What small piece of advice you would like to give that isn't heard enough ?
What small piece of advice you would like to give that isn't heard enough ?
Computer related:
- Don't be your family computer savy guy, you just found yourself a bunch payless jobs...
- Long desks are cool and all, but the amount the space they occupy is not worth it.
- Block work related phone calls at weekends, being disturbed at your leisure for things that could be resolved on Mondays will sour your day.
Buying stuff:
- There is expensive because of brand and expensive because of material quality, do your research.
- Buck buying is underrated, save yourself a few bucks, pile that toilet paper until the ceiling is you must.
- Second hand/broken often means never cleaned, lubricated or with easy fixable problem.
Buying second hand is underrated. I’ll often try buy something second hand first and just give it a good clean, I’ve saved loads like that.
Refurbished is not second hand. It’s an item that has been returned to the retailer for one reason or another and gone through thorough diagnosis for any existing issues and repaired. You can save money over “new” to buy something that you now know has been scrutinized. Sometimes there may be blemishes, but depending on the product that matters very little.
You can just change careers whenever. No one cares. When I was younger it seemed so set in stone like you learn a trade you're a plumber for life. Go to college your major is what you're doing for life. It's not true I knew a philosophy major that was working as an elevator engineer. Do HVAC for 20 years then do something else. It's fine
Most "rules of thumb" become awful advice when used indiscriminately.
People assign slightly different meanings to the same words. You need to acknowledge this to understand what they say.
Words also change meaning depending on the context.
When you still don't get what someone else said, it's often more useful to think that you're lacking a key piece of info than to assume that the other person does.
Hell is paved with good intentions. This piece of advice is popular, but still not heard enough.
Related to the above: if someone in your life is consistently rushing towards conclusions, based on little to no information, minimise the impact of that person in your life.
Have at least one recipe using leftovers of other recipes. It'll reduce waste.
Alcohol vinegar is bland, boring, and awful for cooking. But it's a great cleaning agent.
Identify what you need to keep vs. throw away. Don't "default" this indiscriminately, analyse it on a per case basis.
The world does not revolve around your belly button and nature won't "magically" change because of your feelings.
You can cultivate herbs in a backyard. No backyard? Flower pots. No flower pots? Old margarine pot. (Check which herbs grow well where you live.)
When you feel out of control in life, identify where you have agency and focus your efforts there.
I think my favorite allegory is the "We'll See Farmer".
Once upon a time, there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically, “you must be so sad.” “We’ll see,” the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it two other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “Not only did your horse return, but you received two more. What great fortune you have!” “We’ll see,” answered the farmer. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Now your son cannot help you with your farming,” they said. “What terrible luck you have!” “We’ll see,” replied the old farmer. The following week, military officials came to the village to conscript young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Such great news. You must be so happy!” The man smiled to himself and said once again. “We’ll see.”
Only time can yield the ramifications of an event. There is no luck, good or bad. Things happen. On balance, they are neither good nor bad, just events to be dealt with. Be patient and continue doing the best you are able to with any given circumstances. I have always tried to keep a goal in mind and move through life's circumstances in the vague direction of those goals. Things have happened that have ended up having positive impacts, and things have had negative. None of them were clear at the time and only in hindsight can I see which were which.
Read books to your toddlers
“proofread before submitting”
It's all class struggle.
You’re good enough. Start where you are.
I am a big fan of the advice CGP Grey gives regarding solutions.
Don’t pick the first solution that comes to mind for a problem, it is most likely the least effective.
When someone has had a health issue, ask the people around them how those people are doing. When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy, a person asked my mom specifically how she was doing. She hadn't really stopped to reflect on her own emotional state because she had been so focused on me. It was a great comfort to have someone guide her through thinking about herself.
Live a little. We'll all die at some point.
Water dripping? Don’t call a plumber yet. Get on your hands and knees and try to figure out exactly where the water is coming from. You might need a $5 part and 10 minutes watching a YouTube video instead of a $400 callout. The same concept applies for most things in a home or vehicle. But don’t screw around with electricity if you don’t know what you’re doing.
If you’re shopping around based on price, make sure you’re factoring in the cost of gas and your time. Driving an hour to save $5 actually costs you money.
Need to quickly determine if a caller is a scammer or legitimate? Just ask who they’re calling. If they don’t know your name, you can hang up immediately.
Maintain your things. All your things. If you use something until it’s no longer working, it has moved from inexpensive maintenance to expensive repair.
Always remember that on any given day several people are having a shitty day.
Learn to let things go, you're not special.
Don't believe the hype.
"A man's mind changed against his will is of the same opinion still."
The only argument you win is the one you avoid.
Life exists within the grey area that is constantly bombarded by polarized extremism. Don’t buy into the “all” mentality. Because in reality it’s always just “some.”
Put the seat of your toiled down before you flush if you don't want to end up with shit microparticles on your toothbrush.
"Don't do today what you can put off until tomorrow."
I know it sounds like procrastination, but it helps in particular with high stress jobs where things just keep piling on and priorities keep changing. Don't burn yourself out trying to get everything done today.
"Everyone has to start somewhere." and "You're one step ahead of the people who decide to stay on the couch."
This helps with just getting started, like if you are a beginner at the gym and intimidated by those fit people who look like they know what they're doing, or just going solo to a dance class for the first time. Or going on a hike and needing to take a lot of breaks. You're one step better than where you were before you went. At least now you have a starting point and you can only improve.
Also helps when it's cold and/or miserable outside because you know there will be a lot of people who decided to not go out, and you end up with a gym to yourself!
Merlin Mann has collected his version of such a list here: https://github.com/merlinmann/wisdom/blob/master/wisdom.md
I very much enjoy reading it from time to time, even if I disagree with some of the points.
There is expensive because of brand and expensive because of material quality, do your research.
If "do your research" means take a couple minutes to make sure there aren't glaring red flags about a purchase, then yeah that checks, but I see this phrase used as a more serious concept which just doesn't seem realistic given my experiences.
I feel like if you don't already know what to look for in your specific product of interest it's impossible to do research and have confidence. Like when I don't know where to start and try to research products through a search, I go through so much SEO bullshit in such a short timeframe that I have no confidence in anything I'm looking at, including the stuff that looks like it has a good chance of being legit. Maybe I can find a forum of some sort, but I'll need a way to tell that the users aren't just talking out of their asses (or bots, or paid sponsors). Major review sites are a mess.
The phrase "do your research" is way overstated, because someone who knows what they need to look at is already going to do research and is not the target audience. The time it takes to filter through all the nonsense and form a coherent opinion researching something from scratch is so enormous that it's hard for me to imagine someone actually doing that diligently for anything less expensive than a car. What actually happens is you just give up partway and make your best guess like you would have done in the first place. At that point your research has led you to seeing a bunch of ads and a few conflicting opinions. Yeah, that will influence your decision and possibly be helpful, but the benefits are marginal compared to the time investment, it's rarely worth more than a few minutes if it's not a major purchase.
Or maybe everyone else is a lot better at this than me and I'm making a fool out of myself by posting this.
Do stuff for other people and explain until they are like 20% there. Then let them do it themselves and gradually reduce your help.
Thats how my dad did it with a lot of stuff, and I learned so much. Saves you from "mansplaining", from doing free work, from being unempowering.
This makes people feel motivated and you can share your learning experience too, and maybe learn from theirs
A friend will tell you "ok you're about to date a serial murderer, I strongly suggest you reconsider but if you don't that's fine, it's your choice." A manipulator will tell you "NO YOU CANT SPEND TIME WITH THEM THEY LOOKED AT YOU FUNNY I FORBID YOU FROM BEING WITH THEM!!"
Your situation is going to be between those extremes: it's going to be more of one than the other, and you'll know which.
In no particular order:
Advice is usually worth (at most) what you pay for it.
The harshest lessons are about trusting the wrong person.
No one will have more words for you, than a lazy person who wants you to do something for them.
Judge weak people by their natures, and strong ones by their goals.
If possible, don't be poor. If you are though, be wary of following advice on this topic from people who have never been poor for an extended period.
When you feel like it's an easy one for once, it might be so but you'll still flunk it if you think so.
I really disagree with your secondhand comment. Buy more secondhand, less new! Cheaper, better for the environment, and you can find some cool things you wouldn't otherwise. I get nearly all my small kitchen appliances from thrift stores. Most people get them as like a wedding gift or something and then never use them, so they are practically new. All my clothes except underwear and socks are thrifted, most of my furniture, my dishes, most electronics... I love thrift stores.