At the risk of sounding trite, redundant or over simplified… LIfe is hard!
Every day we crawl out of bed, bent on foraging through the hours of our life for that calendar space.
Our goals? Survive, make a difference, thrive, don’t get burned or killed, remember our own name, earn our paycheck, be nice to others, stay out of the fast lane if we drive slow, eat our vegetables, brush our teeth, relax and this list could go on forever.
Bruce Lee once said,
“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”
But if we’re honest, most of us struggle from time to time, wondering if we’re doing it right. By “it”, I mean life. More often than that, we realize we have screwed up, and are afraid to face it or admit it.
So let’s start right here, right now… This is my list of observations from watching the lives of others, both successes and failures, and what I see as 77 life mistakes to avoid on this journey. Feel free to add your own to the list!
- You worked way too much…
- You complained ugly, uneducated or often…
- You read less than you could…
- You relied on will power more than was helpful…
- You stayed in your comfort zone too often…
- You consistently obsessed and over thought everything…
- You believed money was the best answer to your problems…
- You assumed only massive changes would make big differences…
- You regularly looked at the glass as half full, cracked and ugly…
- You focused more on dreams than goals…
- You lived your life to impress others…
- You only read or watched stuff you agreed with…
- You failed to cut yourself and others slack with slow progress…
- You kept repeating decisions and actions that failed in the past…
- You neglected time and attention for those who mattered most…
- You worried way too much about what others thought or said…
- You beat yourself up for not accomplishing enough…
- You failed to tell people how you felt…
- You didn’t stand up for yourself when you should have…
- You abandoned the journey of following your passion…
- You spent way too much time arguing about things that didn’t matter…
- You fell short in helping your children grown and develop as much as they could have…
- You missed opportunities to live in the moment…
- You traveled very little…
- You listened to everyone else more than your own gut…
- You failed to take good care of your own mental and physical health…
- You ignored the opportunity to take risks…
- You worried about things that you had zero impact or control over…
- You seldom gave appreciation to others…
- You took yourself way more serious than was necessary…
- You didn’t do enough for others along the way…
- You allowed sadness to overrule your other feelings…
- You failed to make educated, solid financial decisions…
- You seldom allowed purpose to drive your life decisions…
- You neglected building quality personal relationships with friends…
- You devoted too little time to spend with aging friends and family…
- You neglected your own personal health…
- You waited for the for the perfect time to do anything…
- You didn’t enjoy life enough…
- You never believed or understood what you were capable of being or doing…
- You trusted the wrong people…
- You let bad beliefs and silly fears keep you from living your best life…
- You compared yourself to others and killed your creativity and confidence…
- You refused to learn and grow…
- You let your ego ruin the real you…
- You allowed your need to be right ruin your relationships…
- You waited too long to move on…
- You never realized that if the relationship feels wrong, it like is wrong…
- You failed to say what was important, even if it was hard or scary…
- You embraced bad advice…
- You chose regret over failure…
- You never learned to say the word “No”…
- You avoided doing the hard work of damage control…
- You lost sight of what makes you authentically content…
- You repeatedly gave power to the wrong emotions in your life…
- You ignored the possibility that you could be wrong…
- You complicated the things and stuff that were actually easy…
- You relaxed way too often in stagnation…
- You were unwilling to consistently face reality head on…
- You were too quick to give away the power of choosing in your life…
- You dwelt on undeserved or unearned guilt…
- You spent more time than needed overthinking decisions, relationships or purpose…
- You were unable to manage your anger in a healthy way…
- You never made time for yourself as important as the other people in your life…
- You didn’t make travel a priority…
- You missed your chances at life changing job opportunities…
- You wasted or misused your money or resources…
- You managed your time in a sloppy or thoughtless way…
- You hurt people who were meaningful in your life…
- You lost friendships over trivial crap…
- You either stuck your head in the sand, or contributed to family conflict…
- You denied yourself chances for education and personal growth…
- You made parenting mistakes based on selfishness or carelessness…
- You hurt your body by eating poorly and failing to stay in shape…
- You misjudged others without finding out the whole story…
- You never reached your personal goals or milestones because of lack of focus…
- You failed to carve out quality time for people who mattered most…
Any of these sound strangely familiar? Here’s the good news. Although life is very, very short, it’s never too late to make a change for the better!
If you had to pick just 3 of the items above that you would change in your life, which ones would you choose?