life. Listen to their stories. Connect, even when it’s hard, even when you’re a teenager who thinks ‘they know better’. Cause someday you wake up and you have a hundred questions you wish you asked them before they were gone and a hundred things you should have told them while they were here.
Image source: vampedvixen
#42
That just because you might be the most talented, doesn’t mean that you’ll succeed. You also need to build relationships with people that are willing to help you succeed.
Image source: GenVolkov
#43
You can’t cram for a science test the morning of it.
Image source: jeff_the_nurse
#44
Bitcoin. Yeah yeah….its going to go up, I get that. But the days where is was $0.05 instead of where its at now. AND I KNEW ABOUT IT!
Image source: capix1
#45
Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
Image source: anon
#46
God isn’t real and I’m wasting my time worshipping a fantasy.
I need to be the best teacher I will ever have. I can learn anything if I want. I can focus myself and change my brain.
Ethics matter labels are irrelevant.
I am only limited by my imagination not my past.
Physically I can become whatever I want.
A man becomes what he thinks about all day long.
I won’t die without a woman.
I wont die without friends.
The silence is not fatal but ignorance is.
I have a responsibility to push my life to the edge of the possible not just have kids and pawn off the responsibility for growth and self-development onto the next generation.
Image source: anon
#47
I worried way too much about if people liked me for way to long.
Image source: why_you_always_lie
#48
How young I still am.
Image source: The_Dude33
#49
Your thoughts make up your universe. They always matter.
Image source: numberp
#50
Dont burn bridges. Ever. Networking is how you go up faster than other people do in life.
Image source: thispersonlookswhite
#51
A predictable/planned life doesn’t necessarily equal an easy one, let alone a good one.
Image source: everyoneis_gay
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