Life hack advice abounds in the era of optimization and influencers, but the desire to live life a little better is nothing new. Even ancient philosophers pondered the wisest uses of our time, energy, and resources. But in today’s more complicated world, the answers to such questions can be a lot more specific.
Young adults have been asking for “oddly specific” life tips, and people are delivering their favorite hacks. These aren’t the “surround yourself with positive people” kind of tips we typically see, but rather random, specific bits of advice.
I’m 25. Give me oddly specific life tips. No general ”surround yourself with positive people” tips. I want the most random, specific advice possible.— Tokyo (@otokyo__) March 2, 2026
Here are some of the most universally applicable ones shared on X:
Food
Thinking about what to eat, preparing what to eat, and actually eating it takes up a decent amount of our daily lives. It makes sense to give it a little extra thought, both for efficiency and enjoyment’s sake.
“When in an unknown small town, pick your restaurant based on the number of pickup trucks in the parking lot. Nobody goes on vacation in the pickup. Those are locals, who know where to eat.” – @KeelowSierra
“Learn to cook 3 meals extremely well. It will save money, impress people, and make rough weeks easier.” – @Alacritic_SuperLearn to cook three things well. Photo credit: Canva
“Make a weekly rotating menu so you never have to agonize over what to make for dinner. Like Taco Tuesday. Vary the specific item each week to keep it fresh but man it saves time, energy, and money.” – @RuralUrbie
Health
There’s a lot of health advice out there, and a lot of it is conflicting. But here are a few tips that seem solid no matter what your approach to health might be:
“Always wash your hands standing on one leg. We lose our balance with age and this simple habit forces you to consistently practice it without interfering with your life.” – @catpoopburglar
“Drink a full glass of water before you touch your phone in the morning.” – @EarthOriginHQ
“Speaking as someone who *didn’t* do this enough: Literally touch grass as often as you can. Go outside, get some sun, go camping, disconnect from your phone and social media and go explore the world without a filter. It’ll do wonders for your mental health, it’ll force you to spend some time alone with your thoughts, and you’ll gain some perspective about yourself and life in general.” – @CitizenAmedia
Money
Getting money advice from strangers can be dodgy, to say the least. But a few folks offered some pretty universal bits of wisdom:
“Before any purchase over $100, wait 48 hours. If you still want it after two days, buy it. You’ll be surprised how often the urge disappears. This one habit will save you thousands over the next decade without any willpower required.” – @BellaBaddie__
“I wish I had practiced minimalism. I’m spending the second half of my life getting rid of expensive junk for free that I thought I needed. I wish I had invested that money for my future instead. That’s solid advice.” – @starjaxranch
“Roth IRA and regular investment brokerage accounts. Contribute every month, even if it’s only $20. Just keep doing it and don’t stop. When people panic about the market crashing just keep contributing. It isn’t a loss if you don’t sell and it always bounces back higher, crashes are nothing but buying opportunities to increase your returns down the road. Just keep investing in funds. Learn how to get a shopping high from investing.” – @AnteEcho
Work
Most adults spend much of their day working, so advice in this area is particularly valuable. Here are some nuggets of wisdom that apply no matter what kind of work you do:
“Keep a ‘brag document’ – a running list of every win, project, compliment, or achievement at work. Update it weekly. When it’s performance review time or you’re updating your resume, you won’t be sitting there trying to remember what you did six months ago.” – @PursuDrKeep a running list of your wins at work. Photo credit: Canva
“At work no matter what your job is or how much you are currently being paid, if someone offers to teach you a new skill… Get out a notebook and a pencil and say ‘Thank you, I want to learn how to do that!’ This is how you increase your value.” – @TimothyMcGuire
“Always keep one skill you’re quietly improving that nobody knows about yet.” – @Alacritic_Super
“For all the jobs you have, don’t burn bridges when you leave a place. Keep your colleagues contact informing from each job. Leave on good terms. These things help in networking for a new job in the future.” – @daoc151
General
Outside of those big life categories, people offered all sorts of great tips born from experience. Keep these in your pocket when you need them:
“After you spend ages looking for something store it in the first place you looked.” – @floboflo
“Buy your concert t-shirts one or two sizes larger. You’ll likely be larger yourself for the reunion tour.” – @TeamToad
Buy your concert t-shirts one or two sizes larger. You'll likely be larger yourself for the reunion tour. pic.twitter.com/teJoxj8lpS— Michael Mauldin (@TeamToad) March 9, 2026
“When you find a pair of shoes or sandals or a bra that fits you comfortably and perfectly, buy three more just like it immediately and save them in your closet. Everything good gets discontinued.” – @Suzanne08053
“The mental energy associated with procrastination is costing you the same (if not more) as the energy required to take action. Pick action over mental suffering.” – @ConMcGovy
“Check the toilet paper holder in the gas station bathrooms BEFORE you sit down….” – @scdavem
“Treat every microphone like it’s on.” – @RobOps_xyz
“Never make a major life or business decision after 10 PM. You aren’t yourself when you’re tired; you’re just a high-stress version of yourself. Sleep on it. The solution is almost always waiting for you at 7 AM.” – @ria_rustagi
“When you drop something. Especially something small like a screw. Don’t grab wildly at it to keep it from falling. Concentrate on watching it fall with absolute focus.”– @GeorgiasGiant
“If you find a toilet in your dream, don’t use it.” – @Sandy166059 (If you know, you know.)
There’s a lot we need to learn on our own, of course. But we can also learn from the lessons others have shared, taking what works and leaving what doesn’t.
In a small village in Pwani, a district on Tanzania’s coast, a massive dance party is coming to a close. For the past two hours, locals have paraded through the village streets, singing and beating ngombe drums; now, in a large clearing, a woman named Sheilla motions for everyone to sit facing a large projector screen. A film premiere is about to begin.
It’s an unusual way to kick off a film about gender bias, inequality, early marriage, and other barriers that prevent girls from accessing education in Tanzania. But in Pwani and beyond, local organizations supported by Malala Fund and funded by Pura are finding creative, culturally relevant ways like this one to capture people’s interest.
The film ends and Sheilla, the Communications and Partnership Lead for Media for Development and Advocacy (MEDEA), stands in front of the crowd once again, asking the audience to reflect: What did you think about the film? How did it relate to your own experience? What can we learn?
Sheilla explains that, once the community sees the film, “It brings out conversations within themselves, reflective conversations.” The resonance and immediate action create a ripple effect of change.
MEDEA Screening Audience in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
Across Tanzania, gender-based violence often forces adolescent girls out of the classroom. This and other barriers — including child marriage, poverty, conflict, and discrimination — prevent girls from completing their education around the world.
Sheilla and her team are using film and radio programs to address the challenges girls face in their communities. MEDEA’s ultimate goal is to affirm education as a fundamental right for everyone, and to ensure that every member of a community understands how girls’ education contributes to a stronger whole and how to be an ally for their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, friends, nieces, and girlfriends.
Sheilla’s story is one of many that inspired Heart on Fire, a new fragrance from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection that blends the warm, earthy spices of Tanzania with a playful, joyful twist. Here’s how Pura is using scent as a tool to connect the world and inspire action.
A partnership focused on local impact, on a global mission
Pura, a fragrance company that recognizes education as both freedom and a human right, has partnered with Malala Fund since 2022. In order to defend every girl’s right to access and complete 12 years of education, Malala Fund partners with local organizations in countries where the educational barriers are the greatest. They invest in locally-led solutions because they know that those who are closest to the problems are best equipped to solve and build durable solutions, like MEDEA, which works with communities to challenge discrimination against girls and change beliefs about their education.
But local initiatives can thrive and scale more powerfully with global support, which is why Pura is using their own superpower, the power of scent, to connect people around the world with the women and girls in these local communities.
The Pura x Malala Fund Collection incorporates ingredients naturally found in Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil: countries where Malala Fund operates to address systemic education barriers. Eight percent of net revenue from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection will be donated to Malala Fund directly, but beyond financial support, the Collection is also a love letter to each unique community, blending notes like lemon, jasmine, cedarwood, and clove to transport people, ignite their senses, and help them draw inspiration and hope from the global movement for girls’ education. Through scent, people can connect to the courage, joy, and tenacity of girls and local leaders, all while uniting in a shared commitment to education: the belief that supporting girls’ rights in one community benefits all of us, everywhere.
You’ve already met Sheilla. Now see how Naiara and Mama Habiba are building unique solutions to ensure every girl can learn freely and dare to dream.
Naiara Leite is reimagining what’s possible in Brazil
Julia with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
In Brazil, where pear trees and coconut plantations cover the Northeastern Coast, girls like ten-year-old Julia experience a different kind of educational barrier than girls in Tanzania. Too often, racial discrimination contributes to high dropout rates among Black, quilombola and Indigenous girls in the country.
“In the logic of Brazilian society, Black people don’t need to study,” says Naiara Leite, Executive Coordinator of Odara, a women-led organization and Malala Fund partner. Bahia, the state where Odara is based, was once one of the largest slave-receiving territories in the Americas, and because of that history, deeply-ingrained, anti-Black prejudice is still widespread. “Our role and the image constructed around us is one of manual labor,” Naiara says.
But education can change that. In 2020, with assistance from a Malala Fund grant, Odara launched its first initiative for improving school completion rates among Black, quilombola, and Indigenous girls: “Ayomidê Odara”. The young girls mentored under the program, including Julia, are known as the Ayomidês. And like the Pura x Malala Fund Collection’s Brazil: Breath of Courage scent, the Ayomidês are fierce, determined, and bursting with energy.
Ayomidês with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
Ayomidês take part in weekly educational sessions where they explore subjects like education and ethnic-racial relations. The girls are encouraged to find their own voices by producing Instagram lives, social media videos, and by participating in public panels. Already, the Ayomidês are rewriting the narrative on what’s possible for Afro-Brazilian girls to achieve. One of the earliest Ayomidês, a young woman named Debora, is now a communications intern. Another former Ayomidê, Francine, works at UNICEF, helping train the next generation of adolescent leaders. And Julia has already set her sights on becoming a math teacher or a model.
“These are generations of Black women who did not have access to a school,” Naiara says. “These are generations of Black women robbed daily of their dreams. And we’re telling them that they could be the generation in their family to write a new story.”
Mama Habiba is reframing the conversation in Nigeria
Centre for Girls' Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
In Mama Habiba’s home country of Nigeria, the scents of starfruit, ylang ylang and pineapple, all incorporated into the Pura x Malala Collection’s “Nigeria: Hope for Tomorrow,” can be found throughout the vibrant markets. Like these native scents, Mama Habiba says that the Nigerian girls are also bright and passionate, but too often they are forced to leave school long before their potential fully blooms.
“Some of these schools are very far, and there is an issue of quality, too,” Mama Habiba says. “Most parents find out when their children are in school, the girls are not learning. So why allow them to continue?”
When girls drop out of secondary school, marriage is often the alternative. In Nigeria, one in three girls is married before the age of 18. When this happens, girls are unable to fulfill their potential, and their families and communities lose out on the social, health and economic benefits.
Completing secondary school delays marriage, and according to UNESCO, educated girls become women who raise healthier children, lift their families out of poverty and contribute to more peaceful, resilient communities.
Centre for Girls’ Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
To encourage young girls to stay in school, the Centre for Girls’ Education, a nonprofit in Nigeria founded by Mama Habiba and supported by Malala Fund and Pura, has pioneered an initiative that’s similar to the Ayomidê workshops in Brazil: safe spaces. Here, girls meet regularly to learn literacy, numeracy, and other issues like reproductive health. These safe spaces also provide an opportunity for the girls to role-play and learn to advocate for themselves, develop their self-image, and practice conversations with others about their values, education being one of them. In safe spaces, Mama Habiba says, girls start to understand “who she is, and that she is a girl who has value. She has the right to negotiate with her parents on what she really feels or wants.”
“When girls are educated, they can unlock so many opportunities,” Mama Habiba says. “It will help the economy of the country. It will boost so many opportunities for the country. If they are given the opportunity, I think the sky is not the limit. It is the starting point for every girl.”
From parades, film screenings to safe spaces and educational programs, girls and local leaders are working hard to strengthen the quality, safety and accessibility of education and overcome systemic challenges. They are encouraging courageous behavior and reminding us all that education is freedom.
Experience the Pura x Malala Fund Collection here, and connect with the stories of real girls leading change across the globe.
If you’re familiar with comedian Pete Holmes, you probably know he’s not afraid to go deep. He’s seemingly on a constant journey of self-improvement—physically, mentally, and spiritually—and his work as a stand-up comic, author, and podcaster reflects that with relatable, honest humor.
He recently appeared on Dan Harris’ podcast 10% Happier, where he discussed a simple three-word phrase that he claims helped change the way he views life.
Harris asked about his mantra, “Yes, yes, thank you.” Holmes gently corrected him, noting that it’s only three words: “It’s ‘yes, thank you.’” He then explained the concept: “I’ve heard really good teachers say that if you can really just say ‘yes’ to what ‘is,’ that’s all you need.”
“It just really short-circuits your brain if you say ‘Yes, thank you’ to it. And I mean almost instantly. Flight is delayed. ‘Yes. Thank you.’ It’s so weird. That’s why it works. Everything—attraction and aversion—right? So aversion is just charging it with all this push, like a basketball underwater. You’re giving it all the energy. When you just ‘Yeah’ as if it’s what you wanted.”
He gives an example:
“And then you realize you’re in an airport. You’ll be in an hour later. It can just be a clean breath and a recognition that you’re alive. Maybe you see the sun coming through the window. And maybe you remember that people used to die in covered wagons on the journey you’re about to take in four hours.”
Holmes explained that the concept is quite simple:
“But it can really be way less than that. Really, not debating with the bad feeling—just saying ‘Yes, thank you’ to it. That’s been one of the most powerful things in my life.”
10 percent happier
The clip was part of a larger discussion on the aforementioned podcast, with Holmes and Harris delving into faith, meditation, awareness, and how we learn to accept what is given to us.
Harris asked, “So the nature of existence is love because love is acceptance?” Holmes answered, “Even if you’re resisting it, what you’re resisting has already been welcomed into awareness.”
Stoicism
Much of what Holmes is describing is steeped in Stoic philosophy.
Former Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations, “And with that in mind I have no right, as a part, to complain about what is assigned me by the whole. Because what benefits the whole can’t harm the parts, and the whole does nothing that doesn’t benefit it.”
According to a site supporting Benny Voncken’s Via Stoicapodcast:
“Gratitude in Stoicism is not a mood but a moral stance, an expression of understanding that everything is given for a time, and that everything that happens can serve the good of the whole. When you practice gratitude, you move closer to what the Stoics called eudaimonia, a good spirit, a flourishing soul. You see life as it truly is: transient, interwoven, and deeply precious.”
Visual illusions offer a fun behind-the-scenes glimpse at how our brains work and their limitations. For example, you might see a simple image of two faces side by side, as if about to kiss, and struggle to find any hidden symbols or messages in the picture. Once you realize the image can just as easily…
Visual illusions offer a fun behind-the-scenes glimpse at how our brains work and their limitations. For example, you might see a simple image of two faces side by side, as if about to kiss, and struggle to find any hidden symbols or messages in the picture.
Once you realize the image can just as easily be seen as the silhouette of a vase or candle, your eyes immediately find it. You simply get “locked in” to the way your brain originally perceived it, and for a while it’s difficult to see it any other way.
This phenomenon isn’t restricted to the way our eyes and brains perceive visual images. Simple, everyday tasks or problems can have the same effect. Sometimes, a challenge seems frustrating, difficult, or even impossible when the blindingly simple solution is right in front of us the entire time.
These “duh” moments can take an embarrassingly long time—years, even—to occur to us. But we’re all equally guilty of overlooking the obvious from time to time. Thankfully, some brave souls on social media are sharing their most embarrassing “duh” moments so the rest of us don’t feel so alone.
1. You can wait for the shower to warm up before getting in
“I didn’t realise you can warm up the shower before you get in for years. Nobody told me the proper procedure so for years I would turn it on while I’m inside already, then kinda hide in the corner while I wait for it to warm up.”
Surprisingly, they’re not the only ones. While there’s a whole subset of people who believe a few minutes of cold water does the body good, there’s another—perhaps larger—group of people who simply never realized waiting for the water to heat up was an option.
2. You’re allowed to separate bunches of bananas at the grocery store
Another poster was eternally frustrated that the store never seemed to have a bunch of bananas in quite the right size. It was always either too few or too many. It took them years to realize there was an incredibly simple solution:
“I didn’t realize until I was 25yo that you were allowed to rip apart banana bunches at the grocery store to get the amount you want. I always thought you were required to grab a bunch that had the exact amount you wanted.”
3. Turn the electric toothbrush on once it’s in your mouth
A viral post on X had everyone laughing at the thought of specks of toothpaste flying across the bathroom:
“When I was 18 I bought an electric tooth brush. I would apply paste to the bristles, turn it on and try to shove it in my mouth as fast as possible without slinging the paste everywhere. One morning, my then girlfriend looked at me and asked ‘why don’t you turn it on after you put it in your mouth?’ Top 5 dumbest feeling I’ve ever felt in my life.”
4. A double scoop of ice cream can be two different flavors
One person had been living their entire life under the crushing weight of wanting to try multiple flavors of ice cream but not being able to—until it hit them:
“[Recently I learned] that if you order a double scoop of ice cream, it doesn’t have to be the same flavor for both scoops. I grew up poor and never had double scoops as an option. I learned this a few weeks ago and I’m 47.”
5. Scraping the dishes before washing them makes cleaning less disgusting
Another Redditor admitted they dreaded doing the dishes because of all the soggy chunks of food floating around in the water:
“It only recently occurred to me that I can use a dry paper towel to wipe away the bulk of the filth straight into the garbage can making doing dishes notably less disgusting. Why’d it take me so long to think of that?”
6. A dull box cutter blade can be saved
There’s nothing more annoying than digging your box cutter out of the junk drawer or toolbox and finding it dull past the point of use. If you’re like this X user and aren’t in the mood to sharpen it, you might be overlooking a far easier way to fix it: Flip it over.
“I threw away 3 box cutters before i figured out you can not only flip the blade when it gets dull but you can replace it too…..”
7. You can (usually) lift up the stove grates, or even the entire top
Cleaning the stove is a gross, annoying job. It’s made even worse when you’re unwittingly doing it on hard mode, like this person’s daughter-in-law, who must have been painstakingly scrubbing between the grates:
“I was cleaning the kitchen and had the stove top lifted up, my sons wife walked around the corner and was like ‘what the hell? I didn’t know stoves did that!! They need to teach these things in high school!’”
8. There’s an easier way to fill the coffee maker
How do you make sure you’ve added the right amount of water to the coffee maker before brewing? For some, it can be a painstaking, one-cup-at-a-time process—until they realize there’s an easier way:
“I used to always pour water into our coffee maker one glass at a time. It was such a pain … especially to fill the reservoir to the number of cups I wanted. Until I realized I could just fill the carafe with water, which has the exact same measurements, and pour the water in that way.”
“My coworker, in the first week of work, picked up the whole damn coffee maker and brought it over to the water cooler to fill it up. The whole. Coffee. Maker. He unplugged it and carried it across the office. Outstanding.”
9. Small cats can fit through big holes
Once upon a time, there was a busy man whose cats were always interrupting his work. He wanted them to be able to come and go through the door as they pleased without bothering him, so he cut two holes in it: One large hole for the mother cat, and one smaller hole for the kittens. It wasn’t until a carpenter pointed it out to him that he realized the smaller cats could just…go through the big hole.
This “duh” moment is alleged to have happened to Sir Isaac Newton, who—legend has it—went on to invent the cat flap. The story is likely apocryphal, but it’s probably based on some kernel of truth.
So, if it can happen to one of the smartest astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians who ever lived, you definitely shouldn’t feel bad the next time you realize you’ve been struggling with a problem that has a laughably obvious solution.
Hitting the gas station to fill up can be a tedious task. With gas prices constantly fluctuating and recently on the rise, many Americans are in the habit of waiting until they’re nearly on empty before filling up.
According to a survey by AAA, 24 million Americans reported that they continue driving even after their gas light signals “Empty.” Unfortunately, if you’re in the habit of doing so, it could cost you in the long run.
Three car mechanics from Aeschbach Automotive in Wisconsin explained exactly what happens if you drive until your gas light comes on. All three agree it can have serious consequences for your car—and your wallet.
Each mechanic was asked, “Is it bad to keep driving once my gas light turns on?” Here were their responses:
Mechanic #1
Mechanic Sandro answered:
“The general rule of driving with less than a quarter tank is gonna lead to overheating your fuel pump, ‘cuz the fuel pump sits in the tank and is cooled by the fuel that it sits in. And driving on ‘E’ consistently is going to lead to burning up your fuel pump much, much faster and [lead] to premature failure.”
Mechanic #2
Mechanic Justin had a similar response, but with some humor mixed in:
“I don’t know, ask my wife, considering she’s got it on 90% of the time. Yes, it’s horrible for your car. The gas helps keep your fuel pump cool. When you’re running it low the fuel pump’s not submerged in gas anymore so it’s not staying cool. Your pump’s gonna overheat, eventually die. Just hurting it. I wouldn’t go lower than a quarter of a tank, unless you have to. A quarter of a tank, fill it back up. Quarter of a tank, fill it back up. It’ll be cheaper in the long run ‘cuz you won’t have the repairs and you won’t be pumping so much gas into your tank every time.”
Mechanic #3
Finally, the third mechanic, Antonio, also shared his advice:
“Yes, because when your gas light’s on, you’re running low on fuel. And the fuel pump inside the tank needs to be submerged by fuel because it’s what cools the fuel pump. If you don’t have enough fuel in it, the fuel pump’s gonna get hot and prematurely fail.”
Viewers share their experiences driving on “E”
People had a lot to say about their experiences driving on empty and left a number of funny and relatable comments:
“Drove on E for a week, Toyotas were made by God😂.”
“Listen… If I’m gonna be struggling, my fuel pump gonna be struggling, too 😂”
“I drive my 4Runner on E consistently and always have. I’ve never had a problem. Therefore I keep doing it. 🤷🏻♀️”
“Great info! I knew the ‘tank rule’ but I never knew WHY it was beneficial.”
“So you’re saying my anxiety keeps my fuel pump safe? Perfect.”
“I’m in California $5 a gallon I’m always on E.”
“Oh wow! Didn’t know that – now I’ll look at quarter of tank as if it says empty.”
Fuel pump 411
The fuel pump is an important part of your car.
“The fuel pump, or fuel sender unit, is responsible for sending pressurized fuel to the fuel rail on the engine,” automotive repair YouTuber speedkar99 explained. “It is normally situated inside the gas tank, cooled by surrounding fuel.”
Keeping enough fuel in your tank can help prevent expensive repairs down the road. AutoZone noted that fuel pumps typically cost between $75 and $250 for the part alone. However, that doesn’t include labor. With parts and labor, the average cost rises to between $400 and $600.
Sometimes, a simple phrase or sentence of sagely advice can have a huge impact on our lives, whether it’s from a religious text, a mental health expert, or an old saying your grandmother lived by.
Chelsea Anderson, a content creator in Denver, Colorado, loves to collect these pearls of wisdom, so she asked her TikTok followers to share their favorite “life-changing sentences,” and they delivered by the thousands.
Anderson is a popular figure on Instagram and TikTok for what began as babysitting life hacks, but she’s since graduated to becoming someone who “explains it all,” a playful riff on the 1990s sitcom Clarissa Explains It All.
“I collect life-changing sentences,” she said in the video. “You know, something that you read and you’re just like, wow, this changes everything. I’m gonna give you some of mine, and then I wanna hear yours.”
“Growth can feel like grief when you loved who you were.”
“The only way to discover all of the talents that you have within you is to give yourself permission to be a beginner.”
“Don’t worry about disappointing people who do not impress you.”
Commenters chimed in with over 3,000 of their own life-changing pieces of wisdom
The most popular piece of wisdom:“Unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments.”
This quote is commonly attributed to Neil Strauss, author of books including The Game and The Truth. The message is pretty simple: if you expect something from someone and never tell them, the other person has no chance to meet that expectation, which can inevitably lead to resentment.
“People only see the choice you made, not the choices you had.”
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second-best time is now.”
“Twenty minutes of doing something is more valuable than 20 hours of thinking about doing something.”
“Birds do not land on branches because they are certain the branch will hold. They land because they trust their wings to carry them if it doesn’t. Trust your wings.”
“Easy and hard are just familiar and unfamiliar.”
“You’ll never feel ready. Ready isn’t a feeling, it’s a decision.”
“I trust the next chapter because I know the author.”
There is no clear origin for this phrase, but over the past decade it has become a popular meme. The phrase matters because it’s about setting fair boundaries. We all make mistakes, but when there is a pattern of behavior the other person can’t seem to break, you shouldn’t give your forgiveness so easily. Eventually, it becomes enabling.
“Over-explaining is a form of begging.”
“You don’t have to attend every fight you are invited to.”
“Sometimes the things that break your heart fix your vision.”
“Never miss anyone who knows how to find you.”
“Accept people as they are and place them where they belong.”
“Don’t work harder than the person you’re helping.”
“If you’re not allowed to question it, you’re being controlled by it.“
This quote offers a way of looking at the authoritarian forces in our lives. Whether it’s the government, the educational system, law enforcement, religion, the media, or even people in your family, when you’re not allowed to be critical or ask questions, those in authority are more interested in controlling you than serving you.
“Equality can feel like oppression to the ones who have held power.”
Quotes about mental health
“You can’t hate yourself into a version of yourself you love.”
This quote is attributed to Lori Deschene, the founder of Tiny Buddha. She’s also the author of Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal, Tiny Buddha’s Worry Journal, and more. The quote highlights the idea that self-improvement is more likely to come from self-acceptance than from self-criticism.
“If it doesn’t change my life, then it shouldn’t change my mood.”
“Avoidance is just prolonged suffering disguised as safety.”
“People of value don’t go around devaluing others.”
“You are not the voice in your head, you are the one that hears it.”
There’s something wonderful about having little pieces of wisdom in your back pocket that you can draw on whenever things get rough. Kudos to Anderson, who asked her audience to share the wisdom many people may really need right now.
There’s no simple answer for how to be happy, but many brilliant individuals have dedicated their lives to finding the answer nonetheless.
Matt Killingsworth is one of them. A Harvard-educated psychologist and senior fellow at the esteemed Wharton School, Killingsworth has led numerous studies designed to uncover the secret to happiness. In one of his biggest undertakings, he helped design TrackYourHappiness.org, “a large-scale research project that uses smartphones to collect real-time happiness data from people around the world.”
The findings he’s cultivated over the course of his career are mandatory reading for anyone who wants to maximize the joy they get out of life. Here are just a few takeaways from his body of research:
A groundbreaking study conducted in 2010 by Daniel Kahneman and others found that money does not make you happy. Or rather, money increases happiness only up to around $60–$90,000 per year—enough to live comfortably and without many of the hardships associated with poverty. Beyond that point, Kahneman found no additional benefit to earning more money when it came to happiness.
Killingsworth’s own research disagreed, showing “a linear relationship between happiness and income” with essentially no upper limit.
The two authors came together to reconcile their findings in a paper titled “Income and emotional well-being: A conflict resolved.” In the end, they determined that the “flattening” effect applies only to the least happy people. Meanwhile, the happiest people continued to get happier as their wealth increased.
In other words, if you aren’t happy to begin with, more money probably won’t help. But if you’re generally pretty happy, having more resources allows you to maximize your joy in new ways.
2. Buying things doesn’t move the needle. Buying experiences does.
It’s hard to say exactly why having more money continues to make most of us happier, but some of Killingsworth’s other research may offer a clue.
Money makes a lot of problems in our lives go away. But as the old saying suggests, having a lot of money also creates new problems. One thing large amounts of money do allow us to do is buy things that can help us experience joy. Well, not necessarily things.
In his paper with fellow authors Amit Kumar and Thomas Gilovich, Killingsworth finds: “Spending on doing promotes more moment-to-moment happiness than spending on having. Relative to possessions, experiences elicit greater in-the-moment happiness.”
The study found that experiences trumped possessions in nearly every category of satisfaction, including anticipation, moment-of-consumption, and remembrance. Vacations, concerts, parties, and adventures are a far better use of your money than cars, clothes, and other material items.
3. The joy is in the waiting
Speaking of anticipation, Killingsworth has found that it is sometimes one of the greatest elicitors of happiness.
In the published paper “Waiting for Merlot,” Killingsworth and his co-authors argue that waiting eagerly is a crucial element of extracting joy from experiences, and reiterate that the happiness we feel while anticipating an experience or event far outweighs the joy we get from waiting for a material possession.
Happiness expert and New York Times bestselling author Gretchen Rubin agrees. She writes that there are four keys to maximizing how happy an event makes you. The first is anticipation, but savoring the moment, sharing it with others, and reflecting back on it often round out the magic formula.
“Anticipation is a key stage; by having something to look forward to, no matter what your circumstances, you bring happiness into your life well before the event actually takes place,” she writes. “In fact, sometimes the happiness in anticipation is greater than the happiness actually experienced in the moment—that’s known as ‘rosy prospection.’”
4. Being present is a happiness superpower
In “A wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” Killingsworth dropped one of the biggest truth bombs of his career. He and his co-author Daniel Gilbert found “that people are thinking about what is not happening almost as often as they are thinking about what is and … found that doing so typically makes them unhappy.”
In an essay for the University of California, Berkeley, Killingsworth writes that many of the other factors involved in happiness are relatively superficial: “Yes, people are generally happier if they make more money rather than less, or are married instead of single, but the differences are quite modest.”
Our ability to stay present in the moment and take joy in our lives—not what’s already happened, or what’s coming next—is incredibly powerful:
“We found that people are substantially less happy when their minds are wandering than when they’re not, which is unfortunate considering we do it so often. Moreover, the size of this effect is large—how often a person’s mind wanders, and what they think about when it does, is far more predictive of happiness than how much money they make, for example.”
It’s no wonder so many scientists, philosophers, and researchers have dedicated their careers to understanding the mysteries of happiness. After all, most people simply want to live a happy life, and feeling fulfilled can make us healthier and help us live longer.
Finding happiness is easier said than done. Killingsworth’s research suggests that being rich and checking things off your bucket list can help in the search, but ultimately the most important part is learning to find joy in the everyday moments.
Mental health therapy in the United States is expensive. According to a 2024 study that analyzed over 175,000 psychotherapy providers, the average cost of a therapy session was $143.26 for those paying cash without insurance coverage.
Unfortunately, the high costs of mental health services and support can prevent many people from getting the help they need. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), nearly half of Americans with mental health needs go without treatment.
To help others, a teacher on Reddit making a “teacher salary” with “teacher mental health needs” shared the affordable mental health resources they discovered to help them stay well on a small budget after “refusing to pay $175/hour.”
“Spent a summer researching what actually exists between ‘expensive therapy’ and ‘suffer alone.’ More options than I expected,” they wrote.
They found several mental health services that were both free and low-cost. “Total: under $100/month for real, human support,” they added, noting that they receive monthly therapy at a community health clinic for $35, peer support calls between sessions for about $50 per month, and a free NAMI support group twice monthly.
“It’s not perfect. I’d love weekly therapy with a specialist,” they shared. “But this is sustainable on my salary and it’s genuinely helping.”
These are some of the helpful resources they found, along with additional suggestions from frugal Redditors who shared how they afford mental health services.
According to the site, “Warmlines (also known as peer support warmlines or peer-operated behavioral health warmlines) are phone, chat, or text lines that provide empathetic listening and peer support to individuals who may be experiencing distress or loneliness, or those seeking validation from a peer with lived experience who identifies with their concerns and can offer a confidential and non-judgmental space for connection and self-directed exploration of possible solutions and alternatives.”
7 Cups is an online therapy resource. The teacher explained that, in their experience, “quality varies, but it’s free.”
Library books
The teacher shared that CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) books available for free through their local library are “surprisingly helpful.”
Another Redditor noted, “a lot of public libraries now offer free access to meditation and mental health apps through their digital services. My library gives free Headspace access and also has Libby for audiobooks — there’s a surprising amount of good CBT and mindfulness stuff in audiobook form that you can just listen to on a walk.”
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers veterans a number of options for free mental health support.
“In the USA if you are a military veteran who served in a combat zone, you can go to a Vet Center and get mental health support for as long as you need it,” another Redditor shared. “For me that will be for the rest of my life. Not just for people who served in a combat zone, several other qualifiers– drone operators, Coast Guard drug patrols, military sexual trauma, and a few other I can’t remember. Call and ask and they will tell you. It saved my life.”
Apps
Redditors also shared their favorite free mental health apps.
“Chiming in with my favorite free resource: freeCBT app on iOS and Android. parts of CBT are so formulaic it can literally be a … form,” one explained. “Anyway this has definitely helped me when I remember to use it.”
Another shared: “There is also a free [mindfulness meditation] app by UCLA called Mindful worth looking into, to at least help ppl get started.”
The teacher noted that Open Path Collective can also help you find affordable therapists through its membership-based model.
University training clinics
Some local universities offer low-cost services through training clinics.
The teacher shared that you may be able to find affordable care, noting that in their experience they found help for “$20-50 with supervised grad students.”
One Redditor also shared that this helped them: “The university training clinic tip is gold. I did therapy there for a year, paid $25/session, and the grad student I worked with was excellent. They’re motivated and current on research.”
Another Redditor added that they were “also seconding the university training clinic tip. The grad students are usually way more up-to-date on current research than some private practice therapists who haven’t read a new paper in 15 years. And they’re supervised by licensed clinicians so it’s not like you’re getting unqualified help.”
A new trend is sweeping the Internet, and it goes something like this: A person posts a TikTok. They say they’re doing a “sprint month.” Then they disappear and return a few weeks later with a follow-up video. They’ve transformed. They’re calmer, more focused, and, in a weird way, more themselves. The comment section goes appropriately wild.
In May 2025, TikTok user Kelli (@growwithkelli) shared a video titled “A Sprint Month Changed the Trajectory of My Life,” which garnered over 58,000 likes and has been viewed nearly 700,000 times. In it, Kelli explains the sprint month phenomenon: “A few months ago, I did what’s called a ‘sprint month,’ and it absolutely changed the trajectory of my life. I feel like I’ve jumped timelines into becoming a different version of myself.”
“A sprint month is basically a process where, for thirty days, you become the person you want to be. You act as that person. Before long, you start to notice all the excuses you’ve been using for so long that have prevented you or stopped you [in the past]. For thirty days, you put those excuses to the side, and you sprint towards ‘the goal’ or the one thing that you know will move your life in monumental ways.” – Kelli
She goes on to detail her sprint month goals (technically, “sprint months”—Kelli kept this going for two consecutive months): she wanted to eat healthier, show up more at the gym, and pursue her passions outside her nine-to-five job.
Yes, you can accomplish a sprint month while holding down a full-time job.
This is more than a social media fad: it’s a certified movement supported by leading psychology. There’s a reason this concept has connected with hundreds of thousands of people on TikTok, Instagram, and wellness blogs. Sprint months tap directly into how our brains process time, motivation, and personal transformation. And we’re sharing the secrets to running your sprint month safely, the history of the trend, and the psychology of “locking in.”
The Internet’s reaction
Kelli finished back-to-back sprint months while holding down a full-time job. Seems like a lot, right? That’s exactly the point. In her viral video, she goes on to detail the positive effects she noticed during her sprint months: “When you start acting in alignment with who you feel like you’re meant to become, it creates this ripple effect in every area of your life.”
She provides examples: Over the past few months, she’s landed a job that’s more aligned with her personal passions. She started a social club that’s improving every day. Her anxiety softened. Her relationship with her partner improved. The best part? Those weren’t even her sprint month goals.
A comment from Kelli’s viral video. Photo credit: Screenshot
“These things happened, even though I wasn’t prioritizing those specific [areas],” says Kelli. “I was just focusing on a few key areas. That’s the power of a sprint month.”
Kelli’s comment section erupted, with other users chiming in with their own sprint month experiences. “I did that for a couple of months, and now I’m living in France in my dream apartment,” wrote one commenter. “The less you resist, the more you receive!” chirped another.
Hollie Fleischman (@hmfleischmann) wrote: “I saw your video and did one in March, and continue to do one every month. March was weight loss, April was studying for my certificate, and May is my financial month! I’ve lost over 25 pounds since then and saved over $3,000! Thank you for the idea!!”
Kelli isn’t alone. Search “sprint month” on TikTok, and you’ll find hundreds of videos—made overwhelmingly by young women—showing how they drastically changed their lives in just 30 days.
In a video titled “A Sprint Month could change your life,” Grace (@graciesecrist) shared her sprint month wishlist with the platform. “I’ve seen people posting about [sprint months] before, and I would always think, ‘Oh, I’ll start on the first of the month,’ or, ‘I’ll start on a Monday.’ But I need to stop making excuses for myself. Because at the end of the day, I’m only wasting more time,” she tells viewers. She’s aiming to walk 10,000 steps per day, break her doomscrolling habit, and explore New York City.
For people who don’t know where to start, a video posted by Kelly Matthews (@kellylmatthews) details a general template designed for those who want to “accelerate the timeline” toward becoming a different person. She recommends aiming for 10,000 steps a day (8,000 minimum), planning three gym sessions a week (and putting them on your calendar ahead of time), eating one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day (plus 25 grams of fiber), and putting your phone away half an hour before bed.
She ends the video with a challenge. “So what’s it going to be?” she asks. “Are you going to walk towards the goals you have? Or are you going to sprint? 30 days. That’s it. We can do it.”
From software teams to your TikTok For You Page
“Sprint months” didn’t come from the self-help world. The term “sprint” is actually lifted from Scrum, an agile project management framework developed for software engineering in the early 1990s. In the Scrum Guide(which details the product’s accountabilities, events, artifacts, and rules), co-creators Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber define a sprint as “a fixed-length event of one month or less.” Sprints are designed to give developers a clear goal, a set timeframe, and an opportunity to review progress at the end.
Sprints entered the personal growth stratosphere when productivity writer J.D. Meier introduced the “Monthly Improvement Sprints” method. Instead of chasing a single long-term goal, his personal growth framework centers on a series of twelve monthly themes each year. “This way, each month would be a fresh start,” he writes. “What I generally notice is that a lot of the hurdles I hit in my first week are gone by week 2. Little improvements each day add up quickly.”
Meier adds suggestions for sprint month themes:
Make progress on a dream (chip away at a big dream or [invent] a little dream and make it happen).
Sharpen a skill.
Try your hand at something new.
Reshape your body.
Adopt a new habit.
TikTok users discovered this framework and, no pun intended, ran with it. Creator @kellylmatthews pumps up sprinters in her viral clip:
“For thirty days, you’re not going to walk towards your goals. You’ll be sprinting towards all the things you want to accomplish this year. This isn’t about toxic hustle culture. It’s not ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead.’ It’s about increasing the amount of work that you’re willing to put in.”
Why 30 days hits that perfect sweet spot
Besides glowing anecdotes and enthusiastic letters of recommendation, there’s a decent chunk of psychology and science backing 30-day sprints. The “Fresh Start Effect” helps explain the psychology behind sprint months and why this 30-day challenge feels so motivating. Researchers from the Wharton School found that people are more likely to work toward their goals after a “temporal landmark,” like the start of a new week, a birthday, or the first of the month.
Temporal landmarks provide us with a mental clean slate. They are moments that help us distinguish our “past self” (who might feel discouraged by past struggles or perceived failures) from our “future self,” whom we believe will succeed. A sprint month transforms the beginning of the month into a portal: accept the challenge, and you’re given a fresh opportunity to embody the person you’re meant to become.
I saw @Sprint Month / vaere_wellness talking about the sprint month and I’m all in! Let’s gooooo! 1) Nutrition Coaching Certification 2) Maintain calorie deficit- for weight loss 3) Save a specific amount/ No excess spending #sprintmonth#fyp#over40
“While consistency over time is important, we can’t always put considerable effort toward one thing for a year. Having a clear start date and a clear end date enables us to push more than we usually would on something. The structure and containment of sprint months is what makes them so powerful and useful.”
While we normally pursue long-term goals (like exercising) to receive delayed rewards (like improved health), that mindset can be counterintuitive. Fishbach and Woolley found the opposite: immediate rewards—such as enjoyment, fun, or positive experiences—better indicate whether a person will stick with an activity. Immediacy creates a perceptual fusion between the activity and its reward, linking the two. In the context of “sprint months,” when you see results in such a short time span, your brain begins to associate your progress with pleasure. The activity itself—whether it be working out, eating better, or lowering your screen time—starts to feel rewarding. That’s incredibly powerful.
A daily feeling of achievement, a visible streak on a tracker, or encouragement from a TikTok accountability group can all act as immediate rewards that help keep motivation high.
How sprint months compare to other viral challenges
You may not have encountered sprint months before, but you’ve likely heard of their buddies: “75 Hard,” “The Winter Arc,” and “The Great Lock-In.”
Sprint months are part of a rising number of fitness challenges on TikTok. Photo credit: Canva
Sprint months don’t exist in a vacuum. They’ve emerged as part of a rising trend of short-term self-improvement challenges popular among Gen Z and Millennials.
75 Hard, created by entrepreneur Andy Frisella, is a grueling program in which participants must complete five intense daily tasks for 75 consecutive days: two 45-minute workouts (one outdoors), drinking a gallon of water, following a strict diet with no cheat meals or alcohol, reading 10 pages of nonfiction, and taking a daily progress photo. If you miss a single day, you have to start over.
“This is not a fitness challenge,” Frisella warns on his website. “I spent years feeling like I was nothing, trying program after program to get back on track…only to fall off right after I completed it. Then I realized that the root cause of all my problems was not addressed by any existing program.”
The Winter Arc rose to fame on TikTok in late 2024. This self-improvement trend avoids the “new year, new me” trap and urges people to jump-start their personal growth well before the ball drops on January 1. Miami-based influencer Carly Berges (known as @carlyupgraded) is widely credited as the creator of the Winter Arc; her TikTok about it has garnered over 4.8 million views.
“If you’re seeing this video before October 1st, then you are just in time for your Winter Arc,” says Berges. “This is a time where people tend to let their foot off the gas, but there are still three months left in the year.” She goes on to reframe October, November, and December as an opportunity to “dial the f*** in” and get serious about your personal transformation goals.
Unlike the severity of 75 Hard, the Winter Arc has no fixed ruleset. Instead, participants typically build a personal list of around 10 daily self-improvement habits they commit to for the duration, usually spanning fitness, sleep, mental health, nutrition, and relationships. The hashtag #winterarc quickly climbed to fifth on TikTok’s U.S. trending chart, accumulating over 250,000 videos.
Start with small actions you can consistently show up for.
Track your wins visibly and daily (Glenn suggests using a daily habit tracker or sticky notes).
Adopt the “never miss twice” rule. You can skip one day, but never miss two. Create friction for bad habits (removing harmful apps from your phone, for example) and enable flow for desirable ones (like laying out your gym clothes the night before).
Writer Cal Newport noted that “lock in” was voted the “most useful” term of 2024 by the American Dialect Society, stating that the concept reflects Gen Z’s desire for undistracted focus amid constant notifications.
In comparison to their counterparts, sprint months are shorter and more focused. These 30-day challenges are meant to be more accessible, and missing a day (or two!) doesn’t mean starting over, which provides a more realistic way to build habits.
The part no one talks about: Burnout
Now the not-so-fun part. When pushed to the extreme, sprint months can be dangerous, and it’s important to recognize that.
Dr. Meghan Marcum, chief psychologist at AMFM Healthcare, warns participants not to slip into all-or-nothing perfectionism. A single missed day should not feel like a total failure. Clinical psychologist Jamie Evan Bichelman echoes this: “Where this trend could become unhealthy is the act of comparison: seeing influencers who obsessively post about their progress…and comparing their achievements to your busy life.”
Planning a sprint month? Beware of burnout and perfectionism. Photo credit: Canva
Establish short, achievable minimums for tough days. Even five minutes spent toward your goal counts. Remember that perfection isn’t what you’re after, and be gentle with yourself.
Break your sprint goal into daily actions with a specific time and place. Prioritize these actions in your schedule.
Here’s a truth that gets overlooked: the 30-day sprint isn’t the finish line. It’s just the beginning.
The feeling you get when you complete a goal, or set your mind to something—and achieve it—feels like magic. But in reality, it’s the logical result of a combination of structure and intent. Yes, a concentrated 30-day effort builds the type of momentum needed to push through initial resistance. However, the habit won’t be second nature—not yet. But you’ve already done the hardest part: showing up.
The pursuit of happiness is seen as such an inseparable element of being human that the founders of the United States put it in the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Everyone wants to be happy. And yet, so many find happiness elusive.
Harvard University social scientist Dr. Arthur C. Brooks has made human happiness (and the pursuit of it) the central focus of his research. In his studies, he has identified four habits that the happiest people practice each day.
Defining happiness
How are “the happiest people in the world” measured? Brooks explained the happiest people are those who score highest on what he calls the “macronutrients of happiness”: enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning.
Enjoyment doesn’t mean pleasure, Brooks said at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum in 2024. “The pursuit of pleasure is a great way to ruin your life,” he said. “Enjoyment takes the source of pleasure and adds two things: people and memory.”
Satisfaction involves both achievement and detachment. We are satisfied when we successfully achieve a goal. We are also satisfied when we want less.
Meaning is the most important of these macronutrients. “Meaning is about coherence—why do things happen the way they do? Purpose. What is my direction and goals? And significance. Why does it matter that I am alive?” Brooks said.
People who score highest in these areas tend to engage in four “big habits” every day. Brooks collectively refers to these habits as a “happiness pension plan” that people make deposits into:
Happiness Habit #1: Transcendence
“They’re paying attention every day to their faith or philosophical life, which is religious or not, but is transcending themselves and standing in awe of something bigger,” Brooks shared.
Transcendence is seeking something greater than yourself. Photo credit: Canva
Brooks talks about transcendence as a “vertical” practice, “where you’re looking for something that’s divine, something that’s bigger than you.” But that could look like a lot of different things:
“Maybe that means studying the Stoics and living according to their principles, even as an atheist,” Brooks explained to Mark Manson. “Maybe that’s walking in nature for an hour before dawn without devices. Maybe that’s studying the fugues of Bach. Maybe that’s studying the Vipassana meditation practice with seriousness. And maybe that’s going to mass every day. Transcending yourself is one of the great secrets to happiness.”
Happiness Habit #2: Family
“They’re taking their family life seriously,” said Brooks.
“All families are imperfect and everybody cares about their families. Anybody who says ‘I don’t care about my family’ they’re just lying. It’s very, very important that we understand that the strange and magical nature of family relationships we have, they’re some of the most intense love relationships that we have. And we didn’t choose them. It doesn’t even make sense. It’s almost a mystical thing, that people have those people who can drive you absolutely around the bend, make you completely crazy, and you didn’t even choose a relationship? And you feel great sorrow where there’s schism? This is something that we need to understand.”
Brooks said that stress in families due to differences in opinions or values is “inevitable.” He added that we need to understand the imperfect nature of families and that we all need to work at making those relationships better.
Happiness Habit #3: Friendships
Happy people also take their friendships seriously, Brooks said. “And that’s super hard for people in business,” he added, “especially the higher you go in management, the fewer real friends you have and the more ‘deal friends’ that you have. And deal friends don’t count.”
Brooks told the Mighty Pursuit podcast that friendship exists at three levels. Deal friends are the lowest level of friendship, where the relationship is transactional. Next are friendships based on beauty or admiration. The friend has something magnetic about them that attracts you and makes you enjoy being around them. Finally, there are friendships of virtue, the deepest and truest form of friendship. Brooks called this level of friendship “useless” because it’s not about either person gaining anything, but rather about truly knowing one another on a deep level.
“Last but not least is dedicating your work to earning your success and serving other people,” Brooks said.
“Joy comes from work under two circumstances that have nothing to do with money and power and position and prestige, nothing, nothing, nothing,” Brooks shared in a video. “It has to do with earning your success, which means that you’re creating value with your life, you believe that you’re needed. And that you’re serving other people. You’re doing something that’s actually good for other people.”
Joy at work doesn’t come from money, power, or prestige. It comes from earning your success, creating value, serving others, and knowing you are needed. When your work becomes an act of love, it sanctifies everything you do.
