52 things my Family wished they knew at 20

My family loves me very much. They have collected some ideas and quotes over the years with the idea that they would give it to me on my 20th Birthday. Below is the list of things they wish someone had explained to them on there 20th Birthday:

1.       Invest in Experiences Not Stuff

2.       Nurture Interests Not Distractions

3.       Rest Before You Are Tired

4.       Take Action

5.       Give Without Expecting Something in Return

6.       Being able to listen well is a superpower.

7.       Happiness is a byproduct of a fulfilling, well-lived life.

8.       A happy life has more to do with perspective than anything else. If you can laugh, there is hope.

9.       No one is as impressed with your possessions as you are.

10.   Cultivate 12 people who love you, because they are worth more than 12 million people who like you.

11.   Don't keep making the same mistakes; try to make new mistakes.

12.   If you stop to listen to a musician or street performer for more than a minute, you owe them a dollar.

13.   Anything you say before the word “but” does not count.

14.   Criticize in private, praise in public.

15.   Life lessons will be presented to you in the order they are needed. Everything you need to master the lesson is within you. Once you have truly learned a lesson, you will be presented with the next one. If you are alive, that means you still have lessons to learn.

16.   Ask people for money, and they’ll give you advice; but ask for advice and they’ll give you money.

17.   Productivity is often a distraction. Don’t aim for better ways to get through your tasks as quickly as possible, rather aim for better tasks that you never want to stop doing.

18.   The consistency of your endeavors (exercise, relationships, work) is more important than the quantity. Nothing beats small things done every day, which is way more important than what you do occasionally.

19.   Ask anyone you admire: Their lucky breaks happened on a detour from their main goal. So, embrace detours. Life is not a straight line for anyone.

20.   Spend as much time crafting the subject line of an email as the message itself because the subject line is often the only thing people read.

21.   You see only 2% of another person, and they see only 2% of you. Attune yourselves to the hidden 98%.

22.   Don't bother fighting the old; just build the new.

23.   Learn how to learn from those you disagree with, or even offend you. See if you can find the truth in what they believe.

24.   It’s possible that a not-so smart person, who can communicate well, can do much better than a super smart person who can’t communicate well. That is good news because it is much easier to improve your communication skills than your intelligence.

25.   You will be judged on how well you treat those who can do nothing for you.

26.   Take the stairs.

27.   Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind.

28.   Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time.

29.   Build pockets of stillness into your life. Meditate. Go for walks. Ride your bike going nowhere in particular. The best ideas come to us when we stop actively trying to find them.

30.   The most powerful words you can say in your career: "Can I ask you for advice?"

31.   Don’t propose at someone else’s wedding

32.   When making an important  decision ask: What would I tell my best friend to do in this situation?

33.   Everybody wants to be heard. To be listened to. To matter. Give people your full, honest attention.

34.   Always focus on what your grateful for. Especially when you don't feel too grateful.

35.   Never settle for what you already know. When you stop learning you stop living a meaningful life.

36.   Flow with life, rather than against it. Don't resent what you must do, just get it done.  This will transform the energy of resentment into the satisfaction of achievement.

37.   Get out in Nature (a lot)

38.   Distinguish big problems from small ones. Focus your energy accordingly.

39.   Stay with the questions longer. Curiosity will take you to much more exciting places than intelligence.

40.   Write your to-do list the night before

41.   Don’t be afraid to ask a question that may sound stupid because 99% of the time everyone else is thinking of the same question and is too embarrassed to ask it.

42.   It’s not an apology if it comes with an excuse. It is not a compliment if it comes with a request.

43.   That thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult — if you don’t lose it.

44.   If you have any doubt at all about being able to carry a load in one trip, do yourself a huge favor and make two trips

45.   What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. At your funeral people will not recall what you did; they will only remember how you made them feel.

46.   A foreign accent is a sign of bravery.

47.   Getting cheated occasionally is the small price for trusting the best of everyone, because when you trust the best in others, they generally treat you best.

48.   90% of everything is crap. If you think you don’t like something( country music, vegan food, NFTs, etc.), keep trying to see if you can find the 10% that is not crap.

49.   Start cheering for other people’s victories.

50.   Recipe for success: under-promise and over-deliver.

51.   Half the skill of being educated is learning what you can ignore.

52.   If you repeated what you did today 365 more times will you be where you want to be next year?