Recently, Reddit user u/DNA_H3licas3 posed the question, "What's [something] you can do in your 20s to avoid regrets in your 30s and 40s?"
And the responses were soooo inspiring — like, I'm ready to take action right now. Here are some of the top answers.
1. "Learn to trust your gut. Sometimes you can’t rationalize feeling a certain way or wanting to pursue something, and that’s alright. Any regret I’ve acquired through life has been from ignoring my gut feeling."
2. "Build strong relationships and learn how to express yourself emotionally. I’m not talking exclusively romantic ones either. But in every part of your life. Family, friends, work. It’s a lot harder to build relationships later on when everyone’s lives get busier with kids, etc. Building a community of people you can rely on and who can rely on you will pay dividends for life."
3. "Lift with your legs. Wear a rubber. Brush your teeth and floss. Wear sunglasses. Take the stairs. Don't binge drink. Don't drive drunk. Always pay your monthly credit card bill for the full statement amount. Never make just the minimum. Don't marry for looks. Don't have kids to 'save' the relationship. Dogs/cats are a 10-plus-year commitment. Seal your driveway at least every other year. Mulch turns to dirt in a few years; rocks last forever."
4. "Learn to drink appropriately. Or at least stop getting sh*tfaced/blackouts."
5. "If you are on good terms with them, spend time with senior members of your family and find out all about what it was like for them growing up and living through historic events. I wish I had known to ask my grandparents more about their young lives. You won't realize [until] they are gone that you could have asked about all kinds of things, or that they would be happy to talk with you. When we are young, we don't realize that we ignore the elderly or that they have a treasure trove of knowledge and experience."
6. "Stay out of credit card debt, and put as much as you can into a retirement account. Oh, and focus on developing healthy habits around food and exercise."
7. "EXERCISE EVERY WEEK."
8. "That girl you’re crushing on? Ask her out. That job you don’t think you’ll get? Apply anyway. Think your city kind of sucks? Move. Have fun!!"
9. "Marry well or not at all."
10. "Take lots of pictures because you likely won't get any better looking."
11. "Wear hearing protection at music shows."
12. "Brush your teeth."
13. "Never pass up a chance to go to the bathroom. Tell the truth. Display good manners with all people. Practice safe sex."
14. "Establish diet and exercise habits. Because if you don’t… one day you’ll be sitting there going 'I’ll start working out, when the kids are in school and I have more time' or some other nonsense. You are fooling yourself. Develop those habits now. If you want a family: Get sleep, get strong, get healthy. Eat right. Get your weight under control. Don’t treat your body like crap, and then expect it to give you a baby when you want it to. Your body doesn’t work that way, and I don’t care if you know people who did and still got knocked up. Don’t let that give you reassurance. If you want a family… get healthy."
15. "Wear sunscreen...and a hat and long sleeves. By the time you get to 70, you'll thank me."
16. "Don’t avoid taking big risks that you may regret. Learning from your mistakes is valuable."
