19 Deep Life lessons That Can Steal Your Joy
Just like you, everyone learns from life. But can you say most of the things you’ve learned are deep life lessons? Or do you think you’ve learned all from a casual relationship with people around you and your environment?
No doubt, the ability to learn from your mistake(s) and life is a life skill on its own. That’s because no one has it all figured out. Thus, in this article, you’ll learn some amazing, yet deep life lessons everyone should learn (on time) in the next couple of minutes.
But before we delve deep into these lessons, you must know that many people have paid with their precious tears for being ignorant of the practical significance of these lessons (you’re about to discover). While others have lost their joy because they ignorantly chose to learn the hard way.
Now, are you ready? Let’s get into them.
19 Deep Life lessons That Can Steal Your Joy
1. You’re what you project to others
People value you only as much as you value yourself. That’s why you should project yourself as someone worth their respect and value. In other words, they’ll mimic and imitate you in the way you treat yourself. Treat yourself badly, you get the same treatment from them. And vice versa.
We’re raised to imitate standards. But here, you’re the one setting the standards. Some may call it pride, and others may call it, having good self-esteem. In any case, in projecting a good image to others, you should know the difference between being proud or insolent and being self-confident with good self-esteem.
By not building excellent self-esteem, many realize this deep life lesson later in their relationships with family members, friends, and colleagues. And oftentimes, they wish they’d known the importance of projecting an amazing self-image to others on time.
2. You stay small if you don’t appreciate little things
Remember the old saying, “Do not despise days of little beginning.” This is a deep life lesson that many find hard to grasp, especially in this modern age. Many want things done very fast, with no regard for process. Don’t get it twisted. Everyone desires ease and comfort. But some things must adhere to the “principle of process”.
Imagine you start a business this week and you want it to be a multi-billion dollar business in 7 days. Won’t that be out of touch? Well, if that’s the case, the truth is that one will be sliding his feet into pain or despair. Because such a goal is unrealistic. Ask a CEO like Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, or Elon Musk, you’ll realize when they started they understood that it’s okay to start small. Thus, they appreciated their little beginning.
That said, you can apply this life lesson to other areas of our lives.
3. Life doesn’t respect your education
Got a BSc, an MSc, or a Ph.D.? If you’ve got one or two out of the three, you’re already up on the ladder of education. But the sad truth is that life doesn’t look at these qualifications before throwing challenges at you. Neither does it look at your financial status. Thus, you must be ready for challenges at every point of your life.
Doing that is far from being pessimistic. You’re trying to be prudent and not taken unawares by situations.
4. Kill your ability to hear the voice of fear
Growing up as a young child, you were probably familiar with the voices of your parents, siblings, friends, and few family members. But as one gets more mature, one realizes that the world is full of voices. And one of those voices is that of fear.
Making this particular life lesson profound, because of its relevance. So, if you must go beyond mediocrity, you must learn how to live above fear. By killing your ability to hear the voice of fear.
With that, you become less susceptible to allowing fear to ruin you. Not making you live at your best or peak.
5. Your reputation first before gain
Everybody wants to do business with a business organization with superb goodwill. But in reality, your reputation as a person can be likened to the goodwill of a business. It’s proof of your integrity.
Solomon, the king of ancient Israel, once quoted, “Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold.” (Prov. 22:1)
This wisdom is ancient, yet with a deep life lesson. But many have fallen so low because of not appreciating it. Coupled with the desire for immediate gratification. The now, now mentality!
Little wonder, Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, once quoted:
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently
6. Give and take
You might have come across the book of Adam Grant entitled Give and take, which captures these deep life lessons. Have you felt used at any point? Maybe in your relationship with someone, or at work by a senior colleague? Well, a lot of us experience that at some point in our lives, and such a feeling can be somewhat irritating.
Yet, many don’t know that life expects us to know and master this principle. For to be a receiver you must first learn how to be a giver. If you want to get love, you must learn to dispense love.
Zig Ziglar understood this, and tried to sum it up in his quote:
“You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”
7. Be the master of your mind
Taking control of your mind can be challenging sometimes. But it’s something you must learn and master because out of your heart flows the issues of life. Say, you just had a busy day at work, and perhaps, a colleague of yours got you upset.
There’s every possibility that you may rub this feeling on people you come in contact with on your way back home. Well, that would only happen if you’re not the master of your mind, which is the case with lots of people out there. Thus, not knowing this deep life lesson, in reality, can steal the joy of any person, as their emotions control them. This minute they are happy, and in the next seconds, they’re brutally angry and want to vent anger on someone.
8. Gratitude is the gateway to peace
You might be tempted to feel unthankful for yesterday, while anxiety clouds your sense of gratitude for today and tomorrow. But wait and hear the whisper of Melody Beattie, through her quote:
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Comparing yourself to others is often the enemy of the practice of gratitude. But the earlier one realizes this deep life lesson, the better for him. Always being grateful is the goodbye kiss to depression, while it ushers you into the beauty of peace. The peace that does not come from the material things that you’ve acquired.
9. Stay simple and humble
People love individuals that have good self-esteem and are humble. Sadly, a lot of people get themselves to the point where they’re willing to step against people with disdain. Without any regard. Perhaps, they feel they have achieved something that makes them feel self-entitled.
Xun Kuang, Chinese philosopher, once commented, “Pride and excess bring disaster for man.” It creates separation between people. But, when you’re humble, you’re able to accommodate and interact with people with love, diplomacy, and zero sentiments.
To wrap up, consumed in their pride, many have fallen in shame because of a lack of knowledge of this deep life lesson.
But, Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest leaders the world ever knew gave this commentary:
“When you are at the top, be careful of the monster called PRIDE. Pride will make you look down on the people who haven’t attained your level of success.
When you are at the bottom, be careful of the monster called BITTERNESS. Bitterness will make you jealous and think that other people are the reason you haven’t made it.
When you are on the way to the top, be careful of the monster called GREED. Greed will make you impatient and make you steal or seek shortcuts.
When you are on your way down, be careful of the monster called DESPAIR. Despair will make you think it’s all over yet there is still hope.”
10. Chew praise and failure like gums
The reason why many people become underachievers in life is the fear of failure. But the reverse is the experience of others. Their challenge is handling success and accompanying praises from people.
Have you ever been there… where you allow the praises of people to get into your head? If yes, then you need to pay close attention to this deep life lesson, even though many don’t consider it deep as it is.
Achieving some level of success in any endeavor is commendable. But, you must not allow the praise of people into the way of achieving something big and better for yourself. Don’t get carried away.
Hence, you should handle praises from people just as you chew gum. Remember, people don’t swallow gums. Instead, they chew the essential element (the sweet) and throw the remaining stuff after a while.
11. Learn to take advantage of your thoughts
You know the old saying, “As a man thinks, so he is” What a simple statement! Yet it sends a deep life lesson to anyone open enough to grasp it. Your thoughts reproduce themselves into reality. In simple terms, you become what you think.
To better explain this, intellectuals have created materials such as books or audio. That’s to tell you the significance of the subject of your thoughts and why you should learn to use it to your advantage.
12. Unforgivingness is suicidal
“Unforgiveness is a poison that shrivels the heart. It means a person cannot truly live in the present as they’re always thinking about the past,” says Carolyn Miller.
Yes, unforgiveness is a poison that kills its victim in a slow and profound way. Until one comprehends this deep life lesson, he would continue to live in pain and without joy. That’s the reason you shouldn’t hold grudges.
Thus, always free your heart from every garbage (in the form of hatred or grudges) because they’re counterproductive. Having an unforgiving makes one sick without any detectable infection that can get diagnosed through a medical test.
13. See beyond limitations
As said earlier, life doesn’t respect your education before it throws challenges at you. But the question is, do you see beyond the trying situations that tend to be your limitations that try to hinder the attainment of your life goals and objectives?
Napoleon Hill, the author of the bestseller, Think and Grow Rich, quoted “The only limitation is that which one sets up in one’s own mind.”
In other words, you’re the only person that can limit yourself from becoming who you should (and want) to be. The earlier one appreciates this deep life lesson, the better.
14. Be a big fan of preparation
Indeed, in life, nothing good comes easy. There’s always a price to pay to succeed in something or any endeavor. And oftentimes this price comes in form preparation. Remember the last test you wrote. Did you just walk into the assessment hall without preparing for the test? If that’s the case, you probably have learned the deep life lesson of always preparing in whatever thing you do.
That’s important. Remember, the man who fails to plan, plans to fail. It’s either way of the coin. But, you must choose to experience the positive side of it.
15. Don’t dread mistakes
It’s ridiculous yet sad how people in this age react to mistakes. Recall the last time you made mistakes in your elementary school. Or to fast forward it a little, how did your colleague or supervisor act in response to a mistake you made at your workplace?
Chances are that you were made to feel like an alien. The truth is that people detest mistakes, except a few who know that your mistakes are to lead you to success.
But if you want to live a fulfilling and successful life, you grasp this deep life lesson: Don’t dread mistakes!
16. Know your root and your definition of success
To understand this deep life lesson, you must first understand that success is relative. And thus, you shouldn’t adopt someone else’ definition of success if you don’t want to get yourself into some problem.
On this note, you must be brutally honest with yourself and not unhealthily compare yourself with others. Knowing that what another person might consider a big success, may not be success to you—depending on what you want out of life.
And that’s why you should know your “root” and purpose in life. Because knowledge of these will help you live above envy and ingratitude, while you keep working on yourself.
17. Death gets closer if you don’t take care of your health
Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” says Parker Palmer
Yes, you must take care of your health. Sadly, many don’t do this, failing to realize that as humans we cannot cheat nature. We can’t treat our bodies as robotic tools and expect them to work on autopilot.
18. Learn how to manage your money
Many grow into adulthood without learning about financial management. And thus, they’re always running in and out of financial problems, hoping to figure out the remedy to the issue.
Sadly, the school as an agent of social change is not helping matters the way it should. But the day one learns this deep life lesson, one will enjoy a better peace of mind that constant financial problems can steal.
19. If you don’t believe yourself nobody will believe you
To wrap up the list of the deep life lessons, you must believe in yourself. The truth is that if you don’t, people won’t believe you.
Bob Marley, a one-time Jamaican singer commented: “They will always tell you that you can’t do what you want to do, but you can do what you want to do. You just have to believe in yourself. The system is to bring you down, but you can rise up.”
Question
What other lesson(s) do you think life teaches us everyday?
