Have you ever had the feeling “If I had known, I would have never done this”?
It’s awful right?
I have experienced this in my life a few times.
Luckily I have learnt from my mistakes and created some life lessons from them.
I want to share with you some life lessons.
Perhaps you will laugh at some.
However, I thought it would be fun to share them anyway.
And who knows, perhaps they will help you too.
So, without further ado, here are my life lessons!
- Whenever you move to a new place, make sure that you always have food, water, soap, and toilet paper in your accommodation. These are important products that you will need at all times.
- When you travel, make sure that you have some dollars with you.
- Charge the battery of your phone before you go to bed, and carry a power bank with you for longer travels.
- Most of the things you fear only exist in your head. People are too absorbed in their own lives to care much about what others are doing. You fight the worst battles in your mind.
- Make sure that you sleep 8 hours every day, and go to bed and wake up at the same time. Consistency is key.
- No screens for at least an hour before you go to bed.
- Exercise at least 30 minutes every day.
- Floss before you go to bed.
- Trust your nose.
- Calling someone is better than sending an email if you want to get things done.
- Be punctual.
- Don’t wait until the last minute to do something.
- If you want to create a new habit then take small consistent actions. Choose a fixed moment in the day in which you will perform this new action and start as small as possible. The kaizen method is a good starting point if you want to read more about this.
- Put a fixed amount of your income in your savings account and index funds every month.
- Spend a summer in a foreign country and do a summer school to learn a new language. It will be one of the most enriching experiences in your life. I can personally recommend the summer school of the University of Toulouse.
- Never go (grocery) shopping on an empty stomach.
- Parisians don’t smile.
- Never plan a business activity with a French person between 12:00 and between 14:00. They have lunch then.
- If you are like me then you probably like sunshine. In fact, people report something called a winter depression because of the absence of the sun. Plan your holidays accordingly to when sunshine is absent in your country. In the Netherlands, sunshine is most absent from November until January, so it would be better to not be there during those months. Have a look at the sunshine per country overview.
- Test things before putting it out to the world.
- Sleeping in a completely dark bedroom is amazing. Humans sleep a lot better in environments that are completely dark. Buy curtains that completely block any sunshine, and be mindful that no light enters through the edges. It would be wise to invest in a custom build solution that blocks all light.
- Check your alarm before you go to bed.
- Check your website every month for broken links.
- Every month you should pretend to be a user of your website, use it, and see what you learn.
- Check your work to fix mistakes. Yes you made a mistake. Go check it and find out.
- Things break. Get used to it.
- Make backups of important things.
- The time we have is limited. Become aware of the nonsense in your life and cut it. Spend your time doing the things that you really want to.
- You are much more likely to regret not doing something than you are to regret doing something. Go out and do it!
- Become aware of what tempts you to do bad or unhealthy things and cut that out of your life. In my case I know that I could reach for sweets rather than cooking if given the choice. To avoid this I don’t purchase any sweets so that I am not tempted. This leads to more healthy meals being made and consumed. Another one is anything related to technology, news, or social media. I have put a time limit on my smartphone on how long I can use internet, Instagram, and read the news. I have a Chrome extension that I turn on when I work that limits websites that I visit often. I don’t want to have my smartphone in my bedroom and turn off all devices after 22:00. The best way to win the fight against temptation is to not have to fight at all.
- Be clear in your communication with people. Share the good things, but also the bad things. People can’t read your mind. If you like something about someone then share that. Giving someone a genuine compliment is a beautfil thing. If something is bothering you then share that too. Frustration can build up and burst if not let go early. So share what you want to share. Do it for you and for them.
- Don’t eat oysters.
- Don’t use slashes in file names. In fact, don’t use slashes for naming anything digitally.
