Growing up, we all hear the same pieces of wisdom: “Trust your gut,” “Ignore the bullies,” or “Ask for forgiveness, not permission.” These sayings are meant to help us, but do they always work in real life?

Some Reddit users think these popular tips don’t always deliver as promised. We’ve put together a list of advice that people believe might not be as useful as it seems. Check it out below and let us know if you agree or not!

#1

"Stay for the kids/avoid a broken home."

Honey, if your parents loathe eachother, you not only see it, You feel it, You suffer from it, and you probably blame yourself.
Theres like radial emotional and mental abuse and fatigues and everything. On the kid. The person who allegedly not separating is suppose to help.

Stop f*****g yalls kids up and admit you hate eachother. You can be AMAZING coparents and never see eachother face to face.

Two STABLE homes is far happier than one in turmoil.

Image credits: SkrunkledySkrimblo

#2

When there's a bully, just ignore them. Sorry but most bullies won't stop just cause you ignore them. Sometimes you gotta put them in their place.

Image credits: AzuleStriker

#3

Find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life. This might work for 1% of people. It makes the rest of us feel like we're doing it wrong.

Image credits: davegammelgard

#4

“Trust your gut.” I have anxiety, my gut is virtually always telling me to panic and never do anything lol.

Image credits: dogcroissant

#5

“Forgive and forget” should be “forgive, but don’t forget” because 9/10 times peoples poor behavior is a part of a behavioral pattern. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me for giving you the chance.

Image credits: rebeclectic

#6

God gives you what you can handle. No. This is not true. If it were then people wouldn't commit [self-harm]. People's lives and mental health can implode all too easily.

Image credits: Eli1026

#7

"Tough it out"

No. Do not tough it out. Talk about it, take breaks, have a meal and think it over. If you are sick toughing it out won't fix that. If you are depressed, toughing jt out won't fix that. If you are hurt, toughing jt out won't fix that. Take care of yourself and then keep going, or you'll run yourself into the ground.

Image credits: anon

#8

Forgiveness is seen as this high achievement of humanity that all should strive for.
No. Sometimes people shouldn’t be forgiven. Some things are unforgivable.

#9

This may be an unpopular opinion, but 'You can't expect anyone to love you if you don't love yourself first.' I get it, but I think a lot of people say that because they don't want to deal with certain types of people. Listen, not everyone can be filled with self-love. It can take years to learn this. In fact, some people can interpret this as they shouldn't even attempt to find love because they don't love themselves, and I think that is so wrong.

In most people's lives, there are others who love them just as they are. In my opinion, that is proof that you are lovable to others, even if you struggle to love yourself. And sometimes other people's love is what is needed to help you see that you can love yourself too. That's not to say that this advice is purely terrible, but it doesn't work for everyone. Just be smart about it.

#10

"Don't be afraid to do what you love, and the money will follow"

This can be true but also could get you in a lot of trouble.

Image credits: Curly_Balls

#11

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

This line (from Eleanor Roosevelt) sucks. Of course people can feel bad about themselves based off of another person's comment without actually being bad!

Image credits: FailsbutTries

#12

Happy wife, happy life.
If you hear a married man say that in a serious manner, it's almost 100% that neither he nor his wife are happy.

Image credits: quietly62

#13

"Ask for forgiveness not permission." So shockingly obvious how this could backfire in any number of personal or professional scenarios.

Image credits: withextrasprinkles

#14

“Only date people in your league”. Leagues don’t exist. You never know who a person will be attracted to.

Image credits: Appropriate_Tea9048

#15

In dating “if it’s not a hell-yes, then it’s a no.”

More realistic is “you don’t need to know if you want to marry them someday, you only need to know if you want to see them again.”.

Image credits: Comedygal

#16

This was never true, but I heard it everywhere in pop culture. Treat women like c**p. They love it. No, they don't.

Image credits: Slash_Raptor1992

#17

Fake it till you make it, uhh no. Faking anything doesn't make anyone feel better.

Image credits: anon

#18

You have to go to college if you want to get a good job.

Image credits: anon

#19

Give 100 percent in everything.  No. Give enough to get it done at a decent level. Extra effort usually doesn't pay off.  .

Image credits: Iwentforalongwalk

#20

“You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.”

B******t. Sometimes you can do both. And sometimes you take care of yourself BY taking care of others.

#21

They’re just jealous. 90% of the time they’re not jealous, they just don’t like you.

Image credits: Full_Bobcat1792

#22

Everything happens for a reason/there's a purpose in everything that happens. Awful advice for any type of situation where someone was a victim.

#23

'If she says NO, pursue her harder.' WORST dating advice

Image credits: anon

#24

The most important thing for your relationship is communication.

No, the most important thing for your relationship is to have two secure, stable, empathetic and self aware people. More communication won’t help your relationship if one of you is a raging narcissist.

Image credits: inactiveuser247

#25

Kill them with kindness. Sometimes people are jerks who step way over the line, and I have no problem calling them on it. I’ve dealt with enough bullies in my life to stand up to people who start drama on the regular. I appreciate the same candidness from my friends.

Now that said, I rarely react to insults from people I’m not close with. If they aren’t important to me, I just don’t care what they think of me. The fact that I don’t even bother to respond really sets them off :).

Image credits: Ok_Alternative_4643

#26

*treat it as if it was your own.* treating it like it's someone else's that means I have to return it in as good condition as I found it, otherwise i'm a huge a*****e. if it's my own, then i don't have to return it at all, i can scratch it up, slop spaghetti on it, use it to wipe my a*s with.

#27

Just be yourself.

The spirit of this, I agree with completely. But so many people think it means to act however they want and there should be no consequences. You still have to modulate your behavior in such a way that it is appropriate in a given social situation. Just be yourself means live in accordance with your own values and pursue your own goals. It does not mean to be a d**k and say everything vile thing that pops into your head and then be indignant when it’s received badly.

Image credits: Abject-Star-4881

#28

Be the bigger person. Sometimes this is good advice but generally it means bowing down to someone who wants to hurt you.

#29

Don't be yourself. Be the version of yourself that you want to become.

Image credits: Dolf-from-Wrexham

#30

This advice, that I heard in various forms growing up. Sure, college isn't where everyone meets a lifelong partner and not everyone wants to date in college, but the advice that it's a good idea to *avoid dating* in college is dumb. There's no other time in your life where you'll be surrounded as consistently by other people your age and in your same stage in life. And if you think you're too busy to date in college, *ask yourself when you think you'll be less busy*.

Image credits: zugabdu

#31

“Follow your Dreams” …. Going straight for them could make you overthrow your own family and financials in process of chasing them.

Image credits: TheNotoriousNIL

#32

Be vulnerable at work. Complete horshes**t. Even the best workplaces have vindictive a******s who will take your vulnerability and use it to undermine you.

Image credits: acapncuster

#33

If you see a snake it’s probably venomous and you should kill it, especially if your kids are around
1. What the f**k? No it’s not and it’s not gonna try to kill you 2. It demonstrates an extremely low understanding of the ecosystem as snakes are a massive part of it 3. Not all snakes are venomous lol.

#34

It gets better. Like no it doesn’t “get better” it takes time and effort to get it “better” it doesn’t on its own.

False hope helps no own because when it doesn’t get better on its own you leave someone it a very vulnerable space.

Image credits: Fin745

#35

All the "advice" (rules) around respect.

"Respect is earned, not given."
"Respect your elders."
"Respect your higher-ups."

Objectively, these are right. But they do not take into account the fact that, guess what, the world is not fair. People love to say "the world isn't fair" and "life isn't fair" to dismiss complaining, but fail to address it when it isn’t an inconvenience to them. Anyway, that being said, the three "advices" (rules) above fail to take into account:

1) person in position of power ≠ authority on any other position
2) experienced person ≠ respectful person
3) inexperienced person ≠ child.

#36

As of late the whole advice to "spend today because there is no future". people who spout such rhetoric are beyond foolish. not looking forward to having to take care of them later in life because they done f****d up.

Image credits: sporks_and_forks

#37

Treat people how you want to be treated.


You'll be taken advantage of. Instead, I treat people the way they treat me.

#38

"It doesn't hurt to ask."

It can absolutely hurt to ask.

It can be a sign that you have no respect or care for someone's position or situation and that you may thoughtlessly be putting them in a situation where they need to tell you something you should already know.

Image credits: jesbohn

#39

Red wine is good for your heart. Smh. The American Heart Association and many other bodies, WHO asks increasingly government medical bodies of different countries all over the world, say that you should drink NO alcohol for heart health.

#40

"If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well." Many things are worth doing adequately.

#41

“Take your time”. The truth is that life is short and opportunities don’t come around easily. It is very bad advice: lean in, get it done, whatever it is. You will waste your life being soft on yourself.

Image credits: bibijoe

#42

“life is about doing things you don’t want to do”.

#43

"Everyone's entitled to their opinion" and "Agree to disagree" (maybe more sayings than advice, but both push people to let real dumb opinions and ideas continue to circulate.).

#44

You’ll find someone when you least expect it.

#45

I have always hated, “You get what you pay for”. Some inexpensive stuff is very good and some expensive stuff is total c**p.

#46

You need three meals a day

This advice was predicated on a physical job with a long working day, like working on a farm or in a factory, and all domestic chores were done by hand. Most of us are just too sedentary as adults to require this many calories. Two meals is fine for many of us.

#47

"You can't heal in the same place you were hurt."

Absolute b******t. The fact that you're even thinking about change is healing. Attempting to heal is healing. Is it easier when you have space? Absolutely. But some people don't have ways to get away, and it's so harmful to say they can't heal because of circumstance.

#48

“You can’t always get what you want. But, if you try really hard, you can get what you need”.

#49

Expect the unexpected.

#50

Breakfast is good for you.