5 Important Life Lessons You Need To Know

At the ripe old age of 26, I've learned a lot of life lessons the hard way. Most of these are things that my parents told me, but they just sounded so cliche that I mostly disregarded them. As time went on and I experienced more of life, the lightbulbs started going off.

Obviously I'm not some self-help guru, these are just things I've noticed to be true. I see a lot of my friends struggle with some of these issues and I wish they would learn these lessons, too! But I guess there are some things you have to learn for yourself.

Anyways, here are 5 important life lessons that I think everybody should know.

1) Treat other people how you want them to act, not how they're currently acting.

There's a saying I heard once that says something like "treat a pauper like a prince and you'll get a prince." That's paraphrased, but the idea is that if you treat someone a certain way, they'll act that way, despite how they were acting before.

It's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you treat a "problem person" like a problem, they're gonna keep being a problem. But if you treat them with the same respect and expectation of a well-behaved person, chances are they will rise to the occasion.

There are always exceptions to the rule, of course, but in general I have found this is a pretty good way to go about interacting with people.

2) Focusing on positivity yields more positivity.

Have you ever noticed that when you're having a bad day, bad things keep happening to you? It's like everything happens at once. I've found that when something bad happens, you just need to deal with it and then brush it off your shoulders. Letting it bother you somehow makes the bad things (or at least the bad mood) snowball.

Conversely, when good things happen we need to do a better job of recognizing it! Why is it that we complain more than we practice gratitude? I have found that if I can find 3 things to be thankful for at the beginning of my day, I'll usually have a pretty good day.

3) Living in the moment helps with depression and anxiety.

Focusing on the past causes depression. I'm not saying that is the only cause of depression, of course, but living in the past is going to keep you from feeling fulfilled in the present.

Worrying about the future causes anxiety. Again, I know it's not the only cause of anxiety but don't let the uncertainty of your future keep you from enjoying the current moment you're living in.

Peace doesn't exist in the past or in the future. It only exists in the present.

4) Life struggles and change help build you up and make you a stronger person.

Change is scary. But putting yourself out there and experiencing new things in life is what cultivates your soul and helps you grow. Sure, there are going to be times where you will fail and bad things will happen. It is unavoidable. But the more rejection you experience and the more failures you have, the better you're going to be at dealing with problems in life.

Whenever life presents problems, instead of thinking "why me," face the situation head on. Of course, when sad things happen, don't push your feelings aside. Live in it. Feeling is part of what makes us human. But be resilient. Remember that life goes on. Whether you choose to go on with it is up to you.

5) Coming on too strong usually pushes people away.

This one is more of a relationship specific life lesson, but it is something that took me a while to learn, and it seems like most of my friends still struggle with this.

Don't be clingy. If he (or she) wants to talk to you or hang out with you, you'll know. If they don't respond quickly enough, distract yourself. Live your life, because that's probably what they are doing.

I've learned that one of the most attractive traits you can have is to be your own person. Don't rely on a person to make you happy, because you'll always be let down eventually. Find the happiness within yourself first.

I could probably write a book with all of the advice I ignored from my parents because of how cliche they sounded. But I learned the hard way, there is a reason they are so cliche! It's because they are true! Is there anything I missed or anything else you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments.