16 Weird Pieces Of Advice That Are Surprisingly Inspirational

Some of the best advice sounds a little silly at first. But that doesn’t make it any less effective. Here are some weird pieces of advice that are surprisingly inspirational:

“Stressed, upset, panic attack, ennui? Put an ice cube in your hand. Move it around your hand until it slowly melts. It takes about 5 minutes. Primary Effect: The cold on your skin grabs your brain’s attention. You stop thinking about what was stressing you out and feel present in the moment. Secondary Effect: The cold cools your blood, which goes into your heart and slows down the beating. As your heart beat slows to maintain your body heat, your lungs breathe more slowly as well. It forces you to breathe, which calms you down. After 5 minutes of this, you will feel much calmer, if slightly drippy.” — LeskoLesko

“I tell my daughter to add the word ‘yet’ after anything about lacking something. ‘I don’t know how to play this game.’ Becomes ‘I don’t know how to play this game yet.’ That sort of thing. It’s meant to redirect negative self admonishment into a drive to grow and learn. And apparently it’s sinking in, because she will say something like, ‘Ugh, I can’t make it up this hill!’ while we’re out bike riding and then catch me looking at her, give a big eye roll and go ‘…yet!’ in the exact tone you think a teenage girl would use. Then she ends up sometimes just rage-succeeding to prove the point, it’s great. She’s going to be at least 3 times better than me, low as that bar may be.” — Zambeeni

“Fail quickly, as in: If your plan may not succeed, better to find out next week than next year. Helped me quit a suffocating job and dig into my own business 10/10” — NNakedLunchDate

“Get someone to warm to you by asking them for a small favor – not asking to do something for them, but asking them to do something for you. I have no idea why this works, but it does.” — limegreenbunny

“If you want to buy something, wait 24 hours and if you still want to buy it afterwards then buy it. This has really cut my impulse buying down and has made saving money extremely easy.” — ThaMuffMango

“Don’t beat yourself up forever. Beat yourself up once then move on. From Homer Simpson.” — Amy-Paradise

“It’s only embarrassing if you’re embarrassed. The older I get, the more I understand this one.” — PB-JAM

“If you can’t fight the fear, do it scared. Got me through a lot of anxiety.” — ChasingAlnilam

“When writing an e-mail, leave the recipient field until last.” — Ocsttiac

“Counterintuitive maybe, but it helped my anxiety immensely: in general, no one cares about you, what you’re doing, or gives you a second thought once you’re out of their sight. It really helped me to stop being self conscious all the time in public.” — crlove

“One time the guy who came to fix my refrigerator told me, ‘If you don’t know what to do, drink some water.’ It’s actually surprisingly solid advice.” — FearlessLingonberry

“Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something. Honestly, it’s deflated the embarrassment of making mistakes when learning new things. It’s OK to suck at something on your way to okayness.” — Danglebort

“’Do it anyway. Don’t think you’ll succeed? Do it anyway. Don’t feel like going to the gym? Do it anyway. Don’t want to stick to the diet? Do it anyway. Don’t feel like getting out of bed/taking care of your basic needs? Do it anyway. Don’t think you’ll like it? Do it anyway. Scared of embarrassing yourself? Do it anyway. Think the attractive person will reject you if you ask them out? Do it anyway. Obviously don’t apply this to things that put you in harm’s way. But I’ve been lucky enough to live an interesting (in a good way) life based on this approach.” — HausKino

“To improve your posture, pretend that you are shooting lasers out of your nipples and trying to shoot people in the head.” — Lt_Dickballs

“When you are really, really down, the rules of ‘how one does things’ are out the window. Examples:

Body image issues? Shower in the dark.

Can’t manage to make yourself a sandwich? Eat sandwich component out of the fridge.

Dirty laundry everywhere? Take off the laundry basket lid.

Can’t talk on the phone? Make up phone persona and roleplay them. Include catchphrase.

Going to bed makes you nervous? Sleep on the couch.

Can’t make up your mind about gifted clutter? Put in box, get back if you miss it, gift if not.

Brains are really, really weird. Sometimes the smallest thing can be a barrier that is impossible to overcome. Remove barrier, get through that terrible week like a well-fed, clean smelling human, build back from there.” — raxeira-etterath

“Even the people who love you can hold you back. It ain’t being nasty, they just don’t want to lose you or see you get hurt. They wanted the best for you without realizing their idea of what’s best ain’t necessarily that.” — Mardanis