Those ‘life tip’ posts have been doing the rounds recently on social media. I like lists, so I decided to collect my favourites and throw in a few of my own for good measure.

1/ Never enter a swimming pool via the stairs.

2/ Try never to cancel dinner plans. If you do, don’t do it by text message.

3/ Try everything once.

4/ Be careful with other people’s hearts.

5/ Don’t give away somebody else’s secret.

6/ Don’t moderate your opinion in the hope of making people like you.

7/ Don’t use fake tan, go outside.

8/ Don’t tell lies to anyone, especially your doctor.

9/ Remember to say thank you.

10/ Say sorry first, or second, or last. If it needs saying, it doesn’t matter when you do it, as long as you do.

11/ Don’t prioritise social media over people you’re actually with.

12/ Don’t stand in the doorway.

13/ Have comfortable shoes and a comfortable bed, you’re always in one.

14/ Don’t go through the drive thru then eat in your car outside the restaurant.

15/ Stick up for people and never be a bully.

16/ Don’t pose for pictures with a beer or a cigarette in your hand, you’ll regret it later.

17/ Don’t ask women if they are pregnant. You won’t like the conversation no matter how it turns out.

18/ Live in the moment. Your experiences are what’s important, not how many likes they got on Facebook.

19/ Don’t show off.

20/ When opening gifts, don’t guess. Just open, smile and say thank you.

21/ Give credit, take blame.

22/ Don’t be first to arrive at a party, or the last to leave.

23/ Be willing to admit you were wrong.

24/ Eye contact is the measure of many things. Don’t be afraid of it.

25/ Learn a joke and tell it well.

26/ Know your way around the kitchen. Even if you can only make one thing well.

27/ Go to a cinema or a restaurant by yourself sometimes.

28/ Dance with anybody who asks you to.

29/ Always keep your word.

30/ Never offer to do something in the hope that your offer won’t be accepted.

31/ Offer to carry the bags.

32/ Shower. Everyday.

33/ Don’t drop litter.

34/ Don’t leave your trolley and drive away. Put it back.

35/ Humility and hard work are good substitutes for talent. They’ll get you there 90% of the time.

36/ Better to be the person who smiled first than the person who didn’t smile back.

37/ Make your bed as soon as you get out of it.

38/ Never shake hands sitting down.

39/ Give a borrowed car back with the tank full, no matter how you picked it up.

40/ Never say no to the offer of a breath mint. Take the mint, take the hint.

41/ Write the angry email, then delete it all and start again.

42/ Good manners are worth everything.

43/ Don’t compare yourself to others. The only time you should look in your neighbours bowl, is to check they have enough.

44/ Learn to find the positives.

45/ Only buy something if you have at least the money for two of them.

46/ Have a signature drink you enjoy and know how it’s made. (Mine’s a whiskey sour)

47/ Hold the door for the person after you.

48/ Don’t put people down. It only makes you look insecure.

49/ Read.

50/ Learn a magic trick. 🙂