I’ve heard thousands of ideas about life, but only two have stayed with me. What ideas have stayed with you?
I’ve consumed a lot of content over the years — philosophy, spirituality, psychology, YouTube, books, podcasts, conversations, Reddit, etc.
I’ve come across many ideas that sounded profound and made complete sense in the moment. But surprisingly, very few have actually stayed with me. Most eventually faded away, even if I initially thought, “This is absolutely true.”
There are two ideas, however, that I’ve carried with me for years.
Both came from Premjeet Sirohi of Universal Life Management (ULM).
The first is the idea that whatever we do in life, ultimately we’re seeking happiness.
The second is that human relationships involve an exchange of things that each person values. It doesn’t necessarily mean material things — it could be love, companionship, security, affection, support, knowledge, etc. If there is nothing of value being exchanged between two people anymore, the relationship eventually becomes difficult to sustain.
I don’t necessarily claim that these are universal truths. But I’ve found these two perspectives surprisingly useful because whenever I examine my own life or observe people around me, I keep coming back to them.
What interests me more is why these ideas stayed with me when so many other supposedly profound ideas didn’t.
So I’d like to ask:
What is one philosophical idea, perspective or principle that you’ve encountered that has genuinely stayed with you for years?
Not necessarily something you agree with intellectually — something that actually changed the way you see life or people.
And what made it stick for you?