Bad Ideas that Are Supposed to Be Good

I hate when bad ideas are talked about as if they were good ideas.  Then, most people end up taking this stupid advice and suffer the needless consequences.

You need to think for yourself on everything.

I know this is hard.  It's easier to just do what someone else suggests.  You're exhausted.  You're overworked and stressed.  The last thing you want is to study and research.

But you must.

If you want to avoid all kinds of problems, frustrations and a potentially miserable life.

See if you can relate to these bad ideas that salespeople,know-it-all’s, parents, religions, governments and society push on us.

  • Big Pieces of Furniture
  • Parking in the closest space
  • Driving a very small car
  • Working Out Very Hard
  • Long term contracts
  • Following a Lot of TV shows
  • Low Flow Toilets
  • Expensive Houses
  • Staying Married

Bad Ideas – Big pieces of furniture

These big pieces of furniture do look better. But, you really give up a lot with these. They are more expensive and may require big payments. They are difficult to even get into your house. They may need to be delivered or you will need help to get them.

Once they are in your house they probably will only be able to fit in very few places in your house. They are very hard to move once they are in place. They will be hard to clean around or rearrange. Then they will be hard to move if you ever move.

You really do need to give careful consideration to making big decisions like big furniture. I like the ability to be able to easily rearrange my furniture by myself. Plus I want to be able to do most of the moving by myself if I move.

Bad Ideas – Parking in the closest space

It seems everyone is always trying to park as close as they can to the door. Not me. I park in a way that is easiest for me to leave. That is a bigger concern to me, being able to easily leave.

The parking space must either be easy for me to leave from of provide a benefit like being close the the cart corral so I do not have to push a cart a long way to return it. After unloading groceries into my trunk I just want to get home, not fool with a cart.

I like to park in a way that I can avoid backing up. Backing up is where most of the accidents take place. Most people are not very good at backing and most adults do not have very flexible backs and necks for turning around to see behind them.

Plus, I just had to back out of a long driveway a few weeks ago.  I made it out between the house and fence, but backed into a car in the street.  A very expensive mistake for me.  Avoid backing up.

Bad Ideas- Buying a very small car or a car with only 2 doors

I know a small car will cost a little less and cost less for gas. But a big car is much safer and more suitable for whatever you do in the future. If you keep your car a long time, you never know what life will bring.

My best car when I was a younger man was a 2 door Honda Accord. I bought it years before I even thought about getting married. It was a really good car so I did not want to get rid of it. When we had a baby it was really a struggle to get the baby into the back seat car seat. If I would have gotten a 4 door I could still have that car.

I bought a 4 door, 4 wheel drive Ford F150 a few years ago.  It is by far the best vehicle I have ever owned or driven.  I love it.  It is me.  It is my dream vehicle.  I cannot explain how happy I am to have this dream vehicle after all the years I spent in small cars, junk cars, cars that would break down and cars that were hand me downs.  This was the best purchase of my life.

Of course, backing up is more difficult in a large vehicle.  Avoid backing up or get a backup camera.

Bad Ideas- Working out really hard

Exercise is good for you but you have to be careful not to overdo it. It is very easy to work out too hard, suffer injuries or get run down and sick. You need to do the right amount for you, not what someone else says you need to do.

It is so easy to do too much and get hurt and set yourself back even further.

The trick seems to be to work out intensely, but briefly and allow plenty of rest between hard sets and rest days between intense workouts.  Just do modest, or less taxing activities between those hard workouts to burn calories and keep up your fitness level.

Bad Ideas – Signing up for long term contracts to get a lower monthly cost

This normally applies to cell phone contracts and health club contracts. I know it is less expensive but then you are locked into it and have no flexibility. It is very difficult to get out of those contracts even if you have a good reason. An alternative is to get Verizon, AT&T, or a T-Mobile prepaid plans where you can get phones without contracts.

The only ones who benefit from these long term contracts are the ones receiving the money. 

Bad Ideas – Following a lot of TV shows

It seems that everyone is talking about this show and that show and you have no idea what they are talking about if you do not spend every night glued to the TV. I did have shows that I loved. Seinfeld, Cheers, Taxi and the original MASH. I watch Two and a Half Men reruns most nights. But that is it.

I try to limit my TV. The main problem is that you start to think that TV is real, that what you are seeing is reality. The TV people will have you glued to your set for more hours than you can spare.  Then you start thinking about the shows more than your own life.

It's almost expected that we watch TV, and a lot of TV.  The term binge watch is now in the mainstream.

TV works great as an inexpensive way to relax and recharge when you need a break from productive, intense work and a adventurous, but tiring social life.

Just use it for what it is good for, rather than a big part of your life.

Bad Ideas – Urinals that do not go all the way to the floor and Low flow toilets

These things are a really bad idea. I have never seen a urinal hanging on a wall where the floor under them is not covered in a pool of urine. It is one of the most disgusting things ever.

Whoever invented the low flow toilet is a real sadist. You have to flush them 2 or 3 times anyway. They are always an unsanitary mess and they clog easily. Then you have to keep the plunger right by the toilet. A filthy, disgusting plunger right there. It is like going back to the dark ages. If you look at the globe, the world is 75% water. It seems to me that there is plenty of the stuff.

Bad Ideas – Having an Expensive House

I have discussed how foolish it is to have an expensive house elsewhere.  Owning a house at all is not a very good idea unless the cost of owning it is very small compared to your normal income from whatever source.  Owning an expensive house is like a prison of your own making.

From James Altucher

Why to Never  Buy a Home

I'm with James on this.  I've owned 3 houses and done terribly on all 3.  Of course, I my wife helped me on this.  Which leads to the next bad idea.

Bad Ideas – Staying married no matter what

Not every woman is going to be good for you

This might be the worst advice ever. You have to have the option of leaving a bad marriage. If you don’t it is just slavery and one of the worst things you can do to yourself.

Once you realize that you can leave your terrible marriage, that you will survive, and that life will be so much better, better than you ever thought  possible, a huge weight lifts from you.

Being married to the wrong person, even being married to the right person when you don't want to be married will keep you mired in a life you don't want.

You can leave.

It will be difficult.  But it is worth it.

It will be expensive.  But it is worth it.

It will be an extremely chaotic, heart-wrenching, painful, messy, awful thing.  But it is worth it.

You have to do whatever it takes to make your life line up with your dream life.

It is not up to your spouse, your parents, your in-laws, your society, government, your religion or your f-en god.

It is up to you.

Recap of these terrible Bad Ideas

  • Big Pieces of Furniture
  • Parking in the closest space
  • Driving a very small car
  • Working Out Very Hard
  • Long term contracts
  • Following a Lot of TV shows
  • Low Flow Toilets
  • Expensive Houses
  • Staying Married

Writing this list was painful because I did all these stupid things and ruined part of my life in the process.

It has taken tremendous effort and persistence to get out of the messes I put myself in to get to the happier life I have now.

Days.  Weeks.  Months.  Years.  Decades.  A lifetime.

Take a step back from all the so-called “good advice” or "good ideas" you hear.  Take more time on your decisions.  You know what is good for you, much more than you give yourself credit for.

› › Bad Ideas

The only way I could become the happier man I am today was by leaving my wife.  You might be in the same situation I was in.  I suggest you take a look at my book - Leave Your Wife & Become a Happier Man with the 3 Step System.

Click to go to learn more about the book

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