What's the single best piece of advice you ever received?

[HermoineJeanGranger]

Just that really!
Would love to know the best little pearls of wisdom you've been given : )

3 for me;

1. My DM when I was a teen;

When you commit to do something commit your whole self, including the part of you that may not want to do it at the time.

2. A colleague prior to my going off on my first mat leave:

Get used to sleeping in the day before the baby arrives, then you will both be used to having an afternoon nap- worked a dream.

3. This place;

Serve hungry children raw veg before their main meal - they will eat it because they are hungry.

Silence is a powerful message.

best piece of parenting advice I have ever been given is 'If it is going well, or going badly it is all just a phase'.

I like to think of that when DS1 is having a full on autistic meltdown in public, and I like to think 'enjoy this nice phase' when things are going well.

The other piece of advice I have very recently given myself is to 'stop wallowing'. I have had so much counselling for various significant traumas in my past and found that I simply was not moving on and was emotionally stuck. I've decided that it's in the past, I don't need to dwell any longer and I feel quite frankly liberated.

Always earn your own money

Trust your gut instinct-me
babies behaviour is just a series of phases-me
think like a businessman-my friend (about buying a house)

When I was a new mum, an older work colleague said "you know that baby book? Well the baby hasn't read it". My son was bf and a routine never developed, and her words helped me to just go with it

Dony shit on your own doorstep

Two bits of advice from my father.
First one.... education is the finest free gift you will ever receive. Take it, don't waste it.
Second one. Pay off your mortgage as fast as you can and get rid of that millstone round your neck.
I followed both pieces of advice, studied hard and secured a good career, which allowed me to pay off my mortgage in fifteen years.

If you're potentially getting into an argument or are having a difficult conversation...

Always think about what you want the outcome to be; what words will get you there. Don't just rant and say what you want to get off your chest; that rarely gets you the outcome you want.

You can't change anyone else ... you can only change yourself.

From parents when I started work in 1972, aged 17.

Always save as much as you can afford
Enrol in a work pension as soon as you can

So glad I did both

So many conflicting pearls of wisdom here! It’s always worth listening to what others have to say, but don’t accept everyone else’s rules as your rules.

My old dad (no longer with us) telling me to start a pension as soon as I could.

Started aged 19 and have always paid in (overpaid for many years) and now I am looking to retire at 57.

Nothing stays the same forever - even if you want it to.

and

There is a solution to everything.

Unfortunately, others people's wisdom where I had none, it didn't penetrate 🙈😪

I'm very wise now having learnt almost every lesson the hard way.

I would say to myself at 20, if I could, mindset is everything, and you can work on that privately. Self worth, sense of self, resilience, grit, identity... there's no exam, no grade, you have the freedom to work on yourself from the inside and nobody is going to come along and fail you with a d minus.

But if you don't look at this stuff, your life might end up being a bit d minus.

Give it a go. Nothing to lose.

Don't get drunk and cut your own hair because "it looked easy on youtube".

'Comparison is the thief of joy.'

It's just so true.

Be cool 😎

Thank you Fonzie.

So true. The bit that changes is that you don't tolerate it.

But my goal is to not be hurt. I still hear "you're so sensitive" and trying to figure out if I'm being rational or rationalising, a lot of my life would have been easier of things hurt less.

Still pondering this one I guess.

Don’t feel entitled to anything you didn’t sweat and struggle for

Love this thread 😊

'Sometimes you have to be a bit brave'. My dad said it and he definitely isn't the motivational speaker kind. I think that's why it stayed with me.

Ha ha my colleague did this, three kopperbergs under her belt and it looks great. Her hair is thick and wavy.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads my first thought was the serenity prayer too. It just makes sense in life doesn’t it!

Never write anything down unless you're prepared for the whole world to see it.

(This goes for anything recorded, including photos of course !)

Best piece of advice my ex. boss ever gave me.

Move to London. Best advice ever. Ditched an abusive relationship doubled my salary and met an alpha Dh. Moved out but those 7 years changed the course of my adult life.