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10 HARD Ways to Make Your Life Better
lifehack.org — Here are ten things that are really hard to do but which have an incredible power to make your life better.
lekahe- 1164 diggs
- digg it
- djt137, on 03/15/2008, -8/+16I go through a lot of great digg articles every day but this one is really worth taking a moment to look at. Great job! I think I need to start my own business. :)
- ralphthemagi, on 03/15/2008, -6/+7Really? It's not as easy as stupid little articles like this and the drivel from zenhabits spew out. Most businesses fail, and they can drag you into bankruptcy easily. Moreover, owning a business isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's not like you get to sit around on your ass all day. Now you are responsible for everything that happens, and everything that other people do.
If you want to make your life better, a better piece of general advice would be to go back to school and get a degree, or if you have one get another one or an MBA or JD.
And that's just #1. There's a few other good tips in here to go bankrupt, and then some like, "Write a book," which are completely irrelevant.- yellowsnowcone, on 03/15/2008, -3/+5Getting a law or business degree will ensure that you will forever be stuck in the middle class. Only by starting a business do you have a chance to get truly rich.
And while you are correct in that most businesses will fail, you are wrong in stating that this failure will lead you into bankruptcy. There are a lot of businesses and business ideas that require very little capital to get started.
And what you learn will be far more valuable than getting an MBA or law degree.- ralphthemagi, on 03/15/2008, -1/+6The middle class? Do you know what the middle class is?
- DelayedEraser, on 03/15/2008, -1/+5i agree that the tips are nothing special but i'm right on board with the philosophy. everyone wants easy answers nowadays and the sooner they snap out of it the better
- EdgarCayce, on 03/15/2008, -2/+1Getting an MBA is for somebody who wants the responsibility of running a business without the financial responsibility of owning one. Put another way, an MBA is the easy way out. There is no risk in managing some other guy's business. You will never get rich working for somebody else. You might not get rich owning your own business. You will never know unless you try.
- ralphthemagi, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2The amount of people who become rich as executives, attorneys, and doctors is FAR greater than those who just "own [their] own business." Granted, executives may sit on the board of a half dozen companies, attorneys and doctors may have their own practice with a partner or two, but the idea you can just start any old business and become rich is a fallacy. Hate to tell you this, but Brin and Page (both who hold advanced degrees) are the exception. Most people don't start a company that goes IPO a few years later and become billionaires.
On the other hand, making $25-30k a month as a corporate executive is relatively common.
- ralphthemagi, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2The amount of people who become rich as executives, attorneys, and doctors is FAR greater than those who just "own [their] own business." Granted, executives may sit on the board of a half dozen companies, attorneys and doctors may have their own practice with a partner or two, but the idea you can just start any old business and become rich is a fallacy. Hate to tell you this, but Brin and Page (both who hold advanced degrees) are the exception. Most people don't start a company that goes IPO a few years later and become billionaires.
- yellowsnowcone, on 03/15/2008, -3/+5Getting a law or business degree will ensure that you will forever be stuck in the middle class. Only by starting a business do you have a chance to get truly rich.
- spookyttws, on 03/15/2008, -4/+4With all the revamping Digg has been doing lately, I'm surprised that there is no "Digg Cache" for all these pages that we kill every 5 minutes. I know it would strain the servers, but when you rely on other sites completely for your site to work, it would logically lead you to fix that issue.
Also, yeah I'm being an ass and replying to a comment that had nothing to do with my rant, just so I'll be read a few times.- dynelol, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1agreed. dugg.
- gthyb, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1FINALLY a list of the 10 reasons I'm a failure.
- tyywebb, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1What a lame ass ***** article. Buried
- ralphthemagi, on 03/15/2008, -6/+7Really? It's not as easy as stupid little articles like this and the drivel from zenhabits spew out. Most businesses fail, and they can drag you into bankruptcy easily. Moreover, owning a business isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's not like you get to sit around on your ass all day. Now you are responsible for everything that happens, and everything that other people do.
- apryld, on 03/15/2008, -3/+10Good stuff!
- RogerTourbiner, on 03/15/2008, -3/+48Whew, for a second I misread this as "10 ways to make your life harder." Its freakin' hard enough!
- deadlift, on 03/15/2008, -7/+24You can't just wally-wally and decide to to "start a business". You need a business concept, measure profitability through analyzing costs versus revenue models, viability, funding, so much more.
It's just not that easy.- tchynerd, on 03/15/2008, -4/+32Hense why it is hard?
- Yaanu, on 03/15/2008, -9/+3IT AIN'T EEEEEEEASY
IT AIN'T EEEEEEEASY
IT AIN'T EEEASY TO GET TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU'RE GOING DOWN - geobay, on 03/15/2008, -1/+7Good advice and I'd add to that: Determination, drive, passion for your business and a good amount of luck.
- Slacker1031, on 03/15/2008, -4/+11Thats not true at all. Starting a buisness is very easy, having a successful buisness is difficult. Do anything you can to get started, figure out if it's worth it afterward. you have nothing to lose if your startup cost is close to nothing.
- deadlift, on 03/15/2008, -3/+2Starting a business is very easy? What do you consider the start of a business? The conception? Formation as a legal entity?
"you have nothing to lose if your startup cost is close to nothing."
For you to spend nothing means you have not created any intangible or tangible products. No product or service? No business.
Just having an idea is not a business. It requires time and money to get things rolling and if you deem that startup cost "nothing" then I assume you've never actually have any experience in starting, maintaining and improving any business.
Then again, what do I know? I still haven't even graduated High school yet. But I have created and sustained a business.
- deadlift, on 03/15/2008, -3/+2Starting a business is very easy? What do you consider the start of a business? The conception? Formation as a legal entity?
- hapb, on 03/15/2008, -1/+0Maybe we should just assume that the writer guesses that the person who reads the article is of a higher pedigree to begin with. Of the people I know, there are only about two I would consider going into business with. That means that the rest of them are not what I would consider savvy.
- lukemandese, on 03/15/2008, -14/+5Hi guys
- dlllb, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Luke is that you?
- lukemandese, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1why, who is this?
- dlllb, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Luke is that you?
- gothicform, on 03/15/2008, -5/+30Ten ways to make your life better.... 1) Make lots of money. 2) find 9 cool ways to spend it.
- solinent, on 03/15/2008, -2/+2That's 2 ways.
1) Make money
2-8) Spend it
9) ???
10) Profit- subliminalurge, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Isnt it time for that to die?
- alienunknown, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Yes. I predict that it will end like this:
1) It will become less popular.
2) Annoy the ***** out of people so badly that everyone is pissed off when someone does this.
3) ???
4) No one does this anymore! Yay :)
- alienunknown, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Yes. I predict that it will end like this:
- subliminalurge, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Isnt it time for that to die?
- Hoogs, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Easier said than done...
- solinent, on 03/15/2008, -2/+2That's 2 ways.
- ghgh1313, on 03/15/2008, -5/+12"hard" is relative for some of these...but for the most part this list is *****. do these top 10 lists ever get anyone to make a severe lifestyle change?
- Bizbat, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1No.
- MCDupree, on 03/15/2008, -1/+5Hey pal, one small step at a time. So yes, in a way, they do. It's call inspiration and hope. And they work.
- dynelol, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1No, but they do get some of us to THINK we're going to get up and do something. Quite a refreshing 10 minutes.
- BillyMcEvoy20, on 03/15/2008, -2/+7eh.. I wouldn't say all of these would make your life better.
- bingobongony, on 03/15/2008, -2/+58#1...don't take advice from blogs. Especially blogs that resort to gaming Digg for revenue.
- yellowsnowcone, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2He's following item No 1 on the list.
- RonnyIsRondo, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11Could try selling drugs. They get shot alot right? And they hace sweet rides
- zaldoe, on 03/15/2008, -0/+6Whatever you do, nothing beats feeling healthy...
so go on ... put on those nike+ shoes u havnt touched since ever and run that elusive 5k NOW!- alienunknown, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2As healthy as those in the sweatshop that made your nike shoes?
- 067077, on 03/15/2008, -1/+7I saw the picture and thought that rock climbing was gonna be one of the 10 things
- fridaporvida, on 03/15/2008, -3/+6My parents raised me Buddhist, and this sounds like it could have been written by my dad...especially because immediately after reading the topic of number five I said out loud, '...but I don't want to have a baby!!' then it went on to say, 'I don’t mean have kids.' I can just hear my dad's voice calmly saying that right my outburst.
- dynelol, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1lol budha
- DeadFox1, on 03/15/2008, -0/+281. Start a business
2. Organize a group
3. Volunteer
4. Take an active role in your children’s’ activities
5. Start a family
6. Write a book
7. Learn an art
8. Run for office
9. Take up a sport
10. Set an outrageous goal — and achieve it!- leerayIG88, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Organize a group, good ol' communist party.
- dynelol, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3How many of those 10 did Adolph Hitler manage?
- ClarkLab, on 03/15/2008, -6/+12is no one going to mention this blog is called lifehack.org?
we already have a blog we like, lifehacker.com
buried for being lame- danielman94, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3I've noticed that, too. What was really weird was when, a while back, I was browsing "lifehacker.com" and found an article that linked to "lifehack.org".
- Rhino2, on 03/15/2008, -2/+2HACK YOUR LIFE, HACK THE PLANET!
hAx0rZ 4 EVAR!
- Rhino2, on 03/15/2008, -2/+2HACK YOUR LIFE, HACK THE PLANET!
- danielman94, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3I've noticed that, too. What was really weird was when, a while back, I was browsing "lifehacker.com" and found an article that linked to "lifehack.org".
- Dbeneath, on 03/15/2008, -5/+15hmmm this is probably the stupidest article i've ever read.
- Jones82, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3That's saying a lot since you've been on Digg for over a year
- EpicSelekta, on 03/15/2008, -2/+4The author claims that having kids is easy... every parent I know begs to differ!
- yellowsnowcone, on 03/15/2008, -0/+4no, he says that having kids is hard, but your life will be better for having them
- amiak, on 03/15/2008, -3/+9this list is dumb as hell... don't waste your time
- Jones82, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Good thing I read past the "good article" comments at the top to get to the "bad article" comments farther down before actually reading the article
- lindasue, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2Taking an active role in your children's activities is not so hard. He should have put "Be a parent to you child, not a friend". Now, that's hard.
- userperson, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1"8. Run for office"
Schadenfreude? Gov't is fun if you're the one deciding.
Better for you, not as much for everyone else. - TheCure, on 03/15/2008, -4/+2Seeing this ***** on Digg makes Reddit more appealing every day. Diggers and submitters please stop ruining this great site
- BRODEL, on 03/16/2008, -0/+1I used to get sick of digg every once in a while. I like reading comments once in a while and on reddit the comments are all a bunch of snobby jerk offs high fiving each other over how much better they are than the rest of the world.
- hummstheword, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3Can you follow this up with a '10 EASY ways to make your life better' article? A spur of the moment business venture is a little over my head at the moment.
- MrDoubtful, on 03/15/2008, -3/+0I bet this advice doesn't work.
- stilesja, on 03/15/2008, -2/+9Win the lottery. Harder to do than anything in this list and will completely change your life.
- derek20cali, on 03/15/2008, -3/+4What a waste of time. All fluff.
- NightVortez, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3Eh life is what you make it, if I do all those things it wouldn't be as much better as it would be more busy.
Hell some of those things would even make it a pain.- Slacker1031, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2Yeah, it's hard deciding what to spend all your money on when you're working for yourself and living on your own terms.
- RobotBuddha, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Seriously. I might not be the richest, or most free, guy in the world. But every person I knew who had the opinion of the parent hasn't moved an inch in their life for years. We all get beat down through childhood that it's the natural way to get tossed inside a cubicle for life. But you're only really stuck in that, as metaphor or reality, until you decide to get away from it. It sounds cliche, but I really wish I'd have come to that conclusion earlier in life.
- Slacker1031, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2Yeah, it's hard deciding what to spend all your money on when you're working for yourself and living on your own terms.
- yellowsnowcone, on 03/15/2008, -4/+10I think this is a great list. But I know most of the people in this world will never do any of these (well, except for start a family, either by design or accident).
That's what differentiates AMAZING people from ORDINARY people. The vast majority of people just aren't willing to step outside of their comfort zones to do something truly AMAZING.
When was the last time you RISKED anything in your life to achieve something? The greatest rewards come with the greatest risks.- Slacker1031, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3the fact that you aren't getting dugg up proves this point so well. Life rewards action, and the more action you take the greater the reward. The few people out there who are reading this article and understanding where it's comming from are the ones who will be successful in life. the ones bashing it and saying "This doesn't work, it's a waste of time" will be exactly where there are now a year from today.
Take action, Take a chance, and never stop moving forward.- Rhino2, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2*err*.
Take CALCULATED Risks.
Don't just throw all your net worth down on lottery tickets.
Manage your risk/reward and make well educated calculated risks.
- Rhino2, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2*err*.
- Slacker1031, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3the fact that you aren't getting dugg up proves this point so well. Life rewards action, and the more action you take the greater the reward. The few people out there who are reading this article and understanding where it's comming from are the ones who will be successful in life. the ones bashing it and saying "This doesn't work, it's a waste of time" will be exactly where there are now a year from today.
- mellowcool, on 03/15/2008, -7/+1You can change your life by being a coach and make money at http://www.milliondollarbody.com/jgonzalezsr
- FearFactory, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4Shouldn't 4 be a given?? WTF being involved with your kids is optional???
- RRJackson, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3HA!
When I was a kid my dad came home on Friday nights and left on Sunday afternoons. He worked about a hundred miles away and spent the week there. When I was 8 my folks got divorced and he was granted weekend visitation, which wasn't really all that different than the way things had worked for the previous 8 years. For some people, either by choice or necessity, spending time with the kids isn't a priority.
Of course, I'm typing this from a Maximum Security Prison...OK, that part was fiction. ;-)
- RRJackson, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3HA!
- aseever, on 03/15/2008, -1/+0thru-hike.
- silentvelcro, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4in reference to the article... yeah because I always tend to focus ways on making my life better by visiting someone else's website and abiding by their advice rather than finding out for myself, article is a joke (as im sure this will be buried and get several thumbs-down solely for my personal opinion, and since when is personal opinion wrong)
- yourpaljasper, on 03/15/2008, -4/+3Am I the only one who thought this was a gay sex advice article? (not that there's anything wrong with it)
- volacide, on 03/15/2008, -0/+6"My dad, who has been self-employed almost all his life, used to tell me that “Only jerks work for jerks.” Working for someone else puts you at their mercy and subjects you to their whims — and often their poor management skills. Not only that, but the profit of your labor goes into their pockets."
The ironic thing about this article is basically saying that you should start up your own business so that people will have to work under your "poor management skills" at your every whim. I've always found articles like this funny that say such things. Just seems a bit ridiculous.- Jones82, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Well someone has to be the boss so it might as well be you
- volacide, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Right but to allude to the fact that every boss has poor management skills doesn't really get the right point across. Sure, crap bosses outnumber good bosses but they exist, and hopefully a person that starts their own business and doesn't work for some big conglomerate has the management skills to back up their guts to start said business. Or at least the know how to actually give their employees time of day when it comes to being heard.
- CoffeeNut, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Only jerks say "only jerks work for jerks".
- Rhino2, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Only Jerks say that "Only jerks say "only jerks work for jerks"."
- Rhino2, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Only Jerks say that "Only jerks say "only jerks work for jerks"."
- Slacker1031, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1The message was more focused on the upper level types that seem to just fall into those positions. People who aren't very good at managing time or people, who have a connection with the company. Therefore starting your own company would eliminate that aspect of "work". I don't believe he was saying much about having people work under you, and that eventually leading back to poor management. It more or less was conveying the idea that you will see much more reward from having a small business than you would by working the 9 to 5 desk job.
- Jones82, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Well someone has to be the boss so it might as well be you
- Motif31G, on 03/15/2008, -2/+1hmm seems the point of this article is to only discourage
- blast_flame, on 03/15/2008, -2/+2I agree with about half of the suggestions in that blog post. Play sport? Bah humbug. Firstly this is digg and secondly all normal sports are pointless and tend to just decrease your inteligence. Start a family? Why? All it will give you is a financial and physical burden for "good feelings." Pointless.
- psibladeZX, on 03/18/2008, -0/+0Sports in America are not done properly. Throughout the school years, having to "go to practice" for three hours every day will affect your school work. So I agree with you there. My girlfriend was a swimmer most of her life... what does she have now? a 2.8 gpa and an injured shoulder. Sports are stupid and make people stupider unless you go watch them, in which case you dont have to put in the time and effort into it.
Kids? Theyre not worth the tax break.
- psibladeZX, on 03/18/2008, -0/+0Sports in America are not done properly. Throughout the school years, having to "go to practice" for three hours every day will affect your school work. So I agree with you there. My girlfriend was a swimmer most of her life... what does she have now? a 2.8 gpa and an injured shoulder. Sports are stupid and make people stupider unless you go watch them, in which case you dont have to put in the time and effort into it.
- pat0neill, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3#1 stop spending so much time on digg
#2 talk to women- hobbitsareneat, on 03/15/2008, -2/+1Or men.
- kingUssop, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2Top 10 ways to waste time you'll never get back: Read 10 self-improvement blogs
- hadak, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11) Eat more pie
- soapycub, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I freelance. That's kinda like starting a business, right?
- StanleyKoolPrik, on 03/15/2008, -0/+211. Steal a successful person's identity.
- Ploosheeta, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Cheat codes, anyone?
- sassybox, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2guess i better start popping out the kids.
- LemonDefragger, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Guys I know why some people are successful and others are not. They're hacking!
- Slacker1031, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2If there is one thing you take from this article it's this: Start your own business. It doesn't matter when, and it doesn't matter how. But Working for yourself will ultimately make you MUCH happier than working on somebody else's terms. It will also generally make you much wealthier, which as far as i know isn't a bad thing. The article is right to say "Hard", because nothing worthwhile is easy.
- KingGorilla, on 03/15/2008, -0/+21. Owning the Dallas Cowboys
- elizabethb221, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2THE DENVER BRONCOS?!??!
- psibladeZX, on 03/18/2008, -0/+0Marge you just don't understand football....
- elizabethb221, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2THE DENVER BRONCOS?!??!
- Thayin, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Dugg for #3...and the depth of #5.
- alienunknown, on 03/15/2008, -1/+41. Business - my own brothel.
2. Organise a group of prostitutes to work at my brothel.
3. Become a prostitute and work at my brothel.
4. Bring my kids to my brothel with me.
5. Don't use a condom for my next John.
6. "How I got me baby bonus from getting preggas at work"
7. Master the ancient art of felacio.
8. Seeing as most of those in parliament are already my clients I am sure getting a job in parliament would be an easy task.
9. Extreme knitting.
10. Start up a website about exchanging cake recipes and make billions of dollars. - RobotBuddha, on 03/15/2008, -2/+1For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised by the article. One of the few self-help style articles on digg that actually gave some useful advice. However, I have to disagree with "Run for office". It will break you, eventually,. At least in the states, it's inevitable that anyone who gets into the political game will have their soul crushed and turn into a party pawn who just signs whatever their leaders toss their way.
- nakedmom, on 03/15/2008, -0/+0Shouldn't we be starting out with the easiest ways to make your life better? I'm assuming most people's lives that aren't good don't need any more roadblocks stopping them from becoming happier.
- waynetheman, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Wow... a list that's actually pretty good!
I don't agree with #8, at least for Americans... we're probably WAY past politics making any sort of positive change in this country. And #9 seems a little weak, although the fact that most people I know are already into some sport or another may make it seem easier than it really is.
Dugg. -
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