Let’s start off with one that most people know but shy away from talking about.

1. Everyone you know will die

Life is temporary. Enjoy the ride while you can. Everybody you love, everybody you dislike, everybody you hate, will all be dead someday.

Lesson: Why take life so seriously? Embarrassed? That’s just your self inflated ego. Laugh it off.

2. Only a handful of people give a shit about you

There is a high probability that these people will be your parents and siblings. If you are lucky, then you will have a couple of friends that truly care for your wellbeing and happiness. This is not anyone’s fault. Think about it, everyone has their own sets of problems and challenges in life. They have only so much time in a day. They’re going to focus on the few that they really care about.

Lesson: Prioritize the right people in your life. People that lift up your energy, and you feel happy being around. People that you know for sure care for you truly.

3. Everything worthwhile takes time and effort.

Want an amazing career and make lots of money? You’re going to need to put in the time and effort.

Want an amazing partner? Time and effort. You may have heard “relationships are work”. And the word “work” has a very negative connotation. Change it to “effort”. It takes effort to build a great relationship, whether it be your partner, or your friends and family.

Want an amazing body? You know the answer…

Lesson: Put effort into what you want out of life, and watch that facet of your life improve dramatically.

4. Believe it or not – Happiness is not external

I have seen way too many examples of people that have it all, that are extremely unhappy with their “perfect lives” and some that have even committed suicide. Think Robin Williams, Kate Spade, and Anthony Bourdain. You can have all the toys, and money in the world, but unless your inner world is not taken care of, nothing will make you happy.

Lesson: Figure out what makes you happy, and do a little bit of it everyday. Want to play video games? Great! As you’re on this journey of life, chasing after your goals, take time everyday to do something that brings you pure joy.

5. Most people will live an average, uninspiring life

Think about the greats like MLK, Gandhi, Mandela, they’ve inspired billions of people. Are you one of them? You never know, you could be. Probability says that you are most likely not one of those people, and guess what? That’s ok.

Lesson: If you want to live an average, mundane, uninspiring life, that’s completely ok. And if you want to inspire, but don’t think you’ll do so at a mass scale, know that inspiring your peers, your children, your parents is just as amazing. You ultimately give your life meaning, so make sure you have no regrets as to how you’ve lived.