29 Life Lessons People Learn Too Late

No matter how high or difficult the climb, I’m a true believer that we go through life’s ups and downs to learn something. Everything happens for a reason. I am thankful that I’ve learned 29 life lessons by my age, before my habits become too hard to break, and before I find myself stuck in a lifestyle too difficult to change. Life is about where we are in the present but we should always stop to look back, and reflect on the lessons we learned to get there.

1. Fear gets you nowhere. Take every enriching opportunity that comes your way.
2. A good decision is one that resonates with your values.
3. Work can be meaningful.
4. Say yes to the things you want to do and no to the things you don’t want to do.
5. If you’re not happy, stop complaining and change it. Choose to be happy.
6. Travel is the best education. You can learn everything else from the internet (and Khan Academy)
7. Do what you want to do, not what you think you should do.
8. Follow your gut. I did.
9. Making time is more important than making money.
10. Experiences are better than “things”.
11. In life, there is always a choice. See #5
12. Traditional education drives the status quo. My $30,000 student debt could be better put to use as a RTW ticket.
13. Life doesn’t begin at retirement.
14. Giving feels way better than receiving.
15. Negative people are not worth the attention. Surround yourself with positive people. They’re contagious.
16. Freedom is living on your own terms. See #4
17. Life is better simple. Focus on the things you love and let go of everything else.
18. A nine-to-five cubicle should be illegal.
19. Deferring happiness wastes time. Do something now to make it happen.
20. Change doesn’t happen staying in your comfort zone.
21. TV turns your brain to mush. Mainstream news turns your brain to mush.
22. More “things” doesn’t make you more happy.
23. Kids make better people than adults. Positive, carefree, and live in the present.
24. Surprisingly, the ‘get a degree-career-marriage-big house-then kids‘ routine is not mandatory.
25. We don’t actually need the things we’re supposed to have.
26. Decluttering your space makes you free (physically and mentally).
27. Your job should never be your priority. Happiness should be.
28. I’d rather not take advice from people living the conventional life.
29. Stress/worry/hate/anger are not productive. Spend energy positively.

Have you learned an important life lesson?

Cristina

A Canadian journalist turned blogger, Cristina is a 20-something food addict and traveller who traded in the conventional 9-5 to live life by her own terms. Her passion for Europe has taken her to more than 25 countries and 45 different cities. Her next chapter in travel is volunteering her way around the world. When she’s not eating, travelling or writing, she works as a Social Media and PR freelancer in Toronto.