Most people go through their lives without really stopping to think about the way they want to live. Then, as they get older, they may look back with regret. They often wish they could have done things a little differently. Perhaps life lessons learned late was the reason.
If possible, it’s best to learn these things sooner rather than later.
But in my case, it’s not too late because life teaches me continually. Here are some life lessons I have learned early before getting old 🙂
Life lessons learned late … accepting yourself
Many people spend their whole lives picking on themselves, beating themselves up, and hating various aspects of who they are. But the more you fight against who you are, the more stuck and resentful you’ll become.
It’s particularly pointless hating things about yourself that you can’t change. If you want to improve yourself, that’s fine.
Self-Acceptance enables you to undergo that process in a supportive, helpful way. Life is much less of a struggle when you treat yourself as you would a dear friend.
This means accepting yourself as a human being, with all your flaws, idiosyncrasies, and strengths.
Things that are worthwhile often take time
It feels like I see a new success story every week. “New technology startup raises $100M at a $1B valuation!” People see overnight success.
What they don’t often see are the late nights at the office until 2 AM. Whether it’s love, work or friendship, everything worthwhile takes time.
So learn to be patient. And invest your time wisely.
Life lessons learned late … a positive attitude is contagious
I try to surround myself with positive, upbeat people that want to make a difference in the world. Every time I do that, I walk away feeling energized and passionate about life.
Find three people that you deeply admire and spend time with them.
Seriously, ask them to coffee, lunch or yogurt. Notice how you feel after you meet with them? You should be saying “I feel awesome.”
Combine that awesome feeling with a dose of yogurt, that’s borderline life changing. If you’re lactose intolerant, I’m sorry.
Hustle is the antidote to fear
When I wanted to start my digital marketing blog, I had no idea how to build a nice website or how to build a community following. I was also pretty scared of failing again.
What if I wrote for years and no one ended up going to my website?
What if no one cared about marketing tips? And then I realized, even if only ten people signed up, I would still feel awesome about making a difference in 10 people’s lives.
And that was enough to get me started. Ever since then, I’ve been hustling none stop. I’ve now written almost 2000 Quora answers (and counting).
Oh, and that blog? It has gotten an average of almost 3000 views per day.
Still, need more encouragement to go out there and make it happen? Take a note from this quote from Richard Branson –
“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity, but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”
Stop fearing. Start doing.
Life lessons learned late … less is more
Life is all about quality, not quantity. You are lucky if you have a few true friends.
Note when the adversities come then you got to know who are your true friends.
Cultivate good hobbies
A person who has a hobby is never alone. I love reading books, writing and analyzing difficult situations.
Many of these habits I have developed in the college of hard knocks.
Life lessons learned late … simple is good
Life has so much clarity when you keep things simple. For example:
Want to understand better? Listen carefully.
Miss a loved one? Visit them. Or call.
Want to achieve? Hustle.
Worrying is not a good use of energy
I built my first website almost seven years ago. I was worried our competitors would copy us.
I worried we would lose over the long term because we didn’t have the marketing budget that they had.
Guess what? It didn’t matter. We got more than 3000 subscribers to our newsletter. But alas we couldn’t get our users to come back frequently enough.
So I spent all that energy and time worrying over nothing. Worrying is one of the biggest wastes of energy.
Stop worrying. Start hustling. Noticing a recurring theme?
Life lessons learned late … happiness is a state of mind
Looking back on my life, the unhappiest moments occurred when I thought I had to achieve a certain goal to be happy.
That’s not the way happiness works. You can be happy right now. Be happy that you’re alive. You’re breathing.
You’re here in this incredible moment that we call life. That gives you all the reasons you need to be happy.
Life lessons learned late … take more risks
Life is too short to play it safe all the time. Too many people work at a job they hate for years instead of pursuing their real passion.
Remember that the only thing worse than death is a regret filled coffin.
Physical health
The habits you form when you are younger are the foundation for your physical health later. You don’t want to struggle with crippling health problems in older age.
Life lessons learned late … life is meaningful
The beauty of life involves the relationships you make with other people. The memories you make with them are most important.
Make time
Make time for friends, your significant other, and family. You never know when you may lose someone close to you.
Life Is fragile
As amazing and liberating life can be, it is also precious, fragile, and can be lost in an instant. This makes it even more important to cherish every moment you’ve been blessed with.
Life lessons learned late … all about people
Life is all about people. So, wherever you go, value people. Respect them, add value to their life through your association.
I am trying to add value for those who are reading this. Thank you for being patient to read.
Don’t worry what other people think
People have different outlooks, based on their personality and experience. Why would anyone’s views about you be more valid than your own?
You may even be imagining that people are judging you when they’re not. The solution is to stop concerning yourself with others’ judgments, real or imagined. The simple fact is they are irrelevant.
No-one ever became truly happy by impressing other people.
Life lessons learned late … live in the present
The human mind is perfectly designed for worrying about the past or fretting about the future. The result is not living in the present moment at all.
You may tell yourself you will be happy when you’ve got X or done Y or finally dealt with Z.
You may focus so much on your goals, that you don’t enjoy the journey.
But, you can have moments of happiness right now, wherever you’re at in the grand scheme of things. You don’t have to put your happiness on hold.
Be grateful for whatever you do have, rather than not allowing yourself to enjoy things now.
If they’re not exactly how you want them yet, don’t fret. Every moment is precious, and every day offers you new opportunities to be happy.
Let go of perfection
You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t need always to be right. You don’t have to aim for perfection — you don’t even need to be close.
Making progress is much more important than seeking to achieve perfection. Perfection, after all, is unattainable. Accept that and move on.
The bottom line
These are things that we already know, of course. They are not rocket science and shouldn’t be.
This list of little things simply reminds us of what we have forgotten. Then it is up to us to put these lessons (or reminders) into daily use through persistence and practice.
Remember … your experience and learning trumps all!
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Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add to the section below?
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More reading on mentoring from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
