21 Brutal Life Lessons Nobody Teaches You

Brutal life lessons nobody teaches you

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Let me be straightforward, I don’t think your friends will ever teach you these brutal life lessons. Someone has to or else you’ll waste a lot of time figuring out how to excel in life.

So let’s clear all the confusion, shall we? Promise me one thing – You will follow these principles no matter what!

Fasten your seat belts and Let’s get started!

21 Harsh Life Lessons That Often Go Unnoticed

1. Nobody Cares

Nobody cares if your car broke down If you got bad grades If you’re unwell or If you’ll make it to that awesome party (other than your parents:)).

Yea sure some friends do care a bit, but they care just to make sure you’re doing okay. That’s it!

But realistically “Nobody Cares”. Everyone has something going on in their life which they can’t figure out, which stresses them out, thus they probably won’t even help you if you need it. 

What you’ve got to do is figure out your problems on your own because no one really has time for your personal problems.

2. Take time to know who you are

Knowing who you are will help you set goals, understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

Take some time out every day to focus on understanding who you are, what is unique in you, and what makes you stand apart from others. 

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The more you know about yourself, the clearer your vision, your aspirations, and your dreams are aligned with you. Once you know who you are, you can focus on improving your true potential. 

Take time to learn more about yourself, and once you do that, try becoming financially independent using that idea. If that means taking up courses or brainstorming ideas, then be it!

3. The more you give, the more you receive

Don’t be selfish. If your friends need your help, help them. They will do the same. As Grant Cardone says “Give more than is expected of you so that you will get more than you ever dreamed of”. 

Learn to give your time, your energy to create success for others, and don’t ask for anything in return. By doing this, you will automatically create a force of energy that will work wonders for you.

4. No work is beneath you

A student who just got out of college got a job offer as a salesman in a real estate firm.

When we asked him if he had taken the job, he said: “I didn’t take it because it was way below me, I’m not a salesman, I have an accounting degree”. 

Here’s a thought, how did you understand a job is beneath you? If you’re a fresher, you should be working at any job you get. Your value in the employee’s market is zero, you’re fresh and with no experience, you cannot get the job of your dreams. 

The only thing that should be beneath you is your big ego. Work hard in silence and show your skills at the job you get rather than criticizing the job.

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5. Start Meditating

Start meditation to enhance your life

Meditation calms your body and mind, helps you procrastinate less, it makes you more aware of your sense and everything around you. You get better sleep, your brain improves and you become more productive. 

It also helps to increase blood flow in the brain, it has been shown to improve your test scores. Just so you know, it also reduces stress and discomfort. Should I go on? Or are you convinced of the benefits of meditation for your mind and body?

You don’t need to meditate for an hour a day, no that’s for the pro’s. As a beginner, start by devoting 5-15 minutes each day to meditation.

In a month, you will automatically be rejuvenated and feel like a different person.

6. Don’t be afraid to take risks

Sometimes in order to take you to the next level, you need to take risks. If you end up being afraid, you won’t be able to take the necessary steps required to reach your destination. 

There are two types of risk – Smart risk and Dumb risk. Dumb risks end up costing you a lot while smart risks get you closer to your goals. You can’t stay in the dark not knowing what the light offers you. 

Everything is unknown till you give it a try, so don’t shy away from taking risks because the more the risk, the more the chances of success.

Related: Brilliant.org Review: Is Brilliant Premium Worth It?

7. Don’t make decisions when you’re emotional

A wise decision cannot be taken with emotions. Anger can lead to impatience and rash decision making. If you’re afraid, you might take more time to choose and there can be uncertainty in your decisions. 

If you’re happy, you will take your decisions quickly which can end up being a wrong decision. The best decisions are made with a clear and sound mind when you’re normal and rational, not when you’re drunk or cranky or angry or ecstatic. 

So next time when you’re unstable, don’t take a decision, take a walk!

8. Luck works if hard work runs

What is luck after all? It is sincere hard work wrapped with timing and talent. You won’t be lucky in your exams if you never studied anything. You’ll never be lucky enough to get that promotion if you don’t put in the hours. 

What people call Lucky is just hard work over and over again. Luck isn’t really luck, its various factors aligned in such a way to deceive us into believing in luck. 

I’d rather put in the hours and make luck work according to how I want it to work.

9. Be patient and persistent

Overnight success is a myth. In reality, the person who achieves overnight success has worked his ass off for the past few years and finally gets the rewards. I get it, being patient isn’t easy. 

That’s why I have an article where I’m sharing with you 22 tips on how to be patient. Follow these simple and effective principles to master the art of patience.

If you want a promotion, you have to be patient and work day and night to deserve that promotion. Persistence is not giving up on your goals. 

Whatever the excuse may be, you have to maintain persistence cause only persistence and patience will get you that promotion you long desire. 

A quote we often use in India  “Sabar Ka Phal Meetha Hota Hai” means Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

10. You don’t need to impress everyone

Listen to what everyone has to say but do what you think is right and what should be done. Everyone has valuable advice to offer but that doesn’t mean they’re right. Few who like what you do are better than a few who hate it. 

The saddest person is always the one who tries to make everyone happy. So next time do your best, the critics might say good or bad, hear it thank them, and forget it. Just focus on self-improvement.

11. Listen to learn

Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking. ~ Bernard M. Baruch

The biggest communication problem we face is that we do not listen to learn, to understand, we just listen to reply. 

All great leaders focus on listening to others rather than talking themselves.

Why do they do that?

It’s because they know the knowledge they possess but what they don’t know is the knowledge the other person has and thus they let the other person do the talking which increases their knowledge of the facts spoken by the others. 

Thus next time don’t go boasting about all the knowledge you have, instead sit down, relax a bit and listen to what the front person has to offer.

You’ll be amazed to learn a lot of new and interesting things.

12. Don’t take the easy road 

The easiest way to solve a problem is by taking maximum effort to complete the task.

Yes, it does feel great to take the easy road to success but most often this easy road is filled with obstacles yet to come. 

Losers take the easy way out of a problem, winners take the tough road which has a few bumps now but guarantees success in the future. 

Take any wealthy successful person and study their life, you’ll see they always took the hard way, bust their asses off to achieve their dreams and aspirations, the times they took the easy way, they failed. 

Very few take the hard way, that’s what makes it so unique. Those who do take it find success in abundance.

Related: 19 Best & Easy Early Morning Jobs You’ll Love

13. Start reading books

read books to improve yourself

I make it a point to read a few pages of a book every day. Why do I do that? Because it inspires me to become a better person, a better version of myself every day. 

Books provide us with knowledgeable content which improves us. It develops our cognitive abilities, our vocabulary, our concentration, reduces stress, improves focus and thinking skills. Readers are the leaders of society so better start reading a lot of books if you aim to be a leader.

It also gives us valuable information on life, finances, and growing a business.

Books make us smarter and teach us something new every day. It opens our eyes to new possibilities that help in career growth.

Related: 6 Great Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read

14. Respect others as you would respect yourself

I have seen a lot of people disrespect others while they give themselves too much respect. If you disrespect others, others will disrespect you, it’s a closed-loop.

Learn from others, be honest with them, if you do something wrong learn to apologize and take responsibility for it. 

Value the front person’s goals and aspirations instead of making fun of their goals. Think about how you respect yourself, then every time you talk to someone, give them the same amount of respect. 

You’ll be shocked to see the same people who were mean to you are suddenly sweet to you and those who were already sweet respect you much more. 

Respecting others is a trait successful people share.

15. Narrow down your focus bit by bit

The number one reason people give up so easily is that they focus on how far they have to go to attain their goals rather than focusing on how far they have come. 

You should break down your goals in bits and focus your energy on accomplishing your daily tasks. 

If you complete 1 task each day, at the end of the year you will have completed 365 tasks all of which will take you closer to your goals.

It is a series of small tasks that will pile up taking you closer to your dreams. 

So focus on your daily tasks and give your 100% to those particular tasks.

16. You quit, you lose, you fail

It’s okay to fail at your task but you need to stand up and try again. When life is tough, giving up always seems like a great option but the reality is it takes you away from your dreams. 

You can’t quit because you believe in your dreams, you can’t quit because you will end up regretting what you did, and you can’t quit because you want to achieve success. 

Success is awesome and you need to have it. Don’t quit, work towards your goal, but if things still don’t work your way, it’s time to move on and achieve success somewhere else!

17. Put your best foot forward

Often we dwell on the past and dream too much about the future. By doing this you lose the most important time – The Present.

Remember you cannot change your past nor can you see your future, all you can do is make consistent changes and improvements in your present, work towards your path of success every day so you can become the person you wish to be. 

The only way you can alter your future is by doing something today – don’t let it be doing something unproductive.

18. Don’t bother what other people think

People can think whatever they want to think just like you can think whatever you want to. What they think can’t change who you are unless you allow them to. 

They don’t know what’s best for you, they just think differently which can either be right or wrong. The worst part – you’re the one stuck with the end result of what they say. 

Just remember, life is too short for you to think about what other people think about you. Focus on how you can be better every day.

19. Learn something new every day

Why should you learn something new every day?

  • It boosts your self-confidence
  • Earn money (if you learn a money-making skill)
  • Your brain gets more developed
  • It makes you more interesting to others
  • It fuels creativity 

Start by reading the newspaper every day to keep up with current affairs, then take any topic you find interesting or a random topic and google it, read a blog or two on it. 

Just by doing these two things daily, you will learn 365 new things in a year which makes you a whole lot smarter than your peers.

You can also watch videos for things like cooking or attend webinars. 

Doing this first thing in the morning is advisable as later you might just procrastinate.

20. Don’t make assumptions

Do you know what percentage of the time are my assumptions wrong?

  • 100% 

And I’m sure that this isn’t one of my unique qualities. It’s a unique quality we all possess.

Assumptions are always wrong. It is impossible for you to ever predict every single possible outcome for a particular situation. 

If you stop assuming, you will realize how much better your life will be. Instead, ask questions and find a solution for the same.

21. Believe in yourself

In order to believe in yourself, you need to respect and trust yourself. Even if things are off-road you need to stick to your guts. You need to surround yourself with people who inspire you to be better, cut away people who try to put you down. 

Face your fears, don’t be afraid, just believe in yourself. Create goals and hit them daily, working out, and meditating consistently will help you to better connect with yourself. 

Never give up and always keep going towards achieving your goals. It starts with you, it starts now, not tomorrow but right now. 

Close your eyes and say to yourself, “I believe I can achieve all my goals and dreams”. 

There you go, 21 Brutal Life Lessons Nobody Teaches You.

How should you prepare yourself for life problems?

In life, you have to learn how to grow and develop yourself. Nobody will catch your hand and take you to the top. They might guide you but it’s you who has to outstand the competition and achieve your dreams all by yourself. 

I hope these life lessons teach you how to manage your life better, make smarter decisions, and be successful.

If I have to sum up these 21 life lessons in a few words it’ll be, ” You Need To Become A Better, Smarter, Confident And Highly Motivated Version Of What You Are Right Now “.

Life will throw you down, but if you don’t learn to stand up, you’ll always be down. ~ Rylan Agera

If you have any life advice that you follow to the core, let me know in the comments below. 

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8 Comments

  1. Hi Rylan,
    Thank you for the tips. I quit my job last year because I thought I am not competent enough to do the job and ever since I have been trying to find my way to get back to do the difficult things and your principles inspire me. I want to read them daily the first thing in the morning.

    Thank you for an inspiring article. It gives me hope to wake up every single day.

    1. Hi Kalpana,
      You’re a very strong person. Few people have the guts to leave their job and move on. I wish you the best in your future endeavors. Take care, and thanks for sharing your positive thoughts with me 🙂

  2. Hi Rylan, first time here!,

    Most of the things you said are true, they are just honestly hard to admit, everyone has their own life to live, their own struggles, concerns, lessons, fears and triumph and so it is important not to go through life thinking that people owe you something because they really don’t.
    Support and care about others as you would support and care for yourself and treat others as you would like to be treated, simple.

    1. Hey Jennifer,
      You’re right, it’s very hard to admit! I feel our job is to focus on our life and distance ourselves from people that distract us. The only people who care for you at all time with no strings attached are your family.
      Have a great day!

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