Now that I’ve reached 40 (middle age, some might say), I thought I’d start distilling advice from the experience I’ve gained in half a lifetime. 🤷♀️
So I’ve jotted down 40 random pieces of advice (those that aren’t specifically advice will at least be little notes of wisdom 😇😅).
Like most of the advice, this was unsolicited… nevertheless, I insist on sharing it with you on my birthday.
No need to thank me. 😌
Here goes:
1. Only lend out those books you won’t mind never seeing again.
2. If someone tries to convince you that the service they’re pushing on you is not time-sharing, it’s because it’s time-sharing.
3. Don’t try to pull two LEGO pieces apart with a kitchen knife.
4. Learn to laugh at yourself.
5. Write down 3 things you’re grateful for every day. It’s the cheapest therapy I know.
6. Dose sarcasm. In most situations, it’s an armor we wear, disguised as humor.
7. Work better, not harder.
8. Replace shower gel with moisturizing soap.
9. Keep a notebook and pen on your bedside table. Sometimes the best ideas come between sleeps.
10. Be kind to others.
11. Be even kinder to yourself.
12. Make two lists: one with the things that rob you of energy, the other with the things that give you energy. Stop doing the items on the first list. Start doing everything on the second one.
13. Almost everything will work again if you restart it or turn it off and wait a few minutes. Including you.
14. Develop your emotional intelligence. 80 percent of success in almost any area depends on our ability to deal with people.
15. Show confidence. Even if you don’t feel it, fake it. No one will know the difference.
16. Don’t take everything so seriously. Relax and unwind. With the exception of life and death situations, nothing is as important as it first appears.
17. Be bold and brave! We regret the things we didn’t do more than the things we did that didn’t go as we would have liked.
18. Take radical responsibility for your emotional state. Don’t delegate to others the power to determine how you feel.
19. Make a list of the things you’re afraid of. Ask yourself what you would do if the fear wasn’t there. Write down your answers. Do what you wrote down.
20. Nobody travels alone. Always be grateful for the support you receive from others.
21. Recognize that “There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Shakespeare wrote it, and that’s basically it.
22. Assume that other people are well-intentioned towards you.
23. The important thing is the journey, not the destination. (My children taught me this one)
24. The most exciting journey we will take in life is to discover who we are and what makes us happy.
25. Assume that you belong in every room you enter and every place you are, instead of trying to fit in.
26. Make a list of the experiences you want to have over the next three years and post it somewhere you’ll read it every day.
27. Don’t have expectations about others. When it’s important, make commitments instead.
28. Answer “No way!” (not exactly with this choice of words!) to all requests and invitations whose response is not an enthusiastic “Let’s do it!”
29. Listen twice as much as you speak.
30. Send flowers (or another gift) to a friend as a thank you or just because.
31. Don’t hesitate to invest money in things that make your life easier or improve yourself.
32. Only eat as much news as you need. What’s important will reach you anyway.
33. Try to learn at least one new thing every day, whether through reading, taking a course or researching some curiosity.
34. Be aware of the language you use to talk to yourself. Your mind can’t tell the difference between truth and lies and will believe anything you repeat. So repeat phrases that empower you.
35. Surround yourself with friends who support you when you need it, but who also know how to celebrate your successes with you.
36. Learn to live with your humanity. Vulnerability, which we so often try to hide, is a superpower.
37. Become someone who helps others succeed.
38. Learn to forgive. Read this one again. Maybe one more time?
39. After all, there are only 39 (no kidding, there were at least 100!), but #40 is up to you:
what advice would you leave me for the new decade? 😄