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“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
CuriositiesMAY 10, 2025

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)

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Improving yourself to lead a genuinely more purposeful, healthier, and happier life isn’t a sprint—it's a marathon. The smallest things you do every single day and the tiniest habits you have compound very quickly over time. The question is if you want to overhaul everything about yourself, where exactly do you start? Well, the internet is full of clever suggestions.
Inspired by user u/CookieNegative9860, the members of the AskReddit community revealed the things that they’ve done that have massively improved their quality of life. Scroll down to read their recommendations, and don’t forget to take notes—you might just read something that you didn’t know you needed.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the viral thread, u/CookieNegative9860. They were kind enough to share their thoughts on improving our lives, including how the tiniest changes can snowball into perceptible improvements. You'll find our full interview with them as you read on.

#1

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Getting a cat.
127points

In our personal experience, the biggest non-negotiable areas that you should prioritize in terms of your time, energy, and money are:

  1. Spending time with your loved ones and focusing on positive relationships;
  2. Getting lots of movement and finding fun ways to exercise so you don’t live a sedentary life;
  3. Eating a healthy and nutritious diet while avoiding ultra-processed foods so you live longer and have more energy to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way;
  4. Becoming financially literate, earning more than you spend, having a healthy budget, and saving and/or investing a portion of your income for the sake of your and your family’s future;
  5. Doing purposeful, meaningful things at your job, in your hobbies, and while volunteering.

#2

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Quitting drinking.

Lost 50 lbs. Skin cleared up, and I look younger. It's probably because my body is functioning as it should. Eating healthier also has helped. I'm 33

I will have a year sober on May 14.

I'm still figuring out how to make new new friends whose lives don't revolve around drinking. It's lonely, but it's still better than the utter despair of alcoholism.
94points

#3

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Escaping the Jehovah's Witnesses Cult!
90points

It’s very important to look at what you eat, as well as what food items you avoid. The BBC warns that based on a recent study done in eight countries and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, people who eat lots of ultra-processed foods (also known as UPFs) may be at greater risk of passing away early.

Lead study author Dr. Eduardo Nilson said that UPFs affected people’s health “because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients, including colorants, artificial flavors and sweeteners, emulsifiers, and many other additives and processing aids.”

#4

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Quit smoking (Edit: it’s been 10y now and most upvotes I ever got for anything, thank you very much).
86points

#5

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Understanding that working with someone smarter than you is a privilege and an opportunity to learn and hone your own skills, not a threat.
82points

#6

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
When my kid comes home from school, putting my phone in a drawer and not touching it again until he is asleep in bed.
75points

The BBC adds that “UPFs tend to contain more than five ingredients, which are not usually found in home cooking, such as additives, sweeteners, and chemicals to improve the food's texture or appearance. Some experts say it's not known why UPFs are linked to poor health—there is little evidence it's down to the processing itself and could be because these foods contain high levels of fat, salt, and sugar.”

#7

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
In my early twenties I learned it was okay to say "I don't know" instead of pretending I knew what someone was talking about. People are excited to share what they know. It's such a simple thing that led to a lot of professional and social growth for me.
74points

#8

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Getting diagnosed and medicated.

Sometimes you can't just bootstrap yourself into a happy, productive person.
57points

#9

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Buying a dishwasher...


Idk a single person who enjoys doing dishes, but I had no clue just how much I would enjoy having one. Takes ~ 5 minutes of my time to load the thing, and it does the dishes for me, while I watch TV/game lol.
55points

The NOVA classification of ultra-processed food includes things such as:

  1. cakes, pastries, and biscuits;
  2. crisps;
  3. supermarket bread;
  4. sausages, burgers, and hot dogs;
  5. instant soups, noodles, and desserts;
  6. chicken nuggets;
  7. fish fingers;
  8. fruit yogurts and fruit drinks;
  9. margarines and spreads;
  10. baby formula.

#10

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
I didn’t delete my accounts but I removed social media apps from my phone and I started to ignore most political “news”. I’m so much happier and productive.
55points

#11

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Quitting that toxic job.
54points

#12

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Stopped putting so much weight on what other people thought.
53points

The author of the thread said that taking an incremental approach to changing your life, when you're unsure of what to do, is probably best.

"Please just take one small step. It probably looks insignificant, but just take one small step toward improving your life. You'd be surprised how one tiny step, one tiny action, can snowball into bigger changes," u/ CookieNegative9860 told Bored Panda.

"It's the momentum that counts, this little shift in your life can lead to miles of progress you never thought was possible."

#13

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Moving out of my hometown. I never felt like where I was from was home. Was never comfortable. Kept hitting hurdles trying to come up and be better. But once I left my entire life trajectory changed for the better.
52points

#14

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Divorce. My ex was such a drain on my life. I had GI issues, skin issues, anxiety, depression. It didn't change overnight (well, except for the GI issues) but has steadily improved since I left him. I was over functioning, taking care of him before myself, and even had a cancer scare + emergency surgery which was the wakeup call I needed to get out.

He cheated repeatedly, belittled me, was controlling. Loving myself enough to leave has made every second of my life more worth living.
52points

#15

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Learning how to cook like a chef. Went to a community college culinary program, and it was hands down the most useful investment of my time. I won't work in restaurants, not my cup of tea, but being able to think and cook like a chef has been a very net positive skill.
Report
50points

The author said that they're very happy about the attention that their question got online. "I'm really grateful how many people took the time to share their experiences, giving thoughtful advice to strangers on the internet, it shows how much we can learn from one another when we speak honestly," they said.

They also opened up about the inspiration behind their thread. "Honestly, that day I was just bored, reflecting on couple of things I regretted doing in the past and a few decisions I was proud of, that got me wondering what others might say if I asked this question, so I decided to post it."

We asked u/ CookieNegative9860 about their thoughts as to why the question was so relatable to so many people online. "I think the reason why it resonated so widely with internet users is because, at a fundamental level, we are all not that different from each other. Most of us have made mistakes that we regret and done some things that turned our lives around for the better," they said.

#16

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Antidepressants. Thought I was just lazy and perpetually exhausted 24/7. Stopped listening to people in my circle who said “it was normal given my circumstances” to feel this way and spoke to my doctor.
Wish I would’ve done this a decade ago, I feel so much better now.
49points

#17

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Transitioning, becoming a girl saved my life.
47points

#18

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
1: HRT …I’m 65+ yo and started back in March. I haven’t felt this good in years.
2: Kicking those 2 bully siblings out of my life… shoulda done it back in 1993. …hey, it’s never too late to protect your peace ☮️.
46points

"I believe there is something very human and fulfilling about helping others, even if it's just by sharing a small piece of advice, and I believe that thread became a space where people were open, kind, and generous, helping others and that is what made it so powerful."

They said that they "absolutely did not expect" the thread to get so much attention. "I made the post, and a couple hours later, it had thousands of comments, I ended up spending hours reading them, and even taking notes in my notebook, I truly appreciate everyone who took the time to share their insight, and experiences about what improved their life."

#19

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Adopting a kitten!
45points

#20

“What Improved Your Quality Of Life So Much, You Wish You Did It Sooner?” (50 Answers)
Paying attention to my diet and eating healthy, working out regularly, stretching. My physical and mental health has improved drastically, I didn't even know how crappy I felt at the time and it's only in hindsight I can see how awful my gorging and sloth made me feel.
44points
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