8 Important Life Lessons from an 18-year-old

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I am exactly 3 days away from turning 18 years old as I am writing this sentence. For years, I have been waiting for the day I turn 18. I know it’s just an age. But it felt special. It felt like the door to adulthood – whatever that means…

When I finally reached the final year of high school – the year I will turn 18 years old, I suddenly started to feel some sort of pressure. I start to look around me and notice that everyone seems to be doing something meaningful in their life.

Maybe I was overthinking because I had a lot of time in my hands (I had very few modules so my timetable was quite free). With so much free time, I was probably worrying for no reason.

But some part of me felt that I needed to start doing something, at least figure out my passion and do something I like.

I was feeling lost.

My Story

Many say you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. But I feel like that was what made me turn my life around.

I was a complainer. I hated the academic system and I pretty much hated studying. I have always wanted to start a business – earn money. I always get jealous of all those teen entrepreneurs who are way ahead of me.

What am I doing with my life? Why am I not as successful as them?

As I allow myself to drown in my pessimism, I get demotivated and start to feel sorry for myself. 

But when the world went into lockdown and I had a well-loved break from school, I had some time to reflect on myself. 

Turning Point

I have always been researching about how to earn money and start an online business. But I always hesitated to start doing anything. But one particular day, I was feeling determined. I read about blogging. I researched for days and days about it. And then I decided to “just do it”. 

That was probably the best decision in my life. Days after I realized my passion for blogging, every new little information I learnt was so thrilling to me. I just loved spending time working on my website.

For once. For once in my life, I actually enjoyed doing something I truly love. 

While I am still super far away from my goals, I am considerably happier. Happy that I am doing something I truly enjoy doing. TBH, this is low-key a success —

— A success of finally finding and embracing my passion. 

So here are my life lessons as a 18-year-old!

Life Lesson #1 compare yourself

Comparison gets me motivated. This is the kind of positive pressure that gets people going. It is a powerful push to make you work harder and keep striving to be better and better.

But competition only works if you see it with the right mindset. Mindset is everything. For years, comparing myself with others simply made me less motivated. It made me felt like a failure and I just wasn’t making any effort to improve.

But only months ago, I started to utilize this pressure positively. I constantly observe what my peers or other teenagers are doing and allowed myself to get inspired to be better.   

Life Lesson #2 that being said, don’t give up, your time will come

All good things take time. That’s what I said in my workout motivation article too. While you do have to try to figure your life out, be patient. There’s nothing wrong with being a late bloomer. 

There seems to be an emphasis placed on early success and fame in life, causing panic as we grow older and older.

That’s how I felt when I realised I was about to turn 18. Panic.

“I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parent’s garage when I was 20. … If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

— Excerpt from Steve Jobs’ commencement address to Stanford University’s batch of 2005.

Fun Fact: Harlan David Sanders, founder of KFC, was broke when he was 65 years old, that’s when he started KFC. Your time will come eventually 🙂 

Reasons why late-bloomers are happier & more successful

Life Lesson #3 take some time off your busy life and reflect on yourself (it’s worth it)

I live in Singapore. Studying here really gives you little time for yourself. For years, it was school, homework, sleep, and repeat. Never had time to pause from that routine and that mentally drained me.

Life Lesson #4 don’t be afraid to try

Be confident with your ideas. I used to always be unsure of my own decisions. I always relied on my mum’s approval and opinions because older people are always right.

But this mindset prevented me from being independent. Just do it. Just try. If anything, now is the time you do it.

Even if you fail, you have your unconditional support from your family and more importantly, you can learn from your mistakes. And that is really one of the most valuable lessons you could ever learn. 

Life Lesson #5 don’t give up on studying 

I know I said I hated studying. But as much as I hated doing academic work, it is important.

Even if you are not planning to have a career based on academics, it is an important backup to have with you. So, don’t give up – it’s worth it. 

Life Lesson #6 friends are so important 

Whatever you do, friendship is so important. While I have regretted a lot of things in my life so far, friendship is one aspect I am happy with. Mostly.

There are things I obviously could have done better. I wished I could have put in more effort into some of my friendships and understood their value much earlier. I wish I could have learnt to communicate better and be more patient.

But nevertheless, I am glad that I have always valued quality > quantity when it came to friends. If you are in your late teens, I really think this is the time to build life-long friendships. I am so grateful for my friends and my best memories are with them.

So, if you are reading this, I want to say I LOVE YOU. A LOT. 

Life Lesson #7 Family First

I am forever grateful for my family. My family is my no.1 support system and I am so glad we stuck through thick and thin.

But like every other human being on Earth, I have gone through my own angsty teen phase. Thinking back, I wish I was less self-centered and tried to understand my parents better. I wish I prioritized my family more and communicated better.

But at least now I understand their worth better. #familyfirst <3

Life Lesson #8 Be Happy 🙂

One thing that I keep forgetting is that I am still young. 18 years old might seem like a lot. But its still quite young TBH. You can still get away with being carefree and have fun.

In fact, since that’s not going to last forever, I should let loose and not feel guilty for having fun 🙂

I don’t know the exact reason for changing my life around. Maybe it’s simply because I grew older or because the pressure of growing older made me do something about it. Either way, I am glad it happened.

And if you are in the “what to do with my life urgh” phase, its completely alright. Remember that everyone is different. It’s cliché, I know. But I just want you to hang on! 

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