Life Hacks You Wish You Knew Growing Up

Life is about trial and error. Sometimes we get it right; others make us want to curl up in bed for the day. In this slogging thread, our community shared the main lessons they've learned throughout lo life. From exercising to investing in education and seizing the day, these tips are the wake-up call we need.

This Slogging thread by Mónica Freitas, petar.btc, Amy Shah, Favour Amadi, Limarc Ambalina, Jack Boreham, Adrian Morales and Daniel Guzman occurred in slogging's official #random channel, and has been edited for readability.

Mónica FreitasDec 14, 2021, 2:50 PM

What are some life hacks you wish you knew growing up?

petar.btcDec 14, 2021, 3:17 PM

Start going to the gym in my teenage years. I'm 38 now and my body feels older.

Amy ShahDec 14, 2021, 3:44 PM

Start learning to computer program as early as possible.

petar.btcDec 14, 2021, 3:54 PM

Amy Shah, Second that. Would be a very profitable salary hack 🙂

Favour AmadiDec 15, 2021, 4:18 AM

Move my body. Even if it's for 10 minutes, just move it. Doing this brings mental clarity, focus and confidence to take on the day.

Limarc AmbalinaDec 15, 2021, 8:49 AM

Not sure if it’s a life hack, but live each day like it is on purpose. Humans want what they don’t have. Kids want to be adults. High school students want to be college students. College students want to be successful adults with careers, adults want to be in high school again.

Limarc AmbalinaDec 15, 2021, 8:50 AM

I think the key to happiness is realizing that the now is so important and that every day is something to be cherished. The key to happiness is realizing the good things you have now and cherishing them.

Limarc AmbalinaDec 15, 2021, 8:51 AM

Another thing I wish I realized sooner was: everyone cares more about their own insecurities than yours. Do you know how you look at your hair 10 times a day to get it right? Newsflash high school kid, everyone is too worried about how they look to care about a few strands of your hair that are off-center.

Jack BorehamDec 15, 2021, 11:22 AM

Just focus and put the effort in! My teachers at school always used to tell me to focus, but I didn't. I've realised that now! Focus and effort go a long way, and if you put in enough of it, you can achieve what you want to achieve.

Jack BorehamDec 15, 2021, 11:23 AM

Also, don't put too much pressure on yourself, life is crazy but also unexpected and beautiful, it will all turn out okay.

Adrian MoralesDec 15, 2021, 2:02 PM

Scheduling and to-do lists! I can be very scatterbrained sometimes, but having a simple checklist of things to accomplish for the day has done a lot to organize my day-to-day workflow. Setting small goals for yourself via checklist in pursuit of achieving bigger goals goes a long way!

Daniel GuzmanDec 15, 2021, 2:50 PM

Learn how to manage your money throughout the whole month. I guess that would have changed the way I manage my personal finances hahaha.

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 7:54 PM

petar.btc, I think in the same line, doing yoga just to be able to stretch. As it is now, I can barely touch my toes standing. It'll be way harder when I'm older 😂

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 7:55 PM

Amy Shah, true! It'd make life easier

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 7:56 PM

Favour Amadi, I second that! It always helps. Though during the winter, it does take a lot of willpower to work out or just get out of the house and move.

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 7:57 PM

Limarc Ambalina, ah Limarc, that's beautiful. I think on some level we all know we should be in the moment, and enjoying every day like it's our last, but we just forget. How do you remind yourself of that every day?

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 7:59 PM

Limarc Ambalina, hahaha yup. We always think we're the star of the show. We've got to relax. There are not that many Regina George's in the world 😂

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 8:01 PM

Jack Boreham, small and steady wins the race. The saying is old. We struggle a lot with doing a task continuously if we don't see immediate results. Just got to remind ourselves to keep putting in the work.

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 8:02 PM

Jack Boreham, I've learned that too. It's okay to improvise and not have things figured out 💛

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 8:03 PM

Adrian, that's a nice one. And I think that keeps us driven: when you get to check a thing off the list, it feels amazing!

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 8:03 PM

Daniel Guzman, hahaha same! I wished someone had taught me early on how to do taxes 😂

petar.btcDec 16, 2021, 12:01 PM

Mónica Freitas, Stretching is immensely important! I have back problems and it's necessary for me to stretch every day. I fail to do it, though.

Mónica FreitasDec 16, 2021, 8:19 PM

petar.btc, that sucks! Just today I saw a video of a chiropractor doing his thing and I'm really curious to know if that actually makes a difference. I imagine in your case, it could help, but I'm not 100% sure.

Mónica FreitasDec 16, 2021, 10:37 PM

The best advice I can give is: don't worry so much. No one has it figured out. We're just copying out of each other and trying to navigate life through inspiration and method. There's no one or right way of doing you. So, accept improvisation and detours! It's part of life.

Mónica FreitasDec 16, 2021, 10:39 PM

Also, be kind! It costs nothing and takes far less energy than being rancorous and enraged.

Limarc AmbalinaDec 17, 2021, 2:38 AM

Yeah sorry to get philosophical on you haha but for some more practical life hacks, seriously as petar.btc stretching in the morning feels amazing and sets you up well for the day. Another one I learned is prayer. Even if you're not religious and don't believe in God, prayer is good for your life because it reaffirms what is important to you every night and helps you work toward those goals. In a way, it leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Limarc AmbalinaDec 17, 2021, 2:39 AM

If every night before bed you say in your head "Please help me to lose weight and help my blog to get more viewers", magically nothing is going to happen for you. HOWEVER, if in your mind you keep saying that every night, you'll start to unconsciously do more things to reach those goals. You keep reminding yourself every night that those things are important to you and thus maybe when you're deciding between a burger for lunch or a balanced home-cooked meal, you might be more inclined to choose the latter.

petar.btcDec 17, 2021, 12:17 PM

Limarc Ambalina, Thank you for sharing this. I'm a Bible-believing Christian and know the power of prayer personally 🙏😇

Mónica FreitasDec 17, 2021, 3:08 PM

Limarc Ambalina, YES! A bit like manifesting! Visualizing the goal in your head as if you have already achieved it helps us picture the steps to get it and work harder.