Life is full of traps and people fall victim to them daily. It’s a sad reality, and it doesn’t discriminate. So after someone asked for examples, the internet delivered this list of pitfalls to avoid.
1. Not Eating Enough Healthy Foods
It’s so easy to go out to eat and get cocktails with friends, but too much of this isn’t good. Knowing how to prepare healthy meals for yourself at home is important. Your future health will thank you.
2. Skipping Working Out
Moving your body is so important, and you want to age well. Make time to exercise your body, even if that means walking the recommended steps or minutes for daily activity. It’s so easy to get stuck behind a computer screen all day – we get it.
3. Relationship Inertia
“Relationship inertia, especially in your 20s, can extend relationships that should only have lasted months and stretch them into years. However, it’s not necessarily for bad reasons. Many of us understand that all relationships have ups and downs; moreover, we have a value system of commitment to making a relationship work,” shares one viewer.
“Unfortunately, many of us stay in those this is okay relationships because we don’t know better. Or we feel like it will get better only to realize, in hindsight, this wasn’t a great fit and never could be.”
4. Credit Card Debt
“Poor money management is the trap. But I get how you can get into it, and I’m not judging. You worked 50-hour weeks and wanted your kids to attend summer camp or have Christmas. I get it,” shares one person.
However, another argued, “Credit cards are a fantastic tool. They offer perks and safety in transactions. Moreover, they are there for you to use for free! So take advantage of all the perks and pay your monthly bill.”
5. Thinking You Have Plenty of Time Left
One user said, “Thinking, ‘I have plenty of time left.’ But, in the worst case, you pass away tomorrow, no matter how old.”
Another added, “This. My dad enjoyed five good years of retirement before he got sick and eventually passed away. So do it now.”
6. Subscriptions
One user stated, “A bunch of little traps called Subscriptions. I always wondered where my money went each month until I stopped nearly all my subscription services.”
“I’ve heard it called ‘dollaring yourself to death.’ It’s death by 1000 small cuts. You think, ‘Oh, that’s less than ten bucks. I can do that,’ but then you have a handful of them taking out a lot of money each month,” another commented.
7. Changing Lanes in a Traffic Jam
“In a traffic jam thinking, ‘I’m going to change lanes, this one is going faster,” stated one user. “Same with grocery store lines. I always pick the wrong one,” added another.
“If people slow down a bit and leave a four-car gap between you and the car in front of you, the jam starts moving. You’re letting merging traffic and lane changers go in front of you. It stops the rubber band effect of merging traffic and hitting the brakes. People who ride bumpers are why traffic gets so bad,” another person shared.
8. Trying To Change Abusive Family Members
One person said, “To keep trying to get an abusive family to change and treat you with humanity. And others who say to stay because they’re family. Nope. Safety first can mean going zero contact and actively keeping abusers away—especially abusive family members.”
9. The Life Script
“The dreaded life script: Marrying young, having 2.5 kids, a dog, and a house with a white picket fence. You can do all or none of those things and still have a happy, successful life,” one person voiced.
Another added, “You can also do all those things and hate how your life turned out.”
10. Not Working On Your Brain
“The biggest trap is not working on your brain,” one said. “People live their whole lives saying to themselves, ‘Nothing is going to change. This is who I am.’ Mostly out of laziness because changing for the better takes work.”
Another shared, “Your brain is more malleable than your body. So challenge yourself to change your perspective on reality daily—even just a little bit. Cognitive behavioral therapy is mind-blowing.”
11. Identifying Too Strongly With Thoughts
One person said, “Identifying too strongly with your thoughts. Thoughts aren’t the essence of a person. Often they’re reactions to one’s immediate surroundings. They’re unreliable and changeable. They also trigger your entire mood and your emotions. It’s a good idea to take a step back and look at what your brain spits out and how it affects you.”
12. Staying Too Long at a Job
“Staying at the same job for too long,” shared one. “I made that mistake. Now I’m paying for it. It doesn’t help your future job prospects have only one or two things to show on your resume, and it’s highly specialized.”
Another added, “At every job you take, you should either EARN or LEARN, preferably both.”
13. Thinking You’re a Good Driver
We’ve all encountered someone on the road who clearly has no idea what they’re doing.
Chances are that they think they’re the greatest driver in the world. However, while you’re raging at the car in front of you, the people behind you can see you hogging two lanes on the highway.
14. Thinking You’re Smarter Than You Actually Are
Have you ever met someone who acts like they have a genius-level IQ only to believe the dumbest things ever known? It absolutely happens all the time. Just ensure you’re always looking for signs of low intelligence in people.
Source: Reddit.
