"You live and you learn" is arguably the most common expression to justify mistakes. Yet, mistakes, regret, and life lessons are co-dependent. Consider it one of the life lessons learned the hard way, but the most genuine route to wisdom is making mistakes, also known as the trial and error method. Thus, feeling regret for things done wrong or not done at all is often the outcome. Yet, sometimes it's possible to forestall a few things we'd regret later by simply listening and hearing one another.
It's said that when people are offering you good life advice, it's really just them talking to their past self. Any good advice often comes from personal experiences and hard lessons learned from it. A recent thread on AskReddit revealed the many important life lessons individuals often learn the hard way. User Professional_Lab7394 asked, "What should one do in their 20s to avoid regrets in their 30s and 40s?" In this honest thread with over 6k comments, the r/askreddit community shared the biggest regrets in life that could have been prevented.
Below, we've gathered some of the best answers from the thread, sharing some of life's biggest regrets and the lessons that came with them. Do you agree with any of them? Let us know by giving it an upvote. Also, what's your take on the above question? Could some of your biggest regrets have been avoided if you'd done something differently earlier in life? Share your opinion in the comments.
#61
"Learn good financial planning, start setting yourself up for retirement."
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11points
#62
"Make some mistakes, you’ll never be in a better position to recover from them, and they will teach you valuable things about yourself and the world."
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11points
#63
"Start therapy sooner. Therapy is about maintenance, like an oil change. Don’t wait for your lowest breaking point to seek it out."
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11points
#64
"If you go to college, work while you go to school. Yes, this is less fun. Also, paid internships can pay well and get you job offers. I work in tech and hire interns all the time. They have fun, learn a lot, and make ~$30 per hour. About 1/2 of them get job offers. Full-time students generally work 20 hours during the school year and 40 hours in the summer or if doing a part-time semester. It's a great way to pay for school. If you do it right you can get 3 years of internships out of college."
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11points
#65
"If you don't like your job, get another one. If you don't have any good job opportunities, you need to work on that."
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11points
#66
"Decide where you want to be in 10 years. Once that's done come up with a plan to get there, and act on it."
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11points
#68
"Don’t get married in your 20’s. You shouldn’t make a lifelong commitment until you’re more mature."
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11points
#69
"Mental health. Please cater to it. Take care of yourselves mentally and you’ll do great in your 30s."
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11points
#70
"Buy your favorite albums. They are going to cost 10x more when you are 40."
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11points
#73
"Start thinking about how you want to make a social impact on the world. Make a commitment to yourself to be kind and compassionate, especially to those less fortunate than you."
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10points
#76
"More so for women: consider if you want to have kids. I know many women in their mid-30s who never really thought about it and are taken aback when their gynecologist comments about their remaining fertile years. Freeze your eggs if you have that luxury and no partner."
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9points
#77
"Find a way to go to college or finish college inexpensively. Most community colleges are close to free. Most state universities are less expensive than others. In my city, a new HS grad can get a four-year degree with a maximum of $18K in tuition - two years of free community college and 2 years of university at $9K per year. Nobody needs $50-$100k in loans to get an ungraduated degree."
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9points
