Wisdom is learning from others’ mistakes”
As human beings, we all experience pain in life. The death of a loved one, messy break-ups, physical injuries, and disappointment with ourselves are just a few common examples. Sometimes pain is unavoidable. But here is the big idea: often pain is avoidable. Often pain we feel is just the culmination of a bunch of bad habits or practices that deep inside we know are going to cause us problems later down the line.
Unfortunately for many years the biggest lessons I learnt in life were from my own stupid mistakes. In fact, just today I have had to deal with some mess that stems from my one and only run in with the law when I was 17 (I am now 25). What then is the easiest way to avoid unnecessary pain? The quote at the beginning of this article says it all: learn from others’ mistakes.
The following are what I consider to be 25 ways in which people set themselves up to experience future pain. Many of them are common sense. One thing I have learnt, though, is that common sense does not necessarily translate to common practice. I have purposely not gone into much detail for each mistake as they are fairly self-explanatory. You will probably find yourself thinking of someone you know when you read each one. The question is, though, do any of these mistakes apply to you?
Health:
1. Smoking
2. Excessive drinking
3. Poor diet
4. Drug-taking
5. Failing to exercise
Financial:
6. Accumulating mountains of debt
7. Spending more than they earn
8. Not having an emergency fund
9. Leaving it too late to properly save/ invest for retirement
10. Lack of adequate protection (ie insurance) for their assets
Relationships:
11. Expecting their partner to change
12. Taking their partner for granted
13. Not discussing key issues (eg kids) before making a big commitment (ie marriage)
14. Just not being compatible (eg financially)
15. Using emotional blackmail
Career:
16. Poor presentation/ personal hygiene
17. Not being proactive
18. Laziness
19. Blaming others
20. Doing something they hate for a living
Life:
21. Dangerous driving
22. Negative thinking
23. Endless procrastination
24. Forgetting how to have fun
25. Not listening to good advice :)
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