10 Valuable Lessons I Learned in 2022

This year was a challenging year for most people. Many people are facing more uncomfortable decisions as inflation reaches a four-decade high. Prices rose 1% between April and May, led by jumps in the price of gasoline, groceries and rent. Shoppers are frustrated due to the price increase of gasoline prices. Grocery prices continue to climb at a rapid rate. There were massive layoffs with huge companies like Amazon, Twitter, Lyft, Netflix, Door Dash, Facebook, Zillow, Snapchat, Coinbase, and Robinhood, to name a few.

Here are 10 things I learned in 2022

1. Don't trust the polls.

Mistrust of polls has a long history, but concerns ramped up after 2016, when polls largely failed to forecast Donald Trump‘s presidential victory over Hillary Clinton. According to the polls, the republicans were supposed to take over the house of representatives and the senate during the 2022 midterm elections. The media was calling it a “red wave”. Although the republicans won the house by a slim margin, the republicans could not win the senate like the polls predicted.

2. The government does not have your best interest.

The great Thomas Sowell stated that the most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best. Thomas Sowell also stated that

“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” If a doctor makes a mistake on their patients, they can lose their privileges to practice medicine. If numerous people in the community got food poisoning from a particular restaurant, the restaurant would be shut down and the chef would lose his credibility for being an expert in the culinary arts. A politician could create a policy that could damage a society and they can keep their job well into retirement. Many of the politicians were wrong in regards to the 1960s war on poverty, the 1980s war on drugs, the 1990s three strikes law, 2000s housing crisis, and 2020 covid protocols. The government does not have the best interest for the American people. You are the governor of your own household.

3. Journalism is dying.

Television became a powerful medium in the 1950s. Commercials sold everything from chewing gum to presidents. The increased purchase of television sets was indicative of mid-century society's materialistic mood. In the 1970s, faith in all these institutions began to decline. President Nixon lied about Watergate. Ronald Reagan lied about the contra war. George Bush Sr. lied about not raising taxes on the American people. Bill Clinton lied about his relationship with Monica. George Bush Jr. lied about why he started the war. Barack Obama lied about Obama care. The media covered these stories and concealed information from the public and covered lies to get the public to vote for presidents that were for their best interest. In 2022, the journalist covered up the Hunter Biden story so people would vote for Joe Biden. Also, the journalist covered up the ill truths about the COVID-19 vaccine.

4. Don't trust your employer.

Have you ever heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”? Working a job in 2022 is unpredictable. Companies make money individuals get taxed. One day you can be giving your all to your employer for 30 years. Then one day the manager calls you in their office to tell you that they want to lay you off and give you a severance pay to get rid of you for a young professional. It's ironic that the employer will make you sign a contract (employee manual) stating that you have to alert the company a month in advance if you want to depart from the company. The company that you work for can fire you effective immediately. We are in a recession at this point. You should be nervous when banks are laying people off. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have had massive layoffs. This year has taught me to bet on yourself and create a business for yourself. We are in a different time. Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

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5. Salary will not make you rich.

What is the American dream? According to Wikipedia.com, The American Dream is the national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals including representative democracy, rights, liberty, and equality, in which freedom is interpreted as the opportunity for individual prosperity and success, as well as upward social mobility for oneself and their children, achieved through hard work in a capitalist society with few barriers. The term "American Dream" was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931, saying that "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.

Belief in the American Dream is often inversely associated with rates of national disillusionment. Evidence indicates that upward economic mobility has declined and income inequality has risen in the United States in recent decades. In 2020, a poll found only 54 percent of US adults thought the American Dream was attainable for them, 28 percent believed it was unattainable for them personally, while 9 percent rejected the idea of the American Dream entirely. Younger generations were also less likely to believe in the American Dream than their older counterparts. The savings rate is the lowest since the great depression. Almost 40% of American adults wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings or a credit-card charge that they could quickly pay off, a Federal Reserve survey finds. The average home price in the U.S. is $348,079 in 2022. As of the third quarter of 2022, Americans hold $925 billion in credit card debt, which is a rise of $38 billion since Q2 2022.

Attending medical school can be extremely expensive: As of 2021, 76% to 89% of medical school graduates leave school with an average of $203,062 in total education debt, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. National student loan debt currently stands at $1.4 trillion, with medical students bearing a larger-than-average financial burden after graduation. Some 75% of medical students leave school with education debt, holding an average balance of $196,000, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

6. Don't believe 'influencer' hype.

One of my favorite shows on television in the mid 2000s was MTV Cribs. This show was based on showing celebrities homes and cars. The show reminds me of the 1980s show lifestyles of the rich and famous. The truth came out later showing that MTV producers would rent the cars and homes for the rappers. Ja Rule's "house" on Cribs was actually a four-day rental. In fact, after he shot his episode, he allegedly threw a huge party there, and the real homeowner ended up suing him. Lil' Bow pretended the fancy cars were his. It turns out that his cars were rented.

The Chinese influencer Lisa Li often boasted about her luxurious lifestyle on social media. Although, she was living in an apartment which she turned into a huge mess. She was eventually exposed by her landlord who filmed a video showing the devastating state of the apartment. The video shows moldy food, dog excrement, unwashed utensils, and more. The influencer apologized to her landlord for the filthy state of the apartment and got started cleaning.

Influencers make money off of fabricating their lifestyle and buying subscribers. Nearly 97 percent of people trying to make it big as a professional YouTuber won’t make enough money off advertising to surpass the US poverty line, according to new research. Getting into the top 3 percent of most-viewed YouTube channels, meaning you attract more than 1.4 million views per month, could make content creators $16,800 a year in advertising revenue, according to research by Mathias Bärtl, a professor at Offenburg University of Applied Sciences in Offenburg, obtained by Bloomberg. That’s slightly above the US federal poverty level of $12,140 for one person, and barely past the guideline for a two-person household of $16,460. Bärtl calculated the findings by using an income of $1 per 1,000 views, which is a fairly standard earnings rate; YouTubers typically make money through brand sponsorships, product placement in videos and ads.

7. Stay ready, so you don't have to get ready.

Preparing for hard times is the most important action you can do for yourself in 2022. Many people lost their jobs and businesses during covid shutdown. The people who saved their money for a rainy day felt comfortable while the people who did not save their earnings had to beg the government to provide for their needs. Taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do for your health. Nationally, 41.9 percent of adults have obesity. If you have a job, you should think that you are self-employed. Do not wait until the job mandates training to give you more skills. Take the initiative to train yourself and become better so you can take advantage of new opportunities.

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8. There are no solutions, only tradeoffs.

Author Thomas Sowell stated that there are no solutions, there are only trade offs. This theory was evident in 2022. Intellectuals argue if the country should shut down to decrease the spread of covid around the world. The solution could be disputed in regards to if the shutdown saved lives. Also, the politicians used mandates to get people vaccinated against people's will. The result was catastrophic to the economy. The government shut down small businesses and kept the big businesses that were on the stock market open. People lost their businesses due to the shutdown. Many people lost their jobs for refusing to take the vaccine. The supreme court stated that the mandate to take the vaccine or lose your job was unconstitutional. Many reports stated that there are more people who died who were vaccinated than there are unvaccinated.

Starting a business is very taxing on your family in many ways. Your business is very jealous. You may have to work 60 hours a week to get your business off the ground. You may have to get a nanny or have family members watch your kids. Being successful may cost you relationships with your spouse. There is a saying “The more you are successful at work, the more likely you will get a divorce at home."

9. You get what you think about the most.

A famous Henry Ford quote, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right,” emphasizes how much attitude determines success or failure. Jeff Olson stated that everything starts from philosophy.

If you have a negative philosophy, then your attitude will be negative. Your actions will be negative. You will not get positive results. As a result your lifestyle will be negative. Have faith that everything will work out. Check out the affirmations that we put together.

10. Everything on the internet is not true.

Don’t believe everything you read, watch or see on social media. If someone is showing off his wealth on Instagram and selling you a product, he may be faking it until you give them money via cash app. The women on social media cover their face up with make up to set the illusion that they are pretty. Men appear like they treat their women well (relationship goal trends) only to find out they have been cheating on their wives. Cryptocurrency companies appear to be the new way to obtain wealth. Only to find out it is not regulated and people lost millions of dollars. The former CEO of failed cryptocurrency firm FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been arrested in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government, the U.S. and Bahamian for stealing peoples money. My advice to you is find something you're passionate about and give it all of your energy.

Don’t look up because distractions are what you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

Comment below - what are some valuable lessons you learned in 2022?

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