17 Older Adults Are Sharing "You Need To Know This" Lessons Every Young Adult Should Follow, And As A Thirtysomething, I Wish I Heard Some Of These Sooner
Since life can be difficult at times, it sometimes doesn't hurt to receive wise advice from our elders. So when Reddit user u/Content_Structure118 asked, "People who are 55-plus and happy with your life, what is your best advice to those under 25?" I thought it would be helpful to share their responses. Here's some of what they had to say:
1."Treat your body well now because you will either reap the rewards of it or suffer the consequences later. Enjoy your life and explore your hobbies and make your friends. Take this time to grow and heal and become the best version of yourself that you can."
2."Learn how to save and invest money now. If you learn how to do it, 55-year-old you will be forever grateful to 25-year-old you."
"When I was 15, for my first paycheck, my mom took 20% to save. She said if you just take that money out before it ever hits your spending, you never notice it's gone. My stepdad later taught me how to invest it, albeit conservatively. I kept that up, and when I got my first 'real' job on my own, I followed the same practice.
"I'm now 40, and those lessons have proved invaluable. I plan on doing the same for my son and daughter. I'll be able to retire early and comfortably when many of my coworkers and friends/family will not be able to."
3."The two biggest decisions are your career and your partner. Your career will probably change, and it's not too bad to change, but changing your partner can be a nightmare. My best advice is to be careful who you settle down with. The people I know my age who are unhappy are unhappy because they picked a bad partner."
4."Chase what makes you happy, not what you feel obligated to do to please parents (for example). Don’t compare yourself with others — it will suck the joy from your life."
5."Don’t let your world get small. Travel, have a variety of interests, and spend time with family and friends."
6."Don't give a damn what anybody thinks of you."
7."Wear sunscreen!!!"
8."True happiness stems from gratitude — making the most of what you have rather than letting it rest solely on what you want. Once you accept that so much of a satisfying life is learning to negotiate between what you want and what the world gives you, you will be happy."
9."Let the little things go. Don't dwell on what you can't control. And clean out and toss crap you don't use every two years."
10."Peaks and valleys. I've been a homeowner, had a great career, friends, family, travel, social life, and expensive cars. I've also visited food banks, not had enough gas money, lived in the ghetto, been suicidal many times, in jail, and chose bad relationships. Now, at 58, I'm living the life of my dreams. I've started over from rock bottom four times in my life. My advice: Keep good company. The five people you keep company with often dictate the quality of your life. Pick people who are smarter, wiser, more content than you. If you have unresolved issues, get therapy."
11."If you are in an unhappy relationship, get out of it and enjoy single life."
"How do I enjoy single life? :|"
"Enjoy not having to adjust to what another person wants all the time. Enjoy not having to cook and clean for someone else. Watch what you want on television, and sleep peacefully without thunderous snoring. Go to places the significant other never would go. Relish the fact that your space, your body, and your time are your own."
12."Take a cooking class, and you will be much happier that you don’t have to always order out, and maybe you'll meet someone new. It’s also better than the dating apps."
13."A job is just a way to get currency into your bank account. Don’t confuse it with who you are. Also, no matter what anyone ever tells you, your work is NOT a family. All but one or two people at your current job will drop you as an acquaintance as soon as you leave for another opportunity. In addition, never, ever compromise yourself or do any illegal shit for your boss — ever."
14."Stay curious. Take time to notice when something or someone is bringing you joy. Simply being happy about something isn’t frivolous. Beware of pessimism masquerading as wisdom. I like this Kurt Vonnegut advice: 'And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'”
15."Pack away all your dishes except for what you will use in a single day. Keep those other dishes in case you have company or whatever, but put them in a box in the back of a closet. Keep out a small plate, a large plate, a bowl, one knife, fork, and spoon. A cup, a glass, and a few pans to cook in. Double this if you live with someone. Now there is no way for you to ever have a sink full of dirty dishes that 'need to be dealt with' at any point. Get into the habit of washing what you use when you are done with it and put it away. It will save your sanity, or at least keep you from feeling the pressure of all those dirty dishes you have to deal with. Once you have that figured out with dishes, apply the same habits to anything that can get overwhelming. Cut back to the essentials, and deal with them as soon as possible. Life gets really easy if you can achieve this."
16."Share your skills or talents freely with others, and ask them to do the same for you. Knowledge is power."
17."As someone who is not quite 55, I advise someone looking to get advice from an older person to keep this in mind: The world we grew up in changed much slower than the one you're growing up in, so most of the advice you read here will be from that perspective. What was sage advice for us may not be sage advice for you. How much the world changed between 1990 and 2000 is likely much less dramatic than the change we'll see between 2025 and 2035. My personal advice? Keep an open mind, be patient (which is not the same as allowing yourself to be subjected to abuse), and be thoughtful about your choices — but don't allow your thinking to keep you from making choices. We often never know how a choice will turn out until long after we've made it."
Are you an older adult who has good advice? Share your wisdom with us in the comments below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
