Lifestyle

100 Things Every 20-Something Needs To Realize In 2015

by Paul Hudson
Stocksy

Every new year we make promises to ourselves to make significant changes in our lives in the upcoming 365 days. We all have our resolution or list of resolutions -- even if it's only a mental list.

Making changes -- lasting changes -- isn’t a simple task because it doesn't just require a change in action, it requires a change in mindset. But how can you change your mindset unless you understand what your mindset truly is?

That’s why I recommend writing down realizations and theories you have on just about everything and anything going on in your life or on life itself.

Just sit down and make a nice long list of some of the beliefs you have, making sure to go over it later to better understand the way you see the world.

I have my list of 100 here to share with you. Hopefully, it’ll spark some ideas of your own.

1. Chivalry is only dead if you let it die.

2. You can't redo the most important moments in life. So do them right the first time around.

3. You shouldn’t date only for the sake of dating.

4. The way you see the world is your own personal version of the world -- no one else shares the same exact version of reality.

5. It’s impossible to fail if you refuse to give up.

6. Often, we find that wrong decisions were what led us to the right place.

7. If your life is easy, then you’re not trying hard enough.

8. The "One" exists, but there's more than just one of them out there.

9. If you keep sending nude pics, there'll be no reason to want to see you naked in person.

10. If people aren't adding to your life, they’re taking away from your life.

11. There are always opportunity costs; you can’t have it all.

12. Your health should always be your first priority.

13. Intelligence can be bought -- and for a lot less than a college education.

14. America is no longer the greatest country in the world -- at least not objectively.

15. Religion is both the greatest good and the greatest evil in the world.

16. Your religion isn’t any better or more righteous than anyone else’s. It’s just a different version of the same theory.

17. Humans aren’t any better than animals. We’re just smarter; there’s a difference.

18. People are mostly made by nurture, not nature.

19. There’s always another way to skin that cat.

20. Sex can be a beautiful thing, but it won’t be beautiful on its own.

21. Most of the foods we eat shouldn’t even be labeled as "food."

22. You can easily survive by drinking nothing but water for the rest of your life.

23. Exercise is often the differentiating factor between being happy and being miserable.

24. Your life would be a lot better if you focused today’s actions on making you feel better tomorrow.

25. Simplicity is the key… to just about everything.

26. The simplest answer is an acceptable answer only if it actually solves the problem.

27. If you love them, tell them. A shocking number of individuals never get that chance.

28. Smoking weed won’t kill you, but it could make ruining your life much easier.

29. Just because it’s illegal doesn’t necessarily make it wrong.

30. Just because it’s legal doesn’t necessarily make it right, nor does it necessarily make it morally acceptable.

31. Violence only furthers the spread of hatred.

32. Killing or maiming, even when it's supposedly for a greater cause, is almost always a selfish act.

33. Sometimes, the world we're born into makes us into the monsters we see today. It’s not an excuse, however, only an explanation.

34. Change is always possible. Even if we can’t rewrite our story thus far, we certainly can change the way our story progresses and ends.

35. Sometimes, you are the problem.

36. We are slowly destroying the planet, and there is a high likelihood of the situation deteriorating at an exponential rate.

37. Media comprise a business that sells what sells, in whatever format it believes it will sell the most.

38. If you feel the need to brag, you probably don’t have anything worth bragging about.

39. If you want to succeed in life, then you’re going to have to put yourself out there.

40. If everybody loves you, then you’re not doing it right.

41. People are 10 times more likely to post a negative comment or give negative feedback than they are to give positive feedback -- that goes for just about everything in life.

42. Everyone has an opinion. Remember that opinions are just opinions, not facts.

43. Making changes -- lasting changes -- isn’t a simple task because it doesn't just require a change in action, it requires a change in mindset. Much of what we believe to be true right now will prove to be false in 50 years.

44. There is such a thing as good TV -- unfortunately, most of it is garbage.

45. Reading a book a month can change your life.

46. If you don’t know, ask.

47. It’s great to be the smartest person in the room, but it’s much better to place yourself in rooms where there’s room for personal growth.

48. It takes roughly 10,000 hours and 10 years to truly master anything. Even the Greats couldn’t produce a masterpiece in less than nine years.

49. It’s OK to be nostalgic from time to time.

50. Most of the things created or performed around the world -- both on a personal or business level -- are made inefficiently, which means there's always room for improvement.

51. You have to work hard and work smart in order to succeed.

52. Never allow someone to tell you that you can’t accomplish something.

53. Some things just take time.

54. Changing the world starts with changing how you see the world.

55. Leaders are born. Great leaders are made.

56. Living the life of your dreams is almost certainly a lot less expensive than you think it is.

57. Most people spend their lives working only to retire and do that what they could've been doing all along.

58. Life should be spent creating and improving.

59. If you want to be remembered, then you need to be great.

60. Romantic love is intense and exciting, while true love is much less turbulent and much deeper.

61. Most people aren’t completely illogical; they just base their thinking on fallacies and shallow inquiries.

62. Being free doesn’t mean being able to do whatever you want to do...

63. It means making progress toward a better life as seamlessly as possible.

64. Most people aren't corrupt, but some people are.

65. You need to stop stereotyping.

66. Your life would be better if you focused on a handful of aspects and let the rest go.

67. There's no such thing as talent. Sure, you can be more inclined to pick up and learn information in certain ways versus others, but no one is born a talented painter, runner, doctor, writer, orator.

68. Many animals are capable of loving, which means they're capable of emotions very similar to those of human beings -- both painful and pleasurable. It’s science.

69. If you can’t have fun without drinking, then you have a drinking problem.

70. Most women probably deserve not only to make as much as men, but to make more.

71. An alarming amount of people can’t define misogyny, yet use the word regularly.

72. Just because a guy has an opinion on, or about, women doesn’t make him misogynistic. That’s not what misogyny is.

73. Plenty of guys are assh*les -- but they’re not all bad. It may take some time to weed out the duds, but it’s worth the wait.

74. If life gives you lemons, you should still do your best to squeeze out a Porsche.

75. If you want it bad enough, you’ll get it. If you don’t have it, you simply don’t want it enough -- not yet, at least.

76. There’s not much worse than an opportunity missed. If you miss one once, make sure it’s the last time that happens.

77. If you don’t take that leap, you’ll never learn to fly.

78. Relationships are full-time jobs. Coasting along for too long will get you fired.

79. Most people don’t find their soulmates -- but never let this deter you from continuing your search.

80. Most people fail not by losing, but by giving up.

81. There’s probably someone out there working more efficiently than you, doing all he or she can to reach the same goals you have.

82. When making a decision, only the outcome matters. So obvious, yet so often missed.

83. If you find someone worth loving, don’t let that person go. You’re probably just being silly even considering it.

84. Some people will never work together.

85. You never want to settle in life -- in anything or any form.

86. It’s always impossible until someone proves everyone else wrong.

87. Work with good people. Hang out with good people. Love good people. Everything else will work itself out.

88. Appreciate everything you have and prepare for losing it all -- eventually, we all lose everything.

89. Don’t work jobs you hate -- just don’t do it.

90. You should think more and judge less.

91. Talking less and observing more is the best way to interact with others.

92. If you know you’re not going to finish it, don’t start it in the first place.

93. We all have a responsibility to help each other and to work toward making the world a better place for all living things.

94. People can change. They just don’t do so very often.

95. Having a strong bond with your family makes all the difference.

96. Your family doesn’t necessarily need to be related by blood.

97. There's no reason to be a piece of sh*t. You’re just making the world a nastier place because you feel like it.

98. Most people don’t care. We can always find a handful of people, however, who do. And that’s all we need.

99. If you want to be wealthy, you need to make the right acquaintances.

100. In the end, you make your own decisions. If you’re happy with the way you live your life, keep on living it that way.

For More Of His Thoughts And Ramblings, Follow Paul Hudson On Twitter And Facebook.