Obviously, we make mistakes in every decade of our lives. However, when you're in your 30s, you really do start coming into your own and hope that "life experience" has made you wiser and you're able to avoid making bad life choices.
Recently, I stumbled upon this Reddit thread from a few years ago where user u/YanDancerUK asked men over 30, "What was your biggest mistake in your 30s? Your answer can be in all areas of life."
Well, lots of men revealed the things they did in their 30s and look back on with regret. Here are the top and best comments:
1. "Settling for a relationship that was good enough instead of being willing to be alone to find someone great. Being lonely sucks, but waking up next to someone you don't feel passionate about for nearly a decade is even worse."
2. "Still drinking alcohol after age 34 or 35 when my body couldn't deal with it well anymore."
3. "Waiting until my mid-30s to get serious about my health."
4. "Not saving enough money. 💸💸💸💸💸💸"
5. "Probably the single biggest among my regrets was bad relationships. Both friends and romantic. Keeping friends close who had no business being in my life, dating women I contrived relationships with who I never related to other than fitting our ugly bits together. Remaining friends with people just because they would spend time with me, without asking if I should, even when I knew better."
6. "Butting heads with your boss might feel temporarily gratifying but is not at all a good idea. If you consider your boss to be inept or cruel, the answer is to find a new boss. You aren’t gonna change them or prove to anyone higher up that your supervisor is a moron, even if they objectively are."
7. "Just wasting time worrying."
8. "Not leaving a job I knew I hated less than six months in. Worked there five years because every time I tried to leave, something else would happen in life that convinced me to stay. I should have just said 'Screw it' and left when I knew it wasn’t right."
9. "Not appreciating the good health I had and putting off tennis lessons, road biking, and visiting the sights of California. Now I'm in okay health, but all of my sports injuries are painful and I've had a scare, and I have a wife and kids who need the time I would have used for the extracurriculars."
10. "I split from my ex at 29, and it took me years to even attempt dating. Even once I was willing, I chickened out more often than not. My 30s were completely without romance but for two very brief interludes. Next thing you know, I'm 40 and lonely, and it feels as if I'll stay that way forever."
11. "Not seeing a doctor for seven years."
12. "Thinking about past mistakes."
13. "Spending the entire decade on my career rather than personal life. Dating is a lot harder in your 40s, and my career has crumbled thanks to COVID anyway and probably won't be coming back anytime soon. I'm alone, jobless, lonely, and regretful."
14. "Envying others and wishing I was them instead of trying to be a better me."
15. "Not going to therapy in my 20s."
16. "Acting as if I had all the time on my side."
17. "Thinking I had arrived in life and should be taken seriously just because I was in my 30s."
18. And lastly: "Acting as if I was in my 20s."
You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.