31 Life Hacks That Helped People Succeed

These are like cheat codes for life.

Published 3 years ago in Wow

The best life hack, really, is being born with an array of natural talents and useful virtues. Being a hard-working individual with above-average cognitive intelligence, patience, and well-honed social skills. That's the best life hack.

But you were born with none of these qualities. You're a product of the second millennium A.D, an age when "tips and tricks" vastly supersede the value of personal growth -- hacks, cheat codes, secret shortcuts. You've gotta make do with what's available.

Because if you're not going to grow up, you might as well learn a thing or two about cutting corners.

1
No one stops a guy or girl carrying a pizza. It can get you backstage to concerts.

2
I am an assistant teacher in a preschool. Asking if kids can use their sitting muscles and listening muscles during circle time makes the kids want to show me how "strong" they are.

3
Ask questions, about everything. Ask people about themselves. Be open about stuff you don't understand, and ask questions about that. When you forget someone's name, own up to it and just ask them. I am amazed at how many people won't acknowledge even a tiny amount of ignorance, or won't show honest curiosity about something, can't admit they've forgotten something they feel is important, and won't ever ask for help. Guys...your life becomes so much easier if you just drop the [effin] ego and ask.
4
Introverts think than talk, extroverts think while they talk. Took a class that said if you want to run a good meeting, wait 10 seconds before moving on. Introverts (such as myself) need time to process before they speak. Started running my meetings this way and I will be damned if the introverts didn't start speaking more and providing really good input.

5
When someone says something true, say “you’re right”, not “i know”. It’ll make them feel better and you’ve still shown everyone how awfully clever you are.
6
I cannot overstate how much dressing well and being well groomed will impact your life. It'll drop the difficulty by two or three levels. No joke. People will treat you VASTLY differently. The opposite is also true.
7
Compliment your children with "you are a hard worker" and not "you're smart". Studies show that kids who think they're hard workers outperform kids who think they're smart.

8
Faking confidence usually leads to actually being more confident. I love the phrase fake it till you make it. Its incredible how much success is a byproduct of just acting confident about whatever you are doing.
9
Several times in life I've cold called a company to confirm my interview time. I didn't have one prior to my call, but in their confusion and inability to even find my resume I've managed to secure an interview about four out of five times. Twice I've gotten the job.
10
You become the people you surround yourself with.

11
If you tuck a chicken’s head under its wing and wave the chicken in a circle, it will automatically fall asleep. It’s not a very good cheat code, but it’s still a cheat code to get you sleeping chickens.
12
The correct response to any compliment is "Thank you." You can then follow it up with a comment if you'd like to continue the conversation. If someone likes your dress? "Thank you, it has pockets!" If someone compliments your art? "Thank you, I've been practicing." If someone asks if you're a professional singer because you have a good singing voice? "Thank you, I just sing for fun." Not only does it make you seem confident and self-assured, it tells them that they are right! That's a friendly thing to do. This even works if you don't believe the compliment. Saying, "Oh, no, I'm ugly," when someone compliments your appearance not only tells them that they're wrong, it makes you think of yourself as ugly. A better answer would be, "Thank you, I really appreciate that and I don't always believe it, so hearing that from you helps."
13
Just be nice, particularly to people in the service industry. Your job, your personal interactions, even your calls into customer service will go 100% easier if you’re just nice to people and recognize that they’re probably just trying to do their job, not screw you over.

14
If any website offers a percentage coupon code like "10percentoff" try higher values like "20percentoff", they often have them.
15
When I was in my old 500+ person building, I kept a stack of papers on my desk. When I was bored, or got tired of sitting down, I'd get up, grab my stack of papers and walk around. I called them my "walking papers" and did this for months. Got a lot of head nods and not one question the entire time. People always assumed I was on an important mission, but nope. Not in the least. PS: worked on the executive floor / wing, too.
16
If you admit you're wrong and make changes to whatever it is that you're wrong about, people will respect and appreciate you more. Unfortunately this requires the swallow_ego.pill patch installed. Without this you will be incapable of being a civil person.

17
When married don't stop treating your significant other like you did when you were trying to win them over, it is a great way to show them you're still as infatuated with them as you were when you first met.
18
Not a cheat code, but an Easter egg: If you ask someone if they know ALL the words to “I’m a little teapot” around 80% of the people you ask will start singing it. Half of those will do the gestures.
19
You don’t have to always “give away the recipe”. By that I mean, don’t over explain yourself. If you can’t do something, 9/10 times it’s okay to simply say “unfortunately I’m not able to do that”, “can’t swing it this time”, etc. You don’t have to go on and on about why, or make up reasons and list them off. Over explaining just ends up looking more suspect than simply being clear and concise.

20
I had a professor in college who, while lecturing, suddenly let out a huge fart. Without pausing, he turned his head as if talking to someone behind him, said "Gesundheit," and continued lecturing as if nothing had happened. It immediately diffused defused any potential awkwardness and embarrassment, and I vowed to use the same strategy if the same thing ever happened to me in front of a large crowd of people.
21
If you are punctual, smartly dressed, and quite friendly, you can actually get pretty far in most jobs without being that good at anything or trying very hard.
22
As an adult you can tell almost any kid who is running to stop running and they will.

23
When my daughter was little and still believed band-aids cured things, one time she had a belly ache so I put one on her belly and it made her feel better. Power of placebos!
24
Underpromise and Overperform. Say you'll achieve less than you think you will and then do more and everyone will be impressed (works well at a job)
25
I have a heated throw blanket in my living room- in the winter, I wrap my coat up in it , crank up the heat and in a few minutes, my coat is toasty warm so I can brave the coldest day.

26
Set the do not disturb feature on your phone to turn on from 10pm-7am. You will sleep so much better without constant notifications from emails, games, or your mother in law who wants to send a group message at midnight because she is in a different timezone. If you have people you want to be able to reach you (family/girlfriend/boyfriend), you can make a special list that will let only their calls/messages come through.
27
Say “Thank you” instead of “I’m sorry” in most situations. “Thank you for your patience,” is much better than, “I’m sorry I’m late.”
28
Doing your own research especially on the important stuff. You would be amazed about the bad information people use to make life choices.

29
Walk with a purpose. For some reason, people think you're busy and you don't get hassled.
30
Mirroring people’s body language and tone of voice will make them comfortable with you quite quickly.
31
Take a 1 dollar bill and flip it over. Now tape a 5 dollar bill and tape it to the end of the upside down single with as little tape as possible to make it secure. Now feed the five dollar bill into a change machine. The coin machine reads the five, gives you quarters, then reads the upside down single, rejects that, and boom, you got yourself a felony.