There are many things in life that take experience, maturity and learning before you get the hang of them. Sometimes, you get an epiphany, other times you work it out slowly and over time. Often, success all boils down to a few simple concepts or reminders. Here are some of the secrets I have uncovered for various things whilst making the myriad of mistakes I have made in my life:
Pool: Addressing the cue ball while putting you cue tip as close as possible. The slight pause on the final backswing before striking. Developing a good stance.
Investing (and indeed, gambling): Cutting losses early and letting winners run. Developing the mental and emotional discipline to do this.
Making friends and being liked: Liking people and being genuinely interested in them. Not arguing, complainingor scolding. Listening. Dale Carnegie is right about this one.
Being successful at your workplace: Focussing not just on how things are done and the result but on how things are perceived. In particular, on how you are perceived.
Beating insomnia: Don’t lie in bed if you can’t sleep. Get up, do something, then try again. Exercise regularly. Have sex, if possible.
Dealing with airports: Smile and dress respectably when checking in to improve your chances of favourable treatment or upgrade. When arriving at a busy airport, run to immigration after disembarking from the plane.
That’s all I can think of for now. Please share some of yours.
Shopping: Try to go for the sale items, but remember to include the cost of your own time in the savings. It’s no use driving across town to save 50c on bread.
Parties: Learn how to take tiny sips and hold your vessel without drinking it.
House DYI: Wall preparation is 90% of the work in painting.
General: I’m a big advocate for random acts of kindess. Try to help people if you have the time.
When a movie stinks, sitting through it anyway means that I have not only wasted the MONEY, I have wasted the TIME. Never be afraid to get up and leave.
Everyone Screws Up Periodically, regardless of what they might say.
Always buy good tools. Good hand and power tools will last you a lifetime.
The hardest part of any job is getting started, and finishing. If you don’t get done in a day, clean up and organize. It makes getting started much easier.
when it comes to buying food on the cheap, calories per $ are what count, not physical amount of food. a 35 cent box of spaghetti will fill you up more than 50 stalks of celery.
college and a 4 year degree are not for everyone. many of hte degrees carry no job value and a 2 or 1 year degree at a community college will provide you with almost as much income as a 4 year degree.
People dont know how to save money. they drive across town to save 10 cents on a gallon of gas.
“Send this to all your friends” means do exactly the opposite.
“This is no shit” or a similar statement is usually the predecessor to an absolute load of crap.
“But” preceding any statement usually gives lie to the statement before it.
Take people one at a time, as individuals, without regard to any possible defining characteristic. This is probably the most difficult creed to consistently live by, but serves me well.
Typing was the most worthwhile and useful class I ever took in 16 years of schooling and is the only one that still serves me well on a daily basis.
Investing and with life in general: slow and steady wins the race. I realize this is opposite to the advice of Johnny B. Goode, but when you are investing for retirement and are young, stick it in something agressive that has the highest long term (i.e. 10 year+) historical rate of return and let it ride! If you kill an investment every time the tech market takes a dive, you will drive yourself crazy.
Pick your battles carefully: People always say they want more open communication and that if there is a problem, you should immediately surface it. Just like communism, it works in theory but not practice. People who constantly surface problems are viewed as jerks, so in both business and relationships, be sparing in when you put your foot down.
Cars: Reliability above all else should be your main concern when selecting one. What good is a vehicle if it can’t trust it to get you from point A to B? Some 'repair’s ANYONE can do. Even if you are the frailest grandmother in the world who wouldn’t know a wrench from a screwdriver, the guy at the autoparts store can show you how to replace your air filter in 10 seconds. Never let the oil change place do it and screw you out of $15. Anyone even remotely mechanically inclined can change their own brake pads and save thousands of dollars over the life of a car or truck.
Entertainment: This is ALWAYS your biggest expense whether you realize it or not, so watch how you spend your money. Dinner and a movie should be reversed…movie (as a matinee) then dinner. If are a ‘night person’, get discount movie passes ahead of time from the Entertainment book or through organizations that sell discounted passes to get cheaper tickets.
There are usually a very few exceptions, but most Friends, no matter how good, almost always will eventually disappear from your life.
There will be exceptions for some, but for almost all the girl you kiss in 6th grade, the one you date in 11th grade, & the first one you meet in the freshman year of college will not be the one with you at 30
Don’t make “I peed in the Pool jokes” around girls you want to impress
In sports, there is always next year
Death really will come, even to those close to you.
Unrequited love and/or being dumped: No matter how much it seems deep down in your heart like that particular person is the ONLY one you can ever love so deeply, they’re really NOT. I guarantee that sooner or later someone even better will come along as long as you’re open to it.
Appreciation for loved ones: Treat the people that matter to you as if every conversation you have with them might be the last…because you never know when it might turn out to be your last chance to tell them you love them.
Embarrassment and Anger: Stop and ask yourself, “Will this still matter in 10 years?” If the answer is no, don’t wast time feeling ashamed or angry about it.
There are usually a very few exceptions, but most Friends, no matter how good, almost always will eventually disappear from your life.
QUOTE]
This is so true. i have several good friends who stopped being good friends after a while. had a best friend in 4th grade, an assortment of friends in high school, a friend on the internet, a few friends in one college, a good friend from college, friends from another college and they are all gone now. when i make new friends they will have the same thing happen.
If you can pick out your car you will love it until it falls apart.
If someone else finds it or talks you into it, you will be sooo glad when you get rid of it.
Falling in love (or lust): Use the 3M rule: 1 man, 1 minute, 1 metre. Assess him while he’s on his own (a bunch of good-looking guys will look better than they do on their own as you’ll subconsciously include everyone’s best features) for 1 minute (to get over the initial hormone rush) from 1 metre (beauty is invertionally proportionate to distance).
You get what you pay for.
Clothes shopping: wear clothes that are easy to slip out of and back into like jandals/thongs/flip flops, elastic waisted shorts and t-shirt. Don’t wear make-up or hair gunge: it will become a disaster site after the second shop and you might be charged for dry-cleaning. Set aside more time than you think it will take - it will take more time than you set aside.
Perform random acts of senseless beauty.
When money enters a relationship the relationship changes forever.
If it hurts, take medication. There’s no point in suffering.
I had an epiphany a month or so ago. For those who don’t want to go click happy, it boils down to: If your circle of friends, family, and small animals loves you, and have done so for years, through all the stupid crap and awkward phases you have gone through, then there has to be SOMETHING to for you to love about yourself. I realized that I was defined by more than my looks or intelligence; it takes both to be who I am. Love yourself and you’ll be beautiful. It isn’t the concept that’s the secret so much as getting there.
Also, when trying to open a jar, try really hard once, then walk away and let the jar think about the pain you’ve submitted it to and that you’ve gone through, attempting to expose its brains to the world. If you’ve tried hard enough, it will be cowed and you can open it. If you haven’t, hand it to your roommate and demand vengeance.
Do those things you really want to do – especially if you are a little afraid of doing them.
Financial independence and emotional independence from your parents should go hand in hand. Treat them with kindness, but realize that with some parents, you may never have the approval from them that you so want.
Encourage those you love to do those things which make them happy. Quit trying to control the person you are married to.