Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Confess Which Things They Wish They Started Doing Sooner In Life

Person holding a handful of coins
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

No matter how happy we are with our lives, most of us can think of at least one thing that we wish we could have done differently.

Even if that just means starting to do the same things a little bit sooner.


Feeling reflective, Redditor AbortiveBases1 asked:

"What's something you wish you started doing sooner?"

Letting People Go

"Learning that just because someone is your friend for a long time doesn't mean you have to deal with their toxicity or narcissistic behavior."

"You can leave those friendships. It sucks at first but it's worse staying friends with people like that."

- SadStone2265

Getting Divorced

"My mom and dad got divorced in 2022 when my siblings and I were all between the ages of 27 and 31."

"We couldn't be happier. It could (and should) have happened way earlier, like 10 to 15 years earlier. Our childhood definitely suffered for it."

"I have no complaints about my mom, she's the best lady ever, but things would've been a lot more pleasant at home if they divorced then."

- doomed_danny

Creative Outlet

"Making things."

"I 3D print, do woodwork, and do home renovations. It’s made me more self-confident (I now usually believe I can do anything), more creative, and changed the way my brain works."

"I can’t imagine what kind of person I’d be today if I had been doing this all throughout my 20s."

- AirZurk

Sugar Intake

"Weaning myself off sugar."

- CouldMurderACarvery

The Perfect Partner

"My wife. She's the granddaughter of a friend of my aunt, so I could have met her a lot sooner, but we only met when I was 29."

"The way we clicked together and got lost in conversation with each other... I only wish it had started sooner."

- netheroth

"You can't guarantee that you would have clicked earlier."

"It was the same with my wife, I had met a bunch of her close friends over the years through friends and vice versa. There are pictures of us at the same events when we were 17, 18, and 20, but we just never met. Ships passing in the night."

"We met finally at 29 and realized we had all the things in common and clicked immediately and are happily married with a beautiful two-year-old."

"Looking back, had we met at 17, I don't think we would have gotten together. We both had a lot of growing to do before we were right for each other."

- sirhcdobo

Ditch the Hustle

"Focusing on friends instead of the grind."

"I worked two jobs through the 2010s. As a freelance digital artist at night, I made a lot of 'friends' through conventions, online chat groups, and social media."

"However, the pandemic hit, and the conventions closed. Freelance business dried up. Our clients disappeared. With my evenings more open, I focused more intently on ascending in my day job, and now only have one or two contacts left from my digital art years."

"They're all I have left. And we don't even talk that much."

"I'm working on rebuilding a friends circle, trying to reconnect with everyone who still remembers me, lives close enough, and didn't die years ago unbeknownst."

"It's an awkward process, trying to again find similar interests now that everyone has a wife, kids, and home to take care of, while I seem to have dropped out of a time portal from 2003."

- QuarantineTitans

Understanding Mental Health

"My wife."

"But seriously, endorphins."

"And understanding the importance of endorphins on mental health."

"Even a small amount of physical activity has a major improvement on my mental health, energy, and moods."

- ksozay

Work History

"I wish I'd started working sooner."

"My mom sent me money for food and essentials while I was in college because she said a job would just distract me from getting good grades. Unfortunately, she simply forgot to send the money, a lot."

- stellathewizard

Home Yoga Sessions

"At-home yoga. It's free AND my back doesn't hurt anymore!"

- mekkimegz

Prioritizing Sleep

"Enforcing my own bedtime. My mood is 1,000% better on days when I get enough sleep."

- lights_camera_pizza

The Value of Therapy

"Therapy. Seriously, if you are considering seeing a therapist, then just do it."

- Avjycjc8ttghu478

Exercise Routine

"Two-a-day workouts. Once you figure out intensity pacing and treating one as a 'light' workout, it’s not hard."

"Getting up at 5:30 most days isn’t awesome, but I get 14, 45-min hits of exercise almost every week, and I’ve never had as much energy, positivity, and overall health. Plus, weight management-wise, I can eat d**n near anything I want to. I had a 'mostly' clean diet before, so I wasn’t going bonkers. But it makes eating pretty enjoyable."

- superstarrrr99

Better Self-Talk

"Replacing self-depreciative jokes with sarcastic compliments on myself."

"For example, instead of saying, 'My hair looks like something died in it,' say, 'I was born a queen. Look how great I look on a bad hair day too!'"

"Fake it till you make it kinda works. Eventually, I'm not feeling as insecure about myself as I used to."

- saagarammm

Sentimental Photos

​"Taking pictures with my husband and kids. I hate the way I look in pictures so usually, I’m the one behind the camera. It wasn’t until last year that I read a post here on Reddit that made me change my way of thinking."

"It said something along the lines of, kids don't see wrinkles, extra fat, or bad hair. You know, all the things we nitpick about ourselves. They just see Mom."

- Dazzling-Nature-6380

The Next Phase

"Retirement. Did it at 68 but was enjoying running my own publishing business, so I stayed on."

"Now in retirement, I’m having a blast doing so many things I never previously had time for that I wish I’d taken the plunge at 60, or earlier. (Let that be a lesson to all you young ‘uns out there.)"

- SkepticalSenior9133

While it's so easy to regret things in our lives, sometimes it's important to think about the things we're doing right.

Sometimes we'll be so proud of what we're doing, we'll only regret not getting a jump on it sooner.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Keith Ervin
WJHL/YouTube

Tennessee High Schooler Rips Into 'Cowards' On School Board For Not Firing Colleague Who Called Her 'Hot' In Scathing Takedown

A Tennessee community is in an uproar after a school board member has been allowed to keep his job after making an inappropriate comment to a high schooler.

Washington County high schooler Hannah Campbell delivered a scathing takedown of board member Keith Ervin, who called her "hot" during a public meeting in April.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Claims The White House Was 'A Sh*t House' When He Moved Back In—And Everyone Had The Same Response

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump has made significant, controversial changes to the White House since he took up residence for his second term on January 20, 2025.

The renovations in just over one year include installing pavers to replace the grass in the Rose Garden, adding gold decor throughout the building and especially in the Oval Office, renovating the Lincoln bathroom to add marble and more gold fixtures, adding gold signs for White House features like it's one of Trump's resorts, hanging a plethora of massive portraits of himself in gaudy gold frames, and demolishing the entire East Wing of the building to erect a self-described monument to himself, an unpopular golden ballroom that will dwarf the rest of the building.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump Mobile phone; Screenshot of Trump supporter complaining about Trump Mobile
Joe Raedle/Getty Images; @codenamesteev/TikTok

MAGA Melts Down Hard After Learning They May Never Get Their 'Trump Mobile' Phones—Or Their Deposits Back

MAGA fans who signed up to get Trump Mobile T1 phones nearly a year ago are furious after learning there's no guarantee they'll ever get the phones they put down deposits for—and that these same deposits are now being described as merely a "conditional opportunity."

The Trump Mobile T1 phone was unveiled in June 2025 on the 10th anniversary of Trump’s original presidential campaign launch, marking the Trump brand’s debut in the mobile device and wireless service market. At the time, the company said the phone would be available in August.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
UChicago Institute of Politics/YouTube

People Are Applauding AOC's Refreshing Take On Her Political 'Ambition' After She Was Called Out As A 'Likely 2028 Presidential Candidate'

When asked about her future political ambitions during an appearance at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was notably candid, saying her "ambition is to change this country," as she ripped a Washington Post editorial that tried to knock her down a peg for her take on the morality of billionaires.

The progressive is not currently considered the frontrunner in early 2028 Democratic primary polling but some surveys suggest she has already emerged as a serious contender in what is expected to be a crowded field.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Rod Stewart and King Charles III; Donald Trump
Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Rod Stewart Just Gave Trump The Most Brutally Accurate New Nickname During Candid Conversation With King Charles

On Monday, King Charles III attended an event at Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the King's Trust—previously called the Prince's Trust—which the United Kingdom's reigning monarch founded in 1976 to support young people aged 11-30 facing challenges like unemployment, poverty, or lack of education.

In attendance that night was Sir Rod Stewart, who was knighted in 2016. Stewart and the King have met several times, and briefly chatted while King Charles greeted distinguished guests in the reception line.

Keep ReadingShow less