Things your parents taught you that changed your life...

[♥ Shinx ♥]

My parents always told me as a child that it was illegal to have a light on in the car while driving at night.

So now as an adult, I have the lights of my radio/dashboard as low as it'll go for fear that (even though I know they were lying to me), I'll somehow be arrested and thrown in jail.

same for me! also that the hazard light button was an eject seat button.... learnt when I got older that it definitely did not do that lol


My dad also taught me a lot about cooking which set me up when I moved out of home, which I appreciate a lot now

[Unown]

Both my parents are quite different when it comes to money, so I was able to learn different lessons from both of them.

From my dad, he was a happy-go-lucky person, was contented with enough, quite a typical male born out of poverty in the 60s. Had little, was happy with little, and went about his own way. He taught me never to be greedy with money, and what's not meant to be yours will not be yours. Do not steal, do not take what's not yours, and to always be honest when handling someone else's money, especially when it's in a big amount. It taught me to be an honest person and to not be greedy when it comes to monetary gains. I guess in a certain way it might also be seen as a negative because I am very risk-averse. But I still like this trait I got from him.

My mum was a firm believer that money can change your life for the better. She pushed me to further my education and to look forward, preempt myself for the market and to stand out from others. She invested not necessarily in expensive things, but in quality items. Such as many household items - buying a good one goes a long way rather than multiple cheap ones. I constantly fly budget airlines (since my 30 year old body can still take it), but she'd rather pay for me to get a full service flight for flights longer than 8 hours. (I still refuse though, can't seem to get myself to spend that kind of cash).

My family did not come from much. Both my parents were from poor families where they all had to work from a young age of 12 to help the family. But they worked hard, skilled themselves, and made a very comfortable life for me. At the same time, they still teach me the value of money and that got me to work part-time from a young age and to learn how to manage my finances better. It's a good skill to learn about money, know what it can do and what it's good for, but to also never be on the dark side of it (such as borrowing, gambling, stealing etc)

Side note, nice to read everyone's posts! Keep them coming

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I went through an academy for law enforcement and they teach you this same principle. If your on time your late. If you're 15 minutes early your on time. If your earlier than 15 your early.

I wish this applied to clocking off work hahaha

[infestedvirus]

I learnt from the best on how NOT to be a parent.... oddly enough, I still managed to kind of succeed in life... I mean they were nice and Im very thankful, but they were just too young when I was born... (16 years old)

[Sephora]

I love this thread!

My dad has told me "Ask for what you want, the worst they can say is no" a few times when I was a kid. He said this once when I was 8yrs old in theater summer camp and there was a role I wanted in the play. My friend and I rolled our eyes at his advice. Obviously everyone auditions for roles that they want, and then the directors pick the best person! I wasn't that passionate about drama (just something my parents signed me up for), but if I did have a favorite role I would just practice my best audition. Sometimes I got picked for my favorite role and sometimes I didn't.

I was also super shy as a kid and not comfortable asking for some things so directly. Asking "Can I have this?" felt too forward for me.

As I got older, I realized his advice doesn't necessarily mean asking "Can I have this?" You just have to indicate your interest in a polite way and you are much more likely to get it.

In college, I got a teaching assistant position just by asking the professor. I said "If you need any more TAs, I would love to do the job." I was not the best student at all and there were better candidates than me, but one of the people picked for the position dropped out the day before the semester started so the professor asked me last second if I would take it. I took it and really enjoyed that job. That made me understand what my dad meant.

Now I do ask for things I want more often! I'm still not comfortable asking "Can I have this" so I just re-word it in a way that is my style!

Both times I wanted to be promoted in my career, I asked my manager "My goal is to be promoted in a few months. What do I need to do to get there?" And my manager would tell me things I could work on. While I earned promotions by improving, I realized my chances were significantly better just because leadership was aware that it was my goal.