7 Crucial Life Lessons Most People Learn Too Late
Have you ever asked yourself what you can do better to avoid regrets and pain in the later stages of life?
I surely did. Many times I wondered what most people regret when the end is in sight. After reading more than 5 books about it, speaking to at least thrice as many people, and making some of their mistakes myself, I can tell you what you should avoid to live a happier life without regrets.
Here are 7 crucial life lessons people learn too late in life.
Change is inevitable
“The only constant in life is change.” — Heraclitus
It’s not that we just discovered it.
But still, most people fight change.
However, change is the only way forward.
And you know that, too.
When I hit a wall with being close-minded and stubborn, my ex dumped me. I was grounded. But it was the best thing that could happen to me.
Her breaking up meant: “Boy, you need to change.”
Without her, I wouldn’t have realized it.
Everyone has similar experiences. Not only break-ups but also major changes in life like becoming parents.
My old flatmate became a father. Without having any idea what to do and what not. He needed to change.
Yes, life throws curveballs.
But if you take on the challenge, you can hit them home.
Every. Single. Time.
It’s a mindset, not a talent. When change is an inevitable part of life, don’t fight it. Embrace it.
Change is your opportunity to become a better human being.
Financial education is key
“Academic qualifications are important and so is financial education. They’re both important, and schools are forgetting one of them.” — Robert Kiyosaki
It’s never too early and still not too late to learn about money and what to do with it. Unfortunately, neither the US nor German nor most other schools will teach it.
Instead, they’ll teach you some math and leave the rest up to you.
What does this look like?
I once met a girl, who told me her ex-bf thinks you can simply take out as much money as you want when having a credit card.
That’s the level we’re dealing with!
Most have no idea how to use their money the right way.
They don’t even know that time management is the first step in getting wealthier.
It’s up to us to learn something about finances.
Not the Wall Street crap, because you don’t have to and definitely shouldn’t become the next Jordan Belfort. But you should know the consequences when living on credit.
You should know how to invest money to avoid it getting eaten by inflation.
Financial education can even become your first step into Entrepreneurship because you suddenly understand renting out your time is a bad idea. Especially if you want to become rich.
Because of that, take a look at what others say. Learn to understand the relevant factors. Keep learning, trying, and improving.
Financial education isn’t an option, it’s a necessity to make the most of your life.
Mental health matters
“Your mental health is everything — prioritize it. Make the time like your life depends on it because it does.” — Mel Robbins
Most people treat mental (and physical) health as an option.
They overuse their mental credit until they’re burned out.
I once dated a girl, who had a friend that worked as a consultant. Although he was the same age, he already had several mental breakdowns, because of the pressure he felt at work.
I know he’s not the only one.
Yes, you could argue people get softer nowadays.
But you could also argue that people become more confident in telling that something is wrong, nowadays.
Whatever it might be, your mental health is important.
Don’t treat it like an option. Treat it like a priority.
There’s no prize in delaying it.
Take constant care of yourself by meditating, journaling, and if necessary seeking out help. Go the extra mile for your mental health.
It’s worth it because:
Without mental health, there’s no future to enjoy.
Failure is part of success
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
There’s no such thing as overnight success.
Yes, even if most people try to make you believe it.
Every single successful entrepreneur failed many times before.
There’s no exclusion.
It’s your resilience to failure that makes you successful eventually.
Look at people like Eve Arnold, who puts in the work every single day. She’s been writing on the internet for 3 years to become as successful as she is right now.
Do you know what that means?
She wrote hundreds of articles, getting no applause and no comments at all.
That’s what I call resilience.
Failure is a vital part of the process. Because you realize, you can do better. If looked at from the right angle, it’s the best motivator there is.
The soccer team FC Bayern Munich was in the UCL final in 2012. In their own arena, in Munich, they failed. Although they’ve been the better team, they lost to Chelsea London after penalties.
Only to win the triple the next year.
Because they accepted failure, learned from it, and improved on it.
Failure is vital.
Remember: without failing, we’d never have learned to walk. Don’t be afraid of failing. Instead, embrace it.
Failure isn’t the problem, giving up is.
Relationships require work
“There’s no perfect relationship. All relationships are work. If you put in the work, you’ll reap the rewards.” — Jesse Metcalfe
Relationships aren’t just working.
They need constant effort, love, time, communication, and tolerance.
At the end of their lives, most old people regret that they’ve invested too little in their relationships. Laying on the deathbed, they realize they should have fostered better relationships with friends, family, and others.
Relationships are complex and humans are changing. That’s why you can’t set and forget a relationship. It might work for a short period of time, but at last, you’ll get the bill.
I learned that early on. Friends quit our friendship because I was investing too little. And although it was hard at that time, it helped me to realize that it’s on me (too) to invest in a relationship.
Invest in your relationships to make them a long-term success.
Life isn’t fair
“Life is not fair, it never was and it is now and it won’t ever be. Do not fall into the trap. The entitlement trap, of feeling like you’re a victim. You are not.” — Matthew McConaughey
Life’s not a game in which everybody gets the same resources, tools, and strategies. This starts with the body you get, the family and country you were born in, and the environment that will shape you during your adolescence.
Does that mean you should give up straight away?
Of course not.
But it means that you need to understand that life’s not fair.
There’ll always be bigger fish in the pond. And there’ll always be smaller fish in the pond.
It doesn’t matter.
What matters, is that you make the most of what you got. Because if you do that, you’ll be fine.
Sometimes, it’s important to remember that.
Four years ago, I made my dream a reality, working as a writer, whenever and wherever I want. I was happy.
Soon, I realized that others made more money than me, working even less. Instead of working on myself, I thought that was unfair.
It brought me nowhere, good.
Only when I realized I did myself more harm than good with this attitude, I focused on myself. I worked on expanding my knowledge and achieving the next level.
Stay positive and resilient, and focus only on what’s in your control. Everything else doesn’t matter. Give your best and then let things fall in place.
Accept that life isn’t fair, but make the most of yours.
Self-love is essential
“The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” — Steve Maraboli
It’s simple: if you don’t love yourself, no one else can.
Yet, most people don’t understand that.
I was no better. It took me a long time, to understand that nobody could love me if I didn’t love myself.
I would go the extra mile to make people love me, only to realize that they’d cross me every time, to make their own lives better.
Then something funny happened: when I made myself a priority, people started applauding me for that.
People appreciate others that take care of themselves.
In the most obvious way, it’s about the looks. We simply like looking at pretty people.
Another obvious way is status. We appreciate people with a high status because they’ve taken care of themselves when it comes to money and time.
In a less obvious way, it’s about health. Because we appreciate healthy people for their youth and fitness.
But when it comes to love, let me tell you that you can’t be loved if you don’t love yourself.
You were given this body, soul, and mind. Respect it and even love it. Why? Because you have the chance to live a great life.
Enable yourself to do so with self-love.
To summarize, here are the 7 crucial life lessons people learn too late in life:
- change is inevitable
- financial education is key
- mental health matters
- failure is part of success
- relationships require work
- life isn’t fair
- self-love is crucial
