What can you learn quickly that will help you in your day-to-day life for the rest of your life? Here is a collection of small tips, no less important for being small, that you should keep in mind. All they require is that you remember them when the time comes to apply them. You could say some of them are life advice for your own everyday survival.
See also: What I learned from James Clear’s Atomic Habits
12 things you can learn today that will be useful throughout your life
1. On rainy days, don’t walk with both hands in your pockets
It may sound silly, but I learned this the hard way. The odds are low, but it happens. Especially with the first drops of rain hitting the ground, you can slip when you least expect it. A slip is fast, so your head will have hit the ground before you have time to get your hands out of your pockets.
2. When you write an email, add the recipient last
Every now and then, for whatever reason, we accidentally hit “send” before the email is complete or finished. If you follow this simple tip, even if your finger slips, the email service itself will ask you to enter an address. #never-send-a-half-written-email-again
3. Avoid keeping important notes in your computer’s Notepad
For some reason, Notepad doesn’t save automatically, so if you’ve written something important in it and there’s a power cut, you’ll lose what you wrote unless you saved the text. For long texts, try to avoid Notepad as far as possible, because according to Murphy’s laws, if it has never happened to you, it will most likely happen on the day you need that note the most.
4. Always keep a warm layer and a bottle of water in the car
At least where I live (Granada), this tip is essential even in August, when there can be a difference of 15 degrees (or more) between 2 p.m. and midnight. More than one person has regretted not having something warmer to put on when the day ran longer than expected. As for the bottle of water, just carry it. One day you’ll probably discover its countless uses (besides drinking it when you’re thirsty).
5. Have you ever needed to save as much phone battery as possible in an unexpected emergency?
Sometimes we’re somewhere without electricity, or we simply don’t have a charger with us. Say you have 5% battery and it needs to last at least 4 or 5 hours, and you can’t turn the phone off because you’re expecting an important call. In these cases, most people forget to turn off their phone’s Wi-Fi. Even if you aren’t connected to a Wi-Fi network, the device will keep searching for one, using up power. The same goes for Bluetooth. It might only give you an extra 5 or 20 minutes, but sometimes you need those minutes.
6. Protect your eyes
The eyes are probably the most fragile part of our body and the hardest to repair if they’re damaged. That’s why, for any activity that could put them at risk, protect them with a pair of goggles. If you’re going to splice a cable, or do something as simple as changing a light bulb, even if the chances of injury are tiny, protecting your eyes takes no effort.
7. Start asking “why?”
Why am I eating junk food? Why am I going to have a drink? Why did I spend 800 euros on a phone instead of buying a 200-euro one? You’ll start finding answers, and it will be up to you whether you listen to those answers and do something about them or not.
8. Forget the “whys”
When misfortune or hard times strike, forget the whys and start applying the “whats”. In other words, if your partner leaves you or you get fired, it won’t do you any good to ask yourself: “Why me? Why did they leave me? Why did they fire me?” Forget that, because it doesn’t matter. Just ask yourself: “What can I do from now on?” And make it a habit. Your life improves automatically, because you stop playing the victim and asking pointless questions, and start looking for a useful answer. I covered this topic in more depth in our article on swapping “whys” for “whats”.
9. Remember to go first or last
We now know that people find it easier to remember the first and last things that happened to them. Most memories skip over the things in between. This is worth knowing if you’re giving a presentation, going to a job interview or in any situation where you need to stand out and be taken into account. If you have the chance, be the first to speak or the last. Your chances increase considerably.
10. Use the words “I think” properly
This is a piece of advice I was given a long time ago, and I apply it deliberately. When I say “I think…”, it’s because I’m not completely sure about something. If you’re going to say something forceful that you know to be true and you want to be taken seriously, don’t “think”, just say it. Or better still, say “believe me, that’s how it is”. Knowing this, “I think” can also be used to say something negative while toning it down. For example, “I think you didn’t do this quite right” is a less hurtful message than “this is badly done”.
11. Swap “sorry” for “thank you” in some situations
Imagine you arrive late to a meeting and say, “Sorry I’m late” or “Apologies for being late”. Change that to “Thank you for waiting”. It sounds more diplomatic, and it might even make people want to reply, “No, thank you for coming” 🙂 It may seem silly, but the listener’s brain perceives it differently, so try to fit it into the situations where it makes sense.
12. Don’t listen to your heart or follow your heart
The phrase “follow your heart” has caused more depression and regret than any other, because although it’s well meant, it’s a blank cheque for all kinds of foolishness. Don’t listen to your heart, because the heart doesn’t speak or think. The heart’s job is to pump blood to the brain. Listen to what your brain tells you, and let your brain be the one that gives your heart permission to take a path that’s good for you, or a different one.
See also: How long does it take to get good at something? Tips to speed up learning a skill
Featured image: Sergiy Galyonkin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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