Something you wished you had known or done earlier in life?

Hooked

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122073447#Comment_122073447

Sound advice!

Hooked

My only regret - and one for the the "I wish I had known" column… Stay in college. Get that Masters. Maybe do a PHD.

I'm 45 and have a GREAT life. Both parents still around. Super family and friends. A gorgeous wife. No kids. No money worries. The house of our dreams. A monsterous garage for my DIY addiction... My health. A job I'm bloody well excellent at (which brings me to my next point).

I've had to work HARD for it. Because the career I picked is 'low(ish) paying'. I jumped at the money - fresh out of college.

I've always wondered, and this is going to sound cocky… I'm far too clever to be in this particular career (design/print). I should've stayed in college, gone into something engineering or mathematical, public sector, etc… earn more, working less.

But… the flip side is I'd probably have made different "life" choices and be miserable! And broke. LOL

Kichote

Wish I had got the snip when I was 18

Padre_Pio

Wish I had children earlier.

Now in fairness I hadn't met the right woman, but it would be much easier to be chasing after toddlers in late 20s that late 30s.

Fortunately no fertility issues, but some friends are going through rounds of IVF because they just left it too long to conceive.

Gary_dunne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122073561#Comment_122073561

This is only really feasible if you live in Dublin. Most have to move for college/work and don't have the option to not rent. May seem a waste to you but a harsh reality for most younger people these days.

foxsake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122073824#Comment_122073824

somebody wrote that in my uncles autograph book

are we related so ?

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077634#Comment_122077634

https://youtu.be/CjPDbdOgrxY

Its opposite for Hardy Bucks. Wish I hadnt seen any of it and could watch for first time again.

BaywatchHQ

I swallowed the blackpill in my mid 20s so I mostly checked out of society since then. That was my destiny so I can't regret not doing anything different. You can only regret things you could have changed.

Well I was a gambling addict during my 20s so I wish I had spent the money I lost on hookers or holidays rather than that.

fits

lift weights. Wish I’d started years ago. Have osteopenia now.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077634#Comment_122077634

I don't know, did your uncles people hail from the Ebro Delta by any chance ?

foxsake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077706#Comment_122077706

i love that clip :)

foxsake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078415#Comment_122078415

sadly boring old dublin :( ebro delta sounds like cool

yourdeadwright

Would have had my kids earlier, just to have more time with them,

BailMeOut

I wish I paid a lot more into my private pension when I was young. The money invested during those early work years that has 40+ years to grow is one of the best financial investments anyone will ever make in life

gym_imposter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122074476#Comment_122074476

They have a power over us ( when we are young) that is not found elsewhere and know which buttons to press

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077967#Comment_122077967

I’m not mad about weights but fitness certainly. Growing up I didn’t know anyone who was into fitness beyond playing sport or going for the occasional walk or run which in the Irish climate isn’t exactly the most appealing idea a lot of the time. Was in my mid 30’s before I started exercising which was more out of necessity due to a pretty serious health issue that required rehabilitation….. prevention is better than cure….

fits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082439#Comment_122082439

Women in particular really benefit from loading the muscles and bones though. It’s almost necessary

z80CPU

Kept my PC DVD game GP 4 by Geoff Crammond.

Only now in 2024 do I have a steering wheel ( well, it's a Logitech flight yoke but it does have a switch to toggle it between flight and driving modes )

Hyperbollix

If I could sit down with 20 year old me, I'd tell him to be more astute in weighing people up and their motivations. I'd tell him to put time and effort into people who appreciate it and who at least try to return a favour. To focus on people who will make the effort to drop a text or a phone call for no other reason other than to see if you're alive or dead.

I never paid attention to such things and as a result lost good people along the way and wasted time with others who I should have known from Day1 were just drains, out for themselves. People who go missing the minute there's a bump in the road. Some seem to understand this innately, I was totally clueless to it as a young person.

Hontou

I wish I had learned to say 'no, it doesn't suit' earlier in life. I spent a lot of years being the doormat of my family and work places. Being the one that hosted all the extended family events at my own cost. Being the one that minded everyone elses children, even though I was busy with my own too. Always the one that stayed to clean up after others. Stepping in for colleagues who had to leave work early on Fridays and doing their work. I found out that this is not appreciated. People don't get remembered for helping others they just get remebered for the one time they say 'no'….and then they are the baddie. Now I just say 'no, it doesn't suit' and I get treated better.

DialecticAspirations

"Talent" is often nothing more than hard work and experience.

You don't have to fit in with whatever people around you are doing. You don't have to drink alcohol.

Recognising and then removing toxic people from your life is very important. Being alone > having toxic "friends".

Ben Bailey

'Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then' - Bob Seger

Leg End Reject

Not to waste time worrying about what others thought of me, not giving a fcuk is very liberating.

Pauliedragon

Wish I never signed up to boards. Spent too many wasted hours on the thing😜

Hontou

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122095404#Comment_122095404

If you enjoy wasting time then it's not wasting time.

eggy81

That there’s more to life than the pub. Spent too much time and money on the sesh as it were in my 20s. Changes you.

Wanderer2010

Always prioritise yourself. Your wellbeing your health your education and take full responsibility for getting out there and grabbing the kind of life you want. Nobody is coming to rescue you.

chrissb8

• Stop listening to people and listen to yourself. You may not think you have the confidence to trust your decisions but when you finally start listening to what you want and not caring what others think about it then you will only start to learn to be happy with yourself.
• It's ok to not get along with everyone, stop compromising on your opinions and self in order to become a social chameleon. Half of these people have nothing to say and have the depth of a puddle.
• Get an exercise routine involving weights and high-intensity stuff and stick to it. It will be the best thing you'll ever do. You'll gain more confidence, feel good, look better, feel happier/positive and this will all have great knock on effects in pretty much every other area of your life.
• Don't shy away from hard work because you feel you'll feel inadequate because you're not as "smart" or as able if you fail in that task/goal. You'll experience personal growth in these challenging moments and discover what you're made of in the pursuit of these goals. There are lessons in success but even bigger lessons in failure.

jj880

Try a full year off the booze as early in life as you can. I did and gave up at 41. Wish Id done it at 31.

Sgt Hartman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122094490#Comment_122094490

I only wish I were like that. I have a tendency to take things insanely personally to the point of being self destructive.