Navigating Life’s Journey: 45 Lessons from My 45 Years on the Earth

I often reflect on my life and time on this earth. I realise how much I have changed over the last decade—let alone four and a half decades—and how many of life’s lessons I have learnt.

1. You can choose your attitude and how you respond to things. Whilst not always easy, seeing the positives and letting go of the negatives often results in a happier life.
2. Feelings are not facts… even if you feel things deeply, this doesn’t mean those feelings represent the truth.
3. Create positive habits. Like most things, they start off hard but soon become routine. Positive habits can change your life.
4. True friends who you can be your authentic self around are rare and should be cherished.
5. Some rules are meant to be broken, and that’s okay.
6. Surround yourself with people that you like and inspire you.
7. Neurodiversity can be a gift if you recognise the strengths and perspectives it brings.
8. Measure a person’s character by how they treat others who have absolutely nothing to offer them. Watch how people treat waitstaff, cleaners, and others in low-paid professions.
9. Don’t hero worship. People are just people.
10. Try and find a way to say yes, rather than an instinctive no.
11. Do what you say you are going to do and call people back.
12. Treat people the way you want to be treated.
13. If someone screws you over once, they will likely do it again if given the chance.
14. Always look for the opportunity in something rather than the problem.
15. The most successful people in the world often share their wisdom. Read, learn, and absorb.
16. Have a mastermind group of peers who challenge and inspire you.
17. It’s okay to cry, even in front of your children.
18. Try your best; give things your 100%. If you fall short, at least you know you went all in.
19. Most people are intrinsically good.
20. Life is precious and fleeting. If times are hard, lean on those that love you and embrace them when they need it.
21. Invest in property. Try to keep everything you buy and build up a portfolio.
22. Recognise and thank people publicly for their contributions.
23. If there is someone you look up to or would really like to meet, reach out to them. Most people will happily give you their time.
24. Regret doing something rather than regret not doing something.
25. Often the hardest things are the most rewarding.
26. Do things you love.
27. Understand your strengths and weaknesses in business. Lean into your strengths and find people whose strengths correlate with your weaknesses.
28. Have a mindset of abundance.
29. Learn from the past and try not to repeat your mistakes.
30. Everyone is flawed to a certain degree.
31. Stuff is not that important. Food, shelter, love, health, and friendship are much more important.
32. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
33. Zig when everyone else is zagging.
34. Dare to be different.
35. Travelling and experiencing other cultures is one of the joys in life.
36. Life is about the experiences you have and the people you meet.
37. Try and see the best in people and situations.
38. Don’t compare yourself to others. Look within and try and better yourself.
39. Take time out, away from technology—ideally in nature—to just think. Inspiration will bubble to the surface.
40. Music can change your mood. Create a playlist to initiate different moods.
41. If you don’t ask, you won’t receive. The worst they can say is no, and then that’s the same outcome as not asking.
42. Nurture talent and share wisdom.
43. If something in your life is not working, change it.
44. Diversity is something to celebrate. Life would be boring if we were all the same.
45. Don’t be hard on yourself. Live, laugh, and learn from your experiences.

For me, the core takeaways of the past 45 years are to seek out new experiences, embrace positivity, kindness, and diversity, and surround yourself with people you love and respect; those you can be your true self around.