Advice is one of those things that’s freely given but not always welcomed. Still, the right advice , delivered at the right time to a receptive set of ears, can be life-changing. Sometimes, said advice might even sound a little bit weird .
The r/AskReddit thread, ” What is the weirdest advice you have heard that is strangely effective? ” is full of weird advice. Some of it might even be worth following.
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Time passes either way.
“If you want to work to get better at something, accomplish a long term goal, or change careers or credentials, don’t look at the 2-5 years and think you’ll be too old. If you’re 24 and want to go to college, you’ll be 28 in four years with or without a degree regardless of what you do in that time.”
Think of the big picture.
“My wife changed my world a while back when dealing with a bad attitude from my son. She simply asked, ‘What do you think is going to come from this?’ I apply that to most things I do now.”
A walking hack.
“When walking among other people, there’s a trick to avoid the annoying little ‘who’s gonna pass on what side’ dance, where both of you go left, then both go right and then you finally pass:
Pick a direction and aim your face towards your intended direction, like look to the left or right of them, clearly turning your head in a single direction.”
Learn to love yourself.
“I woke up one day after years of torment, a lot of which from myself, and realized that being upset about how I look won’t make me any prettier, so I may as well just own my looks. I can fix what I can but being upset about it ain’t gonna do [anything], may as well love my fugly self.”
What can ice do for you?
“Stressed, upset, panic attack, ennui?
Put an ice cube in your hand. Move it around your hand until it slowly melts. It takes about 5 minutes.
Primary Effect: the cold on your skin grabs your brain’s attention. You stop thinking about what was stressing you out and feel present in the moment.
Secondary Effect: the cold cools your blood, which goes into your heart and slows down the beating. As your heart beat slows to maintain your body heat, your lungs breathe more slowly as well. It forces you to breathe, which calms you down.”
Have faith that you’ll get there.
“I tell my daughter to add the word ‘yet’ after anything about lacking something.
It’s meant to redirect negative self admonishment into a drive to grow and learn. And apparently it’s sinking in, because she will say something like ‘Ugh, I can’t make it up this hill!’ while we’re out bike riding and then catch me looking at her, give a big eye roll and go ‘…yet!’ in the exact tone you think a teenage girl would use.”
Don’t worry what others think.
“No one thinks about you as much as you do. Meaning we’re all worried about people thinking about the tiniest embarrassing things we do, when no one really cares. It gave me freedom to take on more challenges and not worry about failure.”
The key to curbing impulse purchases.
“If you want to buy something, wait 24 hours and if you still want to buy it afterwards then buy it. This has really cut my impulse buying down and has made saving money extremely easy.”
If you’re struggling, focus on the simple stuff.
“My mother always said ‘Go back to basics’ whenever I was struggling mentally. I disregarded it for years but now I live by it. I only utilise this way of living during desperate ‘survival’ times, but it’s amazing advice.”
Failure can lead to success.
“I’ve learned this after becoming a father. Not because I’m failing parenting but because I watch kids fail, fail, fail some more and then succeed. It’s amazing how shamelessly and effortlessly they fail and keep going.”
Don’t draw attention to yourself.
“‘If you sit quietly while everyone else [messes] up, you’re going to win big!’ – John Oliver.
I’ve gotten multiple jobs and school opportunities by just doing my work and not being a loud moron.”
Something is better than nothing.
“Taking five minutes to workout, clean, work on a big project, etc. is better than zero minutes. We often think we’ve got to do two hours of rigorous work or it doesn’t accomplish anything.
Don’t draw attention to your embarrassment.
“If you’re embarrassed about something, don’t bring it up 20 times. Like if you mess up during a speech don’t go up to a bunch of people who were watching and say ‘Hey sorry I messed up during my speech’ over and over because then that’s ALL they’ll be able to think about (and it’ll also make you seem really defensive).”
Humor helps.
“Fake it till you make it. That actually works. Mirror how a confident person would act in your situation.
Humor also works amazingly well. If you mess something up completely by being awkward, laugh it off. ‘Wow that was awkward, sorry. Let’s try that again.'”
Only convey the necessary information.
“Don’t give excuses unless they ask for it.
I.e if you are late for work, just say that you are late. Not why you are late.”
“Never volunteer more information than is needed to get through the situation.
Sometimes you’ll just make things worse by Moving their focus to something they didn’t even know about.”
Look to the periphery.
“If looking for something in a low light environment, try to use your peripheral vision.
I read about it in an old WWII manual about aerial combat at night. It has something to do with how eyes work. It has helped me many times over the years. For finding stuff in a darkened room, or outside in a field at night, not aerial combat.”
From the mouths of children.
“From my 7 year old daughter…I still laugh about it today.
If you’re ever in an awkward situation with someone or need to just go away- you could always pretend to choke on something. I don’t know where this came from but it’s funny AND it works. You just run away to get a glass of water.”
Know when enough is enough.
“Do you understand, that if you try to endlessly stack bricks, no matter how perfect you do it, they will fall over?
My boss told me this after I burned-out. Just says that no matter how well you plan your work, too much is too much.”
Read your body.
“I tell myself my increased heart rate and racing thoughts are just signs that my body is priming itself to allow me to do something I didn’t know I could do.
I used to think they were signs to quit, but they’re really an ignition sequence.”
Make your bosses say ‘no.’
“It’s great when you’re not sure if you should apply for a job, go for a promotion or a raise, or do something you’re afraid of. Don’t be so worried about getting told no or failing, you’ll surprise yourself.”
