18 Things I Have Learned Before Turning 18

Hi, I have seen quite a few bloggers writing a posts featuring X things I have learned before turning X etc, so I thought that as I am turning 18 in a few days, it thought I would like to be able to do this myself.

1. You’re Stronger Than You Think You Are

When we go through something difficult, it can often make us feel weak or vulnerable, which by the way is completely normal . But we are made to stand our ground and almost fight through our emotions. And once it is over we learn so much from it, and we subsequently grow into a stronger person.

2. Perfectionism is a waste

Actually this hasn’t been too difficult for me to learn, because if you know me in real life then you may realise I am a pretty messy person. While even if you have read a good chunk of my blog, you may have noticed that often my posts feature a good number of spelling mistakes! But even so, it can still be so easy to fall into the trap where we believe that we are “not good enough”, simply because it is a long way from “perfect.” And I feel that this happens to so many amazing, talented people. But in reality I wouldn’t say “perfect” necessarily exists, because we are unique therefore will produce different things which are unique, and of equal value.

3. Stop Underestimating Our Self Worth

Sadly whoever you are, the world teaches you to feel like you are not good enough; whether that’s at school relating to grades, how much money we are earning or even the way we look. This can be so toxic, yet it is important still to strive toward making peace with, and actually liking ourselves. Which is a win win, as it should also enable us to be more supportive of one another.

4. Be Nice to Others

Really a tiny act of kindness can make someone’s day. This can include donating to charity, giving money to a homeless person or checking in on someone. It is something I will continue to work on as I feel it can be easy to have so many good intentions without necessarily enacting on them all the time.

5. Appreciate the Small Things

Think about walks by the sea with your (or someone else’s) dog. Silly looking earrings, wandering around with close friends or even chocolate! These are the little things which can vary from person to person, but life would be pretty bland without them! However, it can be so easy to put these things to one side, thinking that “bigger” things like money are far more important. But at the end of the day, it is the things which make you happy, which often are the little things, which count!

6. Don’t Expect to be Liked by Everyone

Even if you are the loveliest person, not everyone is going to like you. Often this can only be down to some unexplained grudge, or because someone has got the wrong impression of you; but whatever the reason, it is going to happen.

7. Life is too Short to Wear Boring Clothes

My goodness, there really is so much cool clothing out there, which so many would long to wear. But what holds us back (apart from money/lack of), is the fear of being judged by others. Although in reality far fewer people are going to be judging than what you think, and honestly there will be far more people admiring you. Meanwhile I find that what I wear on a day can make some difference to my confidence! So why miss out?

8. Never Underestimate Good Friendship

So I am exposing myself a bit here, but in the last few months especially I’ve been struggling a bit with anxiety making it really hard for me to be myself around people who I don’t know that well. However when I am around really close friends, it is amazing how much you can wind down. As well as that whatever you do, they are always there for you. Honestly it is priceless.

9. Things can Change Drastically

This is something we have all been shown this year, yet it can certainly be the case too within our personal lives. So I guess it is something we need to try to accept, adapt to and make the most of.

10. It is Good to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone, even if it goes horribly Wrong

It can be extremely difficult, and I admit that in some circumstances you may regret it. However this is the only way we are going to learn some things, which should lead us on to be less afraid of making the right decisions in the future.

11. Working hard may be Important, but it isn’t Everything

Yes, if you work hard then you are more likely to achieve certain things. But there is a strong distinction between working hard toward something that you are passionate about, and overworking to the point that you miss out on other important things in life, and you become kind of ill. Therefore if you want to work hard in order to achieve whatever, then go for it. But I would suggest not to go over the top when possible.

12. Mental Health Matters

Whatever people may say, mental health actually is as important as physical health. Sadly mental health is too often overlooked and sidelined, but seriously if something doesn’t feel right, you deserve help for it!

13. Everyone is Beautiful (yes really!)

Thanks to traditional beauty standards, everyone is made to feel as if they are not worthy. However beauty is so subjective, and for every time someone finds something ugly, someone else will find it beautiful! Therefore you cannot measure your own beauty against traditional beauty standards!

14. Never be too Quick to Judge Someone

I know that naturally this does happen, but it is important to do our best to repeal these urges. Simply because you are not going to know a person’s character or story just by spending 5 minutes with them, and while they may seem unpleasant or weak, you don’t know what they are facing for them to seem like that.

15. It is Ok to admit we are Unsure of Things

It is fine to not know something, because the point in life is to learn new things, rather than feel stuck in the same place. Therefore to admit we don’t know something doesn’t make us thick, but it is an important learning curve

16. You Cannot Measure Intelligence/Self Worth etc

There are bleak attempts to do such thing, such as with exam grading (yawn), the sort of job someone has and whatever else. But what utter bullshit. There are different types of intelligence, talent, positive traits and much more.

17. There is Still So Much to Learn

So many may take the guess that as you get older you feel as if you know more, but in mine, and in many other people’s cases, this is certainly far from the truth. Instead it feels that the more we learn about certain things, the more we feel there is to learn about them, as it kind of becomes new territory in our minds. And likewise there are still so many life lessons to learn.

18. There is so Much of the World to Explore

The world can definitely feel like a dark place at times, but there is also so much for us to see, do and appreciate. Obviously I haven’t even began to scratch the surface, but the first step is in realising it is there. Therefore I only hope to see as much of it as I can in following years (providing covid is less of a thing, and that i can have money).

Finally obviously I haven’t mentioned everything, but I feel these are the main points💜🌊