30 People Who Shared Wise Words That They Thought Were Useless

We don’t like it when people waste our time with useless advice. We like practical tips that make life easier to live. There’s indeed merit in listening to the words of people with experience. But sometimes, we were too young to understand the meaning behind some advice.

It’s not that they are useless. But because we’ve never been in a situation where that advice could ever be directly useful, we never took those words seriously. It’s amazing to see how these people see these words become useful in a real-life situation.

Check out the answers to this Reddit question and see for yourself if they are truly useful.

1. Give compliments.

“Compliment people behind their backs. Sounds stupid but works wonders.” – La_Lechuga

2. Express it.

“Directly expressing my needs instead of hinting.” – grapesofap

3. Come home to a clean house.

“Cleaning your house before leaving for more than 5 days. Nothing is better than coming home to a clean house.” – Saturnwithasunroof

4. Say thanks.

“Say ‘thank you’ any time someone does something. Everyone likes to be acknowledged for something, even if it’s something small. And just making other people a litter happier makes you happier. And I imagine even just noticing how much others do for you is bound to help.” – klop422

5. Get the cheap tools first.

“My grandfather told me this and I never understood it until I had my own place. Always buy the cheap tools at first, and if you wear it out/break it, then you use it enough to justify getting a nicer, more expensive one.” – the-silliest-goose

6. Clean up.

“Life is really much easier if you clean your workplace/room. I clean my room often and it makes me feel calm and clears my head.” – L6fty

7. Left and right.

“Leftie loosie, rightie tightie.” – JustJeff236

8. Get things done faster.

“If it takes less than 5 minutes, do it immediately. I do so much less housework on weekends because of this.” – somefredkid

9. When you fail.

“Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” – fiddlesdevil

10. Filling up the tank.

“Fill your tank all the way up instead of a little at a time.” – mallykv

11. Ask anyway.

“My dad always told me ‘Ask anyway, the worst they can say is no’ when buying something or when I needed something from another person. Seemed stupid to ask if I was sure they would say no but I was also a socially anxious kid. Turns out that advice has helped me with school, with raises, with people in general, with plans with new friends…” – astrocanyounaut

12. One day at a time.

“Just don’t drink today. Surely you can do that. Then just repeat. It’s been 19+ years.” – opie2

13. Clean as you go.

“Clean as you cook, dishes right away, and 10 minutes every day walking through the house picking things up/organizing. So much better than hours of cleaning on one day.” – Olive767

14. Make it positive.

“Instead of saying, “I’m sorry for being late,” or something, say, “thank you for being patient.” Didn’t realize the effect that could have on people, and instead of putting yourself down, you bring another up.” – TheOne-SidedCoin

15. Flossing.

“Your gums bleed when you floss because you don’t floss enough. Turns out if you floss enough, your gums won’t be inflamed so they don’t bleed when you floss.” – smityhasnwrth43

16. Make a list.

“When you’re stressed, make a to-do list. I was always like, I KNOW WHAT NEEDS TO GET DONE I JUST CAN’T DO IT ALL. But if you write it down it doesn’t have to all live in your brain and you can focus.” – Mybuttfelloff

17. Spend good money.

“My mom told me to spend good money on the things that separate you from the ground: tires, shoes, mattress. I finally bought good not cheap shoes and life was SIGNIFICANTLY better. They last so much longer and my back and posture improved too. She’s not wrong about tires and a mattress either.” – KalePanic

18. Relax.

“Unclench your jaw, open your hands, drop your shoulders, and breathe in.” – Tehsyr

19. Save up.

“Pay bills, SAVE, then spend.” – all_in_this_together

20. Don’t say hateful things.

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say nothing at all. People don’t wanna hear, “Eww, yuck, you like that?” when referring to someone’s food, for example.” – DitaVonThese

21. You can do it!

“This too shall pass. On those days when I just feel like I can’t take it I think of that, and I know tomorrow will be different. Someone once told me, “tomorrow may not be better, but at least it’ll be different.” In a strange way that too is comforting.” – rakmode

22. It’s okay to give in.

“My therapist told me the next time I’m going to have a panic attack to just give in and tell myself it was ok to have one. I told him he was crazy. After a couple of tries, it started working to my amazement. I haven’t had a panic attack in 3 years.” – Donkey0394

23. Love yourself.

“Be yourself. The less you care what people think and the more real you are, the more people start to like you.” – velour_manure

24. Just a smile.

“Smiling at people. You can get a lot just from a simple smile.” – Cocoapuff2470

25. Body image issues?

“If you have body image issues, find one even very small thing you like about yourself. My starting point was a freckle in the middle of my left hand. Whenever you’re feeling bad about yourself, remember you like that ONE thing. Find a new small thing to like about once a month if you can. It becomes easier to find things, and eventually easier to like yourself, in my experience. Thanks for that advice, Mom.” – selbrat

26. Slow down.

“It’s better to lose a second of your life than to lose your life in a second. People on the road need to just slow down a little. It’ll save your life.” – alphalegend91

27. Listen!

“Just shut up and listen. Actually, listen. Too many people don’t know how to just listen without thinking that they have to add to the conversation. No, just stop. You don’t have to add anything. You are not helping. You aren’t even paying attention to wait is being said because you are thinking of what you can say.” – curlyquinn02

28. Preventing panic attack.

“Keeping my shoulders back. It was a suggestion I saw for preventing panic/anxiety. Idk what it is, but when your shoulders are in that position it gives some strange feeling of control. I also read somewhere that during panic attacks the body basically wants to curl into a fetal position for protection, so I feel like focusing on keeping your arms down and shoulders back is a conscious way to go against that and stay grounded in reality. Works for me; could work for you too.” – coralclouds

29. A wise advise for a parent.

“On my wedding day, my grandmother said to m,e “Never do anything around the house that you don’t plan on doing for life.” At the time, I thought it was terrible advice. When I was mowing the lawn at 7 1/2 months pregnant I got what she meant.” – janfleury

30. Bathroom.

“Go to the bathroom first thing after having sex.” – rozeboos