Wherever you look online, you can find an endless supply of life lessons, hot protips, and quippy advice on how to live your life. But after a while, it all starts to sound the same: wake up early, drink plenty of water, be grateful, make mistakes, and so on. But what about the weird stuff? What about the crucial lessons in life that don’t fit into a Pinterest quote?
Of course, staying hydrated and learning from your failures is a great way to live your life, but sometimes there’s more to it than that. Sometimes you need to put on your weirdest hat, walk on the ceiling, and look at things upside down for a little while for a new perspective on a happy, beautiful life.
1. Put Yourself First
Many struggle with the idea of putting themselves before others. After all, no one wants to be selfish. But there’s a galaxies-wide gap between making yourself a priority in your life and being problematically selfish. Fortunately, that gap leaves plenty of room for you to love others and show them compassion. It just means not neglecting your own physical and emotional needs to do so..
Remember what they tell you when you board a plane: if there is an emergency, make sure to put on your own oxygen mask before trying to help others.
Life often works the same way. If you try to resolve others’ problems and fulfill their needs to the detriment of your own, it’s a disservice to you both. You are responsible for your health and happiness first. Once you fill your own cup with strength, love, security, and everything else you need, you’ll be much more ready to help others do the same.
2. Be Helpful, Not Transactional
So you’ve filled up your own cup, and you’re ready to save the world, huh? Good for you (protip: you can read that statement sarcastically or not, and either way, I meant it). When you commit to treating the world better, the world treats you better right back. That’s all there is to it. When you make an effort to make things easier for people, good things gravitate toward you.
But don’t be transactional about it. Don’t help others only to get something “back “from them. Being helpful is not a matter of tit for tat or collecting favors. It’s about the straightforward concept of helping because you can. Being kind-hearted and generous is contagious, and it spreads quickly. The good you put out there will undoubtedly come around to you and others, not out of any force of indebtedness, but rather as an inevitable result of you being a helper and lifting and inspiring those who can later support others.
3. Stop Fighting Time, It’s a Friend
I’m pretty sure that we’ve been celebrating birthdays entirely wrong. The focus of an adult birthday celebration always seems to be poking fun at the person’s age.
Why is the focus never on the new experiences lived, wisdom gained, or new life lessons learned as we add each ring to our tree?
Everything good gets better with time invested – personal growth, whiskey, money, YOU. And yet we treat the passage of time as an enemy. We look at each birthday as nothing more than a step closer to running out of time. But the total amount of time we’ll have in our lives never changes. All that changes is how much of it you have seen and experienced and how much is still unknown. Time is indeed a limited resource, but it never passes by without giving us something new along the way.
4. Look Under Every Rock
Life lessons don’t only come from high-powered motivational speakers, sweet-awesome blogs with sweet-awesome anvil logos, or serene old grandparents in rocking chairs. Inspiration and opportunities for growth are all around if you open yourself up to the possibilities.
If your mind and heart are open, you can find new perspectives (and controversial life lessons) in some of the most unexpected places – from a child with a uniquely untainted view of the world to a tip on the back of a cereal box, or even from Star Wars. So let go of your preconceptions of institutional wisdom, and start embracing unexpected life lessons and new opportunities to think, feel, and discover.
5. Get Weird and Stay Weird
At the risk of sounding like the moral of every 90s-00s era Disney Channel movie, what’s so great about being normal? Have you looked around at normal people lately? Most of them are struggling, and almost none are having any fun.
We’re all looking for our version of a life of abundance, fulfillment, and joy. Now show me the normies who have that. How can you aspire to a life above and beyond the ordinary while limiting yourself to its narrow parameters?
Wherever you look online, you can find an endless supply of life lessons, hot protips, and quippy advice on how to live your life. But after a while, it all starts to sound the same: wake up early, drink plenty of water, be grateful, make mistakes, and so on. But what about the weird stuff? What about the crucial lessons in life that don’t fit into a Pinterest quote?
Of course, staying hydrated and learning from your failures is a great way to live your life, but sometimes there’s more to it than that. Sometimes you need to put on your weirdest hat, walk on the ceiling, and look at things upside down for a little while for a new perspective on a happy, beautiful life.
19 Weird Life Lessons for a Happier Life
1. Put Yourself First
Many struggle with the idea of putting themselves before others. After all, no one wants to be selfish. But there’s a galaxies-wide gap between making yourself a priority in your life and being problematically selfish. Fortunately, that gap leaves plenty of room for you to love others and show them compassion. It just means not neglecting your own physical and emotional needs to do so..
Remember what they tell you when you board a plane: if there is an emergency, make sure to put on your own oxygen mask before trying to help others.
Life often works the same way. If you try to resolve others’ problems and fulfill their needs to the detriment of your own, it’s a disservice to you both. You are responsible for your health and happiness first. Once you fill your own cup with strength, love, security, and everything else you need, you’ll be much more ready to help others do the same.
2. Be Helpful, Not Transactional
So you’ve filled up your own cup, and you’re ready to save the world, huh? Good for you (protip: you can read that statement sarcastically or not, and either way, I meant it). When you commit to treating the world better, the world treats you better right back. That’s all there is to it. When you make an effort to make things easier for people, good things gravitate toward you.
But don’t be transactional about it. Don’t help others only to get something “back “from them. Being helpful is not a matter of tit for tat or collecting favors. It’s about the straightforward concept of helping because you can. Being kind-hearted and generous is contagious, and it spreads quickly. The good you put out there will undoubtedly come around to you and others, not out of any force of indebtedness, but rather as an inevitable result of you being a helper and lifting and inspiring those who can later support others.
3. Stop Fighting Time, It’s Your Friend
I’m pretty sure that we’ve been celebrating birthdays entirely wrong. The focus of an adult birthday celebration always seems to be poking fun at the person’s age.
Why is the focus never on the new experiences lived, wisdom gained, or new life lessons learned as we add each ring to our tree?
Everything good gets better with time invested – personal growth, whiskey, money, YOU. And yet we treat the passage of time as an enemy. We look at each birthday as nothing more than a step closer to running out of time. But the total amount of time we’ll have in our lives never changes. All that changes is how much of it you have seen and experienced and how much is still unknown. Time is indeed a limited resource, but it never passes by without giving us something new along the way.
4. Look Under Every Rock
Life lessons don’t only come from high-powered motivational speakers, sweet-awesome blogs with sweet-awesome anvil logos, or serene old grandparents in rocking chairs. Inspiration and opportunities for growth are all around if you open yourself up to the possibilities.
If your mind and heart are open, you can find new perspectives (and controversial life lessons) in some of the most unexpected places – from a child with a uniquely untainted view of the world to a tip on the back of a cereal box, or even from Star Wars. So let go of your preconceptions of institutional wisdom, and start embracing unexpected life lessons and new opportunities to think, feel, and discover.
5. Get Weird and Stay Weird
At the risk of sounding like the moral of every 90s-00s era Disney Channel movie, what’s so great about being normal? Have you looked around at normal people lately? Most of them are struggling, and almost none are having any fun.
We’re all looking for our version of a life of abundance, fulfillment, and joy. Now show me the normies who have that. How can you aspire to a life above and beyond the ordinary while limiting yourself to its narrow parameters?
Let me ask you this: Who have you ever looked up to or idolized in your life because they were just so freaking impressively normal? What life lessons did you learn from that person?
Embrace your quirks, don’t hide from them. Bring your whole self to everything you do, and have fun! What spice will you add to your unique recipe for a beautiful and fulfilling life? When you find that spice, don’t give it up because others tell you it’s not normal – it’s not supposed to be. Don’t let an insecure status quo take away the unique flavor that makes you you.
6. Slow Down to Speed Up
Sometime in the late 18th century, the world suddenly started moving a lot faster. Modern machines streamlined production and drove us headlong into the industrial revolution. And, you guys, I’m beginning to think it wasn’t the best idea.
Two hundred fifty years later, we find ourselves in a world obsessed with velocity. We have countless productivity experts telling you how to optimize your life. I would know; I cosplay as one of them all the time. But, my friend, sometimes the best way to go faster is to slow down first. Make more room for your thoughts — more room for yourself. Sprinting in a straight line nonstop isn’t always the fastest way from A to B. Take time to stretch, feel, think, plan, and breathe. You’ll quickly find yourself happier, healthier, and getting to where you want to be faster than ever before.
7. Do It Yourself
Our world is full of experts with increasingly specialized skillsets, which is fantastic. As a collective human race, we wouldn’t be able to build all we have without specialized skillsets. But on an individual level, we need to counterbalance that trend in order to preserve our own happiness.
Diverse skills, a do-it-yourself attitude, and self-sufficient habits open countless doors. Not least among them are improved physical and mental health, sustainability, and the building blocks of financial independence. On top of all that, a self-sufficient mindset often leads to unexpected personal and professional opportunities.
8. Half-Assing is the Worst Amount of Assing
What are you half-assing in your life right now? And more importantly, why? If you’ve lost interest, hit a roadblock, or started doubting yourself, you’re at a turning point. If this thing is something you truly still want and believe is suitable for your life, stand up, double-check your shoelaces, and throw yourself into it.
On the other hand, if you find yourself half-committing to something because you’ve lost passion, your plans have changed, or you never wanted to be there in the first place, it’s okay to admit that and divest yourself from it.
Everything worth doing is worth doing enthusiastically and in your favorite outfit. So stop half-assing the things you don’t want to be doing, and save as much ass as you can for the parts of your life that matter to you.
9. Give Up Sometimes
And on that note, all this “never give up” kind of advice could do with a pinch of nuance. If we’re talking about going after your dreams and losing courage when you stumble, then yeah. Absolutely. Get back up, punk; you can do this.
But if “stumbling” means realizing that something isn’t really what you want, or it’s not the best fit for what you do best, then GIVE UP. Do it right now. Quit today. You’re a whole-ass person with a unique suite of skills, passion, and value to offer. I don’t want to waste you on something that doesn’t fulfill you or draw out all you have to offer, and you shouldn’t either. It’s okay to give up if that means getting you closer to where you want to be. It’s one of the best things you can do for your future self.
10. Be a Great Loser
They give most of us the seed of this life lesson when we grow up. But then no one waters it, and it slowly dies. “Don’t be a sore loser,” they say. Winning isn’t everything.
The real lesson is a step beyond that: be a great loser.
Allow yourself to feel some of the pain of things not turning out how you wanted. And then turn it around and enjoy the opportunity of it. The chance to learn, grow, show grace in the face of adversity, and become a better you. Accept defeat with courage, and be proud of the lessons you learn. These are signs you’re evolving. Great losers grow faster and feel a stronger sense of self-confidence. Plus, they’re way more fun to have around at game night.
11. Work the Hardest When Nobody’s Watching
From childhood onward, we learn to seek external praise for our efforts. Study extra hard for the test to get that big red “100%” on top. Go the extra mile for that client, so your boss will pat you on the back and say, “well done, Jenkins. Capital work on that report.” I don’t know; it’s been a while since I’ve worked in an office.
But you’re not doing it for them. I know it, and you know it. External validation is nice, but it doesn’t give you the substance you need. It’s like dessert – a nice reward, but it won’t fill you up. We can only do that ourselves. So keep your head down and work hard when nobody’s watching. Free yourself from others’ judgment. Work to earn your own respect first.
12. There IS Such a Thing as Too Prepared
I’ll admit it: I’m calling myself out here. I’m a planner, a preparer. Lists, schedules, and spreadsheets are the glue that holds my life together. The point is that I know all about being prepared. But, unfortunately, it also means that I know, better than most, about being too prepared.
Preparation, strategy, and planning comprise a theme that shows up in nearly all conversations on improving life. But the planning stage can extend into the infinite, whereas our time does not. An excess of preparation comes at the cost of how much time and energy we spend actually doing. Of course, don’t throw strategy to the wind and dive into everything without looking. But in your preparation stage, build just enough of a plan to get started, and know when it’s time to go from 0 to 1.
13. Do Less
One thing that I humbly and honestly believe that every person on this blue and green Earth needs more of is nothing. And be careful not to misread that sentiment. I’m not saying that there’s nothing we need. On the contrary, there’s a whole lot that we all need more of. And right up in front of that list, along with love, independence, time, and laughter, is nothing.
Our lives are, in nearly every way, full. A typical person’s day has 100 things to do and 1,000 things that won’t make the cut. Their schedule is nonstop, their budget has no wiggle room, and their house is overwhelmed with “stuff.” There is so much beauty, wonder, and joy that a world like this affords us, but it also creates many new opportunities for stress, fear, anxiety, and overwhelm.
We can’t fix the problems of “too much” by adding more. The only remedy to this world of muchness is to balance some of it out with more nothingness — free space in life for its own sake. Create more happiness and freedom for yourself by striving for more negative space. You will feel your world and your spirit open up in response.
14. Celebrate Just Because You Can
Have you tried this “celebrating stuff” thing that all the kids are into these days? It’s quite a thing to experience. Holidays and birthdays are great (if you’re doing them right – see #3), but you don’t need to wait for landmark events to celebrate.
Give yourself the gift of joy for personal or professional milestones, minor occasions, or just simply surviving another day. Sometimes that’s a feat all on its own. So dim the lights, put on your favorite music, dance it out, and celebrate your life. You owe it to yourself.
If we’ve learned anything from the explosion of “gratitude” as a self-help topic these days, it’s that life gets better when you choose to enjoy it. It’s not the other way around. It’s a cycle: happiness influences better outcomes, which drives further satisfaction, but it’s still on you to keep that wheel spinning.
15. Speak Softly if You Want Them to Hear You
This world is loud, busy, and at times overwhelming. It’s a natural response to this environment to speak louder, more boldly, and more often to stand out above the din. As a result, nearly everyone does so, ironically serving only to further elevate the volume and chaos. In turn, we’ve all become even better at tuning out one another’s noise.
Make your words thoughtful, not loud, to get others’ attention. The world pays attention to a listener (and I mean a good listener; waiting restlessly for your turn to talk is not an improvement). When you listen to others wholly and honestly, you make them feel appreciated and heard. Attentive listening de-escalates the arms race that so many conversations become. It’s the cornerstone of healthy discussions. You’ll also see more value in what others say and have more chances to learn from them. On top of all this, people notice when conversations with you don’t feel like a competition. When talking to you helps people feel heard, it makes them much more interested in listening as well.
16. Let the Bad Feelings In
Your bad feelings are good feelings. You read that right. In fact, all of your feelings are good feelings. It’s just that some of them hurt, and some of them don’t.
Every emotion we feel helps us survive and thrive. Fear, shame, disappointment, grief, and anger are all tools of a complex feedback system. It’s so complex that we often pay therapists to help us decode it. The feelings that we typically view as “bad” are actually some of the greatest motivators we have for positive movement. You cannot turn a victim into a survivor without healthy fear; guilt and shame teach us using the library of our own mistakes; anger encourages us to overcome threats to our health and safety.
When you experience an emotion that hurts, don’t fight against it. Instead, listen. Listen for the message it’s giving you, draw on the power it lends you, and take whatever steps you need to take to get to a better place. Let your emotions in, accept them, and then let them go. The only bad feeling is one that overstays its welcome and causes undue pain.
17. If You Want it Done, Give it to the Busy Person
This one is a paraphrase from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The idea is that when you look for someone who can get things done, you’ll have a better chance of reliable results from someone who already has a lot on their plate and is already getting a lot done.
Funky, right? You might think it makes more sense, if you need someone’s help, to go to someone who seems to have more free time. Covey argues that those who have a lot going on are the people who are already motivated to get things done. Someone who doesn’t have a lot on their plate likely had just as many opportunities as the busy person but simply wasn’t as driven to pick it all up. In contrast, a person who gets things done knows when to say yes, and when to say no. And when you look around for someone you can rely on to get things done, start with the people who are already proving themselves.
18. Be a Maker
Speaking of people who get the job done, let’s talk about makers. Who are makers, you ask? Fair question, but you already know the answer—no tricks or elaborate concept life lessons here. Makers are people who make.
Everyone should have at least one pastime that taps into the infinite pool of human creativity. Any activity where you combine your enthusiasm and creative energy to make something is an excellent activity. Even a craft that may not look immediately “useful” from the outside can be an endless source of self-satisfaction, mental exercise, and constant reinforcement of a can-do attitude.
19. Stop Before You’re Done
And for the last of our weird, unconventional, controversial life lessons, stop before you’re done. Always leave them wanting more. Leave yourself wanting more, too. When you’re running out of steam and your initial motivation is fading, you may be better off stepping away to be more enthusiastic about coming back for next time. Pushing ourselves too far may feel productive and satisfying in the short term. Still, it can also build a negative association with that activity and lower our motivation for it in the future.
Don’t let a good thing run so long that it doesn’t feel like a good thing anymore. Just like we know to cut our losses when it’s time to move on, we should also know when to cut our winnings, step off stage, and always leave the crowd asking for…
Weird Life Lessons, Results That Make Sense
Endeavoring to be happy, healthy, successful, or change your life in any other way isn’t always easy or straightforward. While certain obvious steps may always help, recycling the same advice over and over again often doesn’t.
Building a life you love is a complex problem. It takes hard work, self awareness, and a creative, flexible approach. Sometimes you get stuck, and to break through, you need to try something you’ve never tried before, or to look at the obstacle from a whole new direction. Hopefully the weird and potentially controversial ideas here have helped you learn a valuable lesson or two. And if not, then we’ll just have to get a little weirder next time.
I really enjoyed reading this blog post. The practice of “letting the bad feelings in” has been one of the best life-changing strategies I learned about recently. Radical acceptance, specifically, works really well for me. If you just can’t change it, edit it, remove it or make it better, then breathe it in and own it. But only long enough to accept it as it is. And breathe it right back out again!
Yes! Radical acceptance is a really cool topic that I’ve been exploring lately, and there are definitely shades of that here. May be taking it on in greater depth in an upcoming post, stay tuned 🙂
Awesome list and so original, I like its easiness like music.
We have to put ourselves first without being selfish.
Such a lovely list..
Wow, well said. Thank you!
There are definitely some creatine life lessons on here that I haven’t heard before, but I like it. Lots of realistic advice instead of hyper-positive motivation that makes you feel like a failure.
I am so glad to hear this. As a lifelong “shoot for the moon” optimist, I’m always trying to balance myself out a bit with realism so that I can help lift people up without making them feel worse than they did before.
This is great Sam! I love how I can laugh while learning whenever I read your posts.
And once again you’ve hit very close to home for me on a lot of these things. Especially the one about it being possible to plan TOO much. I’m trying to get over this perfectionism habit and “start before I’m ready”. That’s how I ended up committing to 25 straight days of blogging this month. I’m only a few days in, but already I can see it’s doing me good.
Thanks Sam!
Thank you Clarissa, I do my best to take the fun and enthusiasm I feel for this stuff and try to share it out, so I’m always glad to hear I can make someone laugh 🙂
And I’m with you on that one. Over-planning and under-actioning is something I’ve been giving a lot of attention to lately, as I continue to see new ways that a certain sort of helpful anxiety can really get in the way of progress sometimes. I hope that your 25 day project helps you figure out some new things about yourself and your working style!
I like these tips on making your life better. I feel like a lot of these are not that controversial – really nothing wrong with putting yourself first. I feel like time can be a pro and con. If you can benefit from waiting, I prefer it being as long as possible. I definitely agree with how it is ok to give up sometimes. You can’t always win. Choose your battles. I love all of these different tips!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Nancy ✨
Thanks Nancy, I suppose I’m glad to hear that you find these uncontroversial 🙂 And I agree, we have some of these hang-ups about putting your own wellbeing first, but if done in a healthy and constructive way, it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself, as well as those around you.