What’s the most unwritten rule of adult life that nobody warns you about? – 17 secrets about being a grown up everyone should know

Adulthood is a strange and capricious place. Even when you think you’ve got everything figured out, it can turn around and surprise you in the most puzzling ways.

Deep down, most people know this. It can be infuriating though because nobody pre-warns you about these pitfalls. This prompted PracticeHistorical82 to give people a heads up by posing the following question to r/AskReddit:

‘What’s the most unwritten rule of adult life that nobody warns you about?’

You’ll want to make a note of these insider tips…

1.

‘You must either do things proactively and be miserable, or put them off and be even more miserable. That is the choice.’
-Flimsy-Theme-8759

2.

‘Leave some people behind!’
-Erjok10

3.

‘its okay to ask for help and not pretend you have it all figured out’
-livvyyTracee994

4.

‘That you’re allowed to deviate from the plan. You don’t have to choose a career immediately after graduating high-school and stay with it for the rest of your life. You’re allowed to change your mind. Don’t get caught up in the sunk cost fallacy.’
-ijustcannnnot

5.

‘You have to learn to be comfortable with yourself and find meaning in the small everyday moments’
-Secret_Baddi

6.

‘Most adults are basically big children and in the work place most only care about themselves.’
-Beat-12

7.

‘In the words of Jean Luc Picard: “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.”

‘You can be a top performer at work and still get fired. You can be perfectly healthy and have a freak heart attack. You can be a great partner and still fail at a relationship.

‘But you can also have great things come and happen at your lowest moment. You can find little pieces of joy and satisfaction when there shouldn’t be. Even in mistakes and failure there is pride in what you have done and where you are’
-Commisioner_Gordon

8.

‘The mediocrity we laughed at as kids takes a lot of fucking work’
-Sensible___shoes

9.

‘Nobody warns you that adulting is mostly pretending you have your shit together while secretly googling how to do basic things at 2am. You’re an adult now really means good luck’
-AdditionFickle