Copyright BuzzFeed
Older People Are Warning Younger People Against The "Traps" You Can Easily Fall Into In Life, And Suddenly I’m Rethinking Everything "I had a boss give me the good advice of 'don’t be good at what you don’t want to do.' ... Sometimes you may want to hide some of that talent from management and potential employers to avoid getting pigeon-holed." In our culture, we don't really respect our elders enough, despite hearing that phrase over and over growing up. While I think people of every generation have something to teach each other, young or old, it's undeniable that people with more life experience have wisdom to impart on those just getting started. Recently, Reddit user Otherwise-Body-7721 asked, "What's a 'trap' in life that no one warns young people about, but absolutely should?" I found a lot of wisdom in this thread, and had to share some of the best advice from people who have lived to tell their tales. 1. "Don't become so focused on achievement that you forget to enjoy life." 2. "Credit card debt. It's amazing how quickly debt can build, and as a young person, you assume you'll just pay it off. In reality, if you're not careful, suddenly it's overwhelming!" —u/Riesroshi 3. "There are a lot of people around me who just never travel and work themselves to death. It's pretty sad. Even a weekend getaway to a state park or something does wonders for resetting how you feel mentally. They say they will travel when they're retired, but you don't know if you'll be here, and your health will certainly be worse than now if you are." —u/Puzzleheaded-Owl7664 4. "Don't be in a rush to settle down. I'm 30 and I’ve seen many people settling down with the wrong person, and their partners slowly erode their enjoyment of life." 5. "Fiber is love, fiber is life." —u/Pleasant_Scar9811 6. "For me, one of the biggest traps is social media, especially apps like TikTok or Instagram. They mess with your dopamine, your attention span, your self-esteem, and even your relationships. It’s so easy to block, unfollow, or replace people the moment there’s conflict or disagreement, instead of learning to communicate, commit, and work through things. There’s also an overload of opinions and advice out there; it can leave you confused or disconnected from your own judgment. I’m still hooked on it myself, and I can see both the good and the bad sides. But it’s such a massive influence on young people’s lives now and not always in a healthy way." —u/Curious-0ne 7. "Lifestyle creep! You get a raise and immediately upgrade your apartment or your car, locking yourself into a higher cost of living forever! No one tells you that saving your raise is the only way to get free!" 8. "Don't feel like you have to have it all figured out. At 40, I am winging it as much as I did when I was 16. I assumed adults felt more put-together, but I’m still waiting for that to actually happen. I remember my parents turning 40 and having a big 'over the hill' party with all sorts of senior props. I celebrated my 40th earlier this year with a week at Disney. Definitely still just an oversized child here." —u/Hi_NOT_the_problem 9. "I had a boss give me the good advice of ‘don’t be good at what you don’t want to do.’ Unfortunately, I received that advice late and wasted some years doing things that weren’t interesting or challenging. There’s nothing wrong with knowing how to do jobs you don’t want (in fact, it can be a very good thing), but sometimes you may want to hide some of that talent from management and potential employers to avoid getting pigeon-holed. If you make yourself irreplaceable with skills you don’t enjoy utilizing, you will find that management has almost no incentive to promote you." —u/Boxcars4Peace 10. "Finally being able to afford 'the good version' of something, only to realize you're now too scared to actually use it. My fancy towels were 'for guests' who don't exist. My nice pans were 'for special occasions.' My entire adult life became a museum of things I was terrified to ruin." 11. "Porn addiction. People find porn taboo to talk about, so they don’t talk about the dangers of letting it consume you." —u/shplorg 12. "The best piece of advice I ever got was 'Those who partied wish they would've studied, and those who studied wish they would've partied.' Those who only study will have a good career but no social circle, and come home to empty apartments. The partiers wake up and realize their crowd has grown up and left them behind, and the career they have is dominated by the new generation. Have a healthy balance of both. Obviously, study and focus on your achievements, but don't forget to go out once in a while and mingle with others. If you party, know when it's time to grow up and become self-sufficient and personally responsible. If you balance it out, you'll have a solid career with a good income and have people that you can have a beer with at a BBQ on the weekend." —u/Embarrassed_Bath5148 13. "All my worst decisions in life were made from people pleasing. I realized that people pleasing is an inherently selfish act. I wasn't trying to make other people happy and be selfless (like I convinced myself), I was trying to protect myself from confrontation and difficult choices. It always blows up in the end, and you just make everything 100x worse than if you were just honest about what you really want/think from the start." 14. "Working too many hours can disable or kill you. At 43, after over a decade of working 70-90 hours per week, I had a massive stroke that left me half-paralyzed, partially blind, and incontinent. It's known now that working long hours contributes to strokes. Be careful when your employer asks you to sign a long working hours waiver or insists it's a requirement for the job. I was able to put my work ethic into my recovery, and nine years after the stroke, I completed my first half-marathon on foot." —u/eurocracy67 15. "Materialism. Trying to keep up with the Joneses will only keep you in debt and feeling insecure. 'It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you got.'" —u/209tyson 16. "Failing to save/invest. Even if it's only 10 dollars a month over 40 years, it builds up." —u/Real-Butterscotch682 17. "Sometimes it’s not worth it to pursue a higher position at work if it means it will consume more hours of your day. Staying where you are is perfectly fine." 18. "What was hot in the job market 10 years ago is probably oversaturated now." —u/uselessprofession 19. "An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. Use sunscreen, keep your indulgences moderate, stretch regularly, eat fiber, hydrate, and take care of your teeth. Your bed should be one of your investments — not necessarily more expensive, but the best quality for your body that you can get. Always remember to moderate hedonism. Having too much is almost as bad as having too little. Pleasure is an intrinsic part of a healthy psyche, and it is good to do things for no purpose but your sensual (as in sense-related, not necessarily erotic) pleasure. If you are regular and thoughtful about it, you'll be less likely to overindulge just because you have an opportunity." —u/saintsithney 20. And finally, "Thinking it's 'too late' to do something. Start a new career path, leave an abusive partnership, go back to school, start a garden, etc., etc. Yes, the ideal time was probably years ago; the second-best time is right now." Do you have any advice on how to avoid life's traps? Tell me in the comments or anonymous form below! Your response could be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed article! Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity. 21.
