I’m talking about life decisions that worked out perfectly and left you with no regrets. Here are mine:
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Quitting Facebook - I quit using facebook about 2 years ago. It’s a toxic platform that destroys your privacy, worsens your mental health, and endangers democracies. Much happier since I quit, and no regrets at all. Talking to friends and family face to face or through text is way better.
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Quitting my old toxic, stressful job - I quit working at a top 500 software firm a while back and have been much happier ever since. There was little to no work/life balance, co-workers were extremely antagonistic, the work was amazingly both boring and stressful, and management didn’t care about anything. Quit for another job that paid around the same with a much better culture. No regrets.
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Reading books - Books have completely re-shaped my world view, and I would be much worse off without them. Here is my list:
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“The Better Angels of Our Nature,” “Enlightenment Now,” and “Factfulness” by Steven Pinker (first two) and Hans Rosling (last). The world is improving overall, not getting worse like the media makes it seem. Reading the facts convinced me it is logical to be an optimist.
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“Ultralearning” by Scott Young and “A Mind for Numbers” by Barbara Oakley. Two books that teach the science of efficient learning. These books helped me understand the best strategies for long-term knowledge retention. Every public school in the world should be teaching the concepts in these books.
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“The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing,” “The Millionaire Next Door,” and “Your Money or your Life,” by Taylor Larimor, Cotter Smithand, and Vicki Robin (in that order). As well as various FIRE blogs. These books helped me learn the basics of personal finance, investing, and early retirement. Previously I thought that working until you die was an unavoidable fact of life. Reading about FIRE and smart money management made me question that assumption, and freed me from the shackles of corporate nonsense.
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I’m interested in hearing what other people have to say. Give me what you’ve got.
No particular order: Losing weight, learning guitar and 3D modeling and having a kid.
- Keeping my reading habit throughout the past decade.
- Choosing the “wise” path of Computer Science instead of Physics as my degree: I absolutely love math and physics but sadly in my country research and teaching are poorly financed and paid. I don’t love CS but I enjoy it enough and also the pay is very good even for a fresh graduate.
- Learning about finances and investing. I don’t expect to FIRE but at least I think I’m on the good path
Stopping smoking and going vegan. Also taking care of myself in any way, be it fitness or finances.
I just read a little bit my best decisions are getting married and having my kids
I started a morning journaling habit and committed to doing it for two weeks - about five years ago.
Most mornings I just jot down 3 quick random things I am thankful for.
Now when I look back over those journals I see evidence of big decisions they helped me make, new habits, all kinds of other ways it’s affected me for the better.
I’ve also built up a nice little stock of letters to my kids this way, for them to enjoy after I’m gone.
My morning journalling is also five years old this year. My only regret is that I wish I’d done it sooner. Going back and reading what you did last year or the year before, can really show how much you’ve grown or what still needs improving.
Moving to a city that doesn’t force you to own a car, learning Chinese, and quitting drinking
Having children.
Same here. Never thought I wanted kids growing up either.
Reading books, quitting alcohol and stop being sedentary.
Getting in shape and having a regular exercise routine, for sure. All of the side effects from that are incredible… Stamina, confidence, clearer thinking. So great.
Also, you can hate yourself in a more productive way. That’s really helpful.
Moving closer to family has been really nice
We’re considering moving to Europe soon for a job opportunity, but moving away from family is the major downside.
Best of luck, Europe is worth it. Maybe you can go for a couple of years and hopefully fam can visit a bunch.
Quitting Alcohol / Smoking. Not only for my long term health but for my wallet.
For sure. I had a 50 dollar a day drinking problem (when drinking at home, bar was minimum 100). Credits cards almost paid off after 1 year sobriety.
Congrats man, you rock!
I used to have ~8 beers daily. Felt terrible majority of the time. Now I workout 4 days a week and only drink 2 beers every Friday. It’s great.
Wish I had your self control! I do miss having a beer or two socially.
Woke up gasping “did I actually do that last night” After getting super high on mushrooms and ecstasy and drunk and emailing some of my professors a passionate email of how I wanted to go to grad school and work for them. Got grad school free with additional stipend.
Nice, sometimes you just gotta take the leap!
Sometimes the best decisions are made while intoxicated. Optimism overflow.
Unmarried and childless.
I get to enjoy all of my money AND time. Glorious.
getting into D&D because it helped me gain some very good friends
Not having kids, ending a toxic relationship, changing career path (programming) , exercising min 4 days/week.
