What are the things you shouldn't do in life?

In this era of information overload, how do we decide how we need to live our lives? Where do we go for advice and whose advice do we believe in? How do we know if the path we have set out on would lead us along a life of happiness and fulfillment?

There aren't any doubts that experience is the best teacher. But there are plenty who have walked this earth and have left behind immense insights for those who seek. A collection of wisdom and life advice on how life SHOULD NOT BE LIVED from some of the greatest philosophers and distinguished personalities is listed-

1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. (Regina Brett). "What will people say" has killed more dreams than anything in the world. Not everyone will understand your journey. That's fine. It's not their journey to make sense of. It's yours. Appreciate where you are in your journey, even if it is not where you want to be. Every season serves a purpose. Just because you're taking longer than others does not mean you're a failure. Keep going. (Author Unknown)
2. Don’t settle for less. There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. (Nelson Mandela). What is the point in being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? (John Greene). People settle into okay jobs, okay friends and an okay life. Why? Because okay is comfortable. Okay pays the bills, and provides a warm bed at night. But okay isn’t thrilling, it isn’t passionate, it’s not life changing or unforgettable. Okay is not the reason you risk absolutely everything you’ve got for the smallest chance that something absolutely amazing could happen. (Kovie Biakolo)
3. Don’t become a hostage to your past by always reviewing and and reliving your mistakes. Don’t remind yourself of what should have, could have, or would have been. Forgive yourself. Release it and let it go. Move on. (Les Brown)
4. Don’t look for people's approval for everything. Make and be confident in your own decisions. You are always one decision away from a totally different life. Nothing happens until you decide. Make a decision and watch your life move forward. (Oprah Winfrey).
5. Don’t miss the opportunity to spend time with the people you love. The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved (Mother Teresa). There is no true joy except in human relations, in sharing, in the company of family and friends. Always invest in and choose opportunities which will let you spend time in the company of people.
6. Don't give someone a taste of their own medicine and expect it to make things better. It will never work. They already know what it tastes like. Give them a taste of your own medicine. If they lied, let your medicine be honesty. If they played with your emotions, let your medicine be maturity. If they broke you, let your medicine heal. If they made you cry, let your medicine make them smile. These remedies of yours may take years to work, but they work. And they last. So be patient. Stay true to yourself. And remember this: it is better for people to value you for who you are, not for who you pretend to be. Who you are lasts a lifetime. Who you pretend to be changes like the change of seasons. (Najwa Zebian)
7. Don’t seek out shortcuts. There aren't any shortcuts to any place worth going. Nothing worth having comes easy and if it does, the feeling won't last. Work smart, but always be prepared for and look forward to the long haul.
8. Don’t chase the key to success. There is no key. Be humble, hungry and always be the hardest worker in the room. (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson)
9. Don’t look back at life and say ‘I wish I did that’. It’s always better to look back and say ‘I can’t believe I did that’. In the end, we only regret the chances we did not take. Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited about what could go right.
10. Don’t let self-doubt consume you. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? Doubt is removed by action. If you’re not working, then that’s when doubt creeps in. (Conan McGregor). When in doubt, just take the next small step. (Paulo Coelho). The hardest battle you are ever going to fight is the battle to be you. Everyone has their opinion on what you should do and what's good for you. They don't want you to find your own answers but want you to believe theirs - that is when self-doubt creeps in. Always try finding your own answers.
11. Do not procrastinate. Getting things over and done with is probably one of the best feelings you can have. Procrastinating (especially) over trivial things like sending someone an email, or calling someone, or finishing that trivial task, isn't worth the mind space it occupies when you could be thinking about something more pleasant or useful. Do it now. sometimes ‘later’ becomes ‘never’.
12. Don’t volunteer your opinion on someone or something. Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no (or absolutely minimal) understanding. (Bill Bullard).
13. Don’t kill yourself over closure. Sometimes, closure arrives years later. Long after you stopped searching for it. You’re just sitting there, laughing this laugh that is unapologetically yours. As it trails off, the corners of your mouth hugs your face and it hits you, “I’m happy”. It’s just like that. With no fanfare or epiphany. Suddenly you are grateful for goodbyes that carried you to this moment; to the space you are now holding. (Author Unknown)
14. Don’t ever complain about the things your parents could not give you. It was probably all they had. Don’t expect someone to come and save you - this life of yours is 100% your responsibility. Take control. Stop blaming others. You are as happy or miserable as you choose to be.
15. Don't become preoccupied with your child's academic ability but instead teach them to sit with those sitting alone. Teach them to be kind. Teach them to offer their help. Teach them to be a friend to the lonely. Teach them to encourage others. Teach them to think of others. Teach them to share. Teach them how to look for the good. This is how they will change the world. (Author Unknown)
16. Don’t ask for more time. We shall never have any more time than we have. And we have always had all the time there is. Count the number of hours spent on TV, Internet, & Social Media in a given week. See a problem?
17. Don’t worry too much about how you look. Looks are temporary. Instead, focus on living life which is worthwhile - where you do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are. A person who lives a good life and has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
18. Don’t let what’s happening around you get inside you and weigh you down. Ships don’t sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them.
19. Don’t let go of the opportunity to help someone. You might be the only one that does.
20. Don't be afraid to be yourself, even if it means removing yourself from lives that you want to be in. You are, no doubt, worthy of being valued for who you are. So be who you are. (Najwa Zebian) Be the same person privately, publically and personally. Confidence in yourself begins by believing who you are. Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. (Richard Bach)
21. Don’t seek happiness. Happiness starts with you. Not with your relationship, not with your job, not with your money, but with you. Don’t wait for things to get better. Life will always be complicated. Learn to be happy right now. Beware of ‘Destination Addiction’ - a preoccupation with the idea that happiness is in the next place, the next job and with the next partner. Until you give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else, it will never be where you are. (Robert Holden)
22. Don’t sulk. There is always something to be grateful for. It’s good to take a few minutes everyday and just sit quietly and be thankful for all that you have. Remember - it's good to be alive. Have fun. Once in a while, do whatever the hell you like. Spend the day in bed. Cry over films, and books, and music, and art. Smile at the grumpy man on the bus. Watch the old couple who walk hand in hand. Sing at the top of your lungs. Tell the person you like that you love them. Go out. Get wrecked. Dance. Kiss someone. Stay out all night. Fall over a few times. Make your friends laugh. Just fucking live a little! Even if you feel moody and miserable put a smile on your face because you’re here and you’re young and precious and alive. (Author Unknown)
23. Do not underestimate yourself. You are capable of more than you can ever imagine. Where you are is not who you are. When life presses in on you the hardest, that is when your breakthrough is near. Press on. Hold yourself to a higher standard daily. Your family, friends and co-workers all look to you for their cues. Greatness is in your DNA. God don’t make junk. Chase down your dream like it is the last bus of the night. Go get it! You have something special. You have Greatness within you!! (Les Brown)
24. Don’t Die Wondering

There is an excellent post on Quora which has more of where these came from.

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Author Bio

Author is a designer, startup co-founder, fiction novelist and a design educator. He can be reached at asadjunaid (at) gmail (dot) com