Has anyone ever given you some life changing advice?

[scottyhannah]

My first ever boss told me to find my voice and do things with purpose.
It was a dig at the time as I was a shy little 17 year old but for some reason it stayed with me for the next 30 years and I still hear his voice butt into my head when I need motivation.
He would have no idea that his frustrated jibe would have helped make me who I am.

Yes - "How someone does anything, is how they do everything"
Look out for the small details about someone you're getting to know, it will tell you how they do the bigger things too.

One of my very early training/development courses had the tag line "if it's to be it's up to me". I use that a lot, 35 years on.

Also, in a marathon 20 miles is half way 😆
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" Be more male" from an ex-colleague when feeling unsure or unconfident just think " would a man worry about this ? " 9 times out of 10 I stopped worrying and just go for it.

90 percent of success is preparation

I love this. I need to remember this one. It could have saved me a lot of angst tbh.

Invest small amounts every month. Save small amounts for emergencies. You'll be surprised how much you have when you need it

When I was a PhD student just starting to teach, we had to do a weekend's training, and one of the lecturers listened quietly to all of his colleagues getting themselves tied in knots over how to enforce this rule or that rule or the other rule. Then he observed, calmly, that he just wasn't bothered about enforcing rules for the sake of it: if something didn't actually trouble him, and didn't disrupt the rest of his class, he didn't let it worry him.

It sounds really basic but for some reason it really stayed with me, and it applies in all sorts of aspects of life - there are so many things we do because we've got a vague feeling we 'should' care. But life is so much easier if you figure out what actually bothers you, and stop worrying about all the other things that really don't matter! It makes you much kinder to other people, too, if you get into the habit of thinking 'actually, how much do I care?' rather than 'OMG I should be angry about this'.

Also lots of relationships stuff from MN in the good old days.

Two things for me:-
One of my best managers told me "keep doing what you're doing until someone says it's wrong. Nobody ever comes to tell you you're doing a good job and to keep it up, the just come when they want you to do something different".

That one served me well, and gave me the confidence to push on as he was spot on.

Second one was "the furthest distance we ever have to travel in this life is the six inches between our own ears". This has also served me well as I was often the one who tripped myself up.

A year from now you'll be glad you started today

Hard work is often an accumulation of easy work you didn't do when you should have done it.

You only go round once...don't waste it.

Holy moly, story of my life right there! I have always been a procrastinator and will do literally anything else to avoid doing the thing I really need to do. I get so overwhelmed 😔

"If in doubt, do nowt".
Sometimes perceived problems solve themselves 😊

Motivation is the engine, inspiration is your spark plug. Together they will get you to where you want to go. And make sure you drive like hell!

8th grade shop teacher (RIP Mr. Lewes)

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You’re going to be the age you will be whether you choose to do the thing or you choose not to do the thing - if in doubt, do the thing!

This pushed me through my degree and postgrad as an adult learner. Worth every second of my time.

I'm going to stop procrastinating tomorrow.

My Mum always used to say "you'll only have to say it once, if you say it properly".

Many occasions. Ending relationships. Handing my notice in at jobs. And various other situations I procrastinated over. It's always worked

“a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
I got given a bookmark with this on and always remember it when tasks seem huge

My grandad told me
“Don’t let other peoples opinions become boulders on your path”
That always helps me when I self doubt my decisions due to other people’s comments.

It's not a popularity contest - in relation to work. I then extended it to other areas. Not oh so deep, but for some reason helped me get over the need to be liked by everyone. I am not rude to anyone, but now I don't put myself last all the time.

If you're not sure of or don't understand something just ask. Don't just sit there wondering. A teacher said that to me once and it helped me a lot. I became a teacher and one of the first things I used to say to my tutor group each year was that. I told them you learn by asking for help, you learn nothing by staying quiet and hoping someone will explain.

My wedding photographer told me marriage was about sacrifice, not compromise e.g. if you want a city break in Edinburgh, and he wants on in London, compromising on Birmingham won't make anybody happy. True for many things in marriage, both big and small.

"Have many friends, trust few, always paddle your own canoe"
Said to me by a much older work colleague when starting out.
Didn't always obey it though, wished I had.

My uncle one day took me to the side and told me my now-ex wasn't the right person for me and there was someone much better out there for me.

I was young, naive and a SAHM to two kids so I just pooh-poohed it as an "uncle is drunk" sort of thing.

He was right. It took me years to see what he saw but I eventually moved on and I'm married to an absolutely amazing man now.

From a film, the name of which is long forgotten, but it resonated at the time and I say it to myself when I'm feeling overwhelmed and want to crawl under a duvet... "Nobody is coming to save you. Get up. Save yourself."

Also, from an ex: we spend 20% of our time doing 80% of the work, and the other 80% of the time doing the last 20% of the work. Sometimes it's ok to just get things 80% done and move on.