Four big lessons, me at 60, would teach to me at 16

Me at 60 years old, sitting here reflecting back on my life there are a lot of things I wish I had done differently.  I am, however, very happy to say that when I look back on my life, while there are regrets, and many things I wish I had done differently, it makes me very happy I feel my good choices, habits, and actions outweigh my bad ones. There was definitely room for improvement, but with that said, this post  I will focus on lessons that me at 60 could have taught me at 16 to have an easier, more productive life... ahhhh hindsight is 20/20.

1. Do not cheat on your women!... Without a doubt my biggest regret, and definitely the biggest lesson I would give to myself as a 16-year-old would be not to be unfaithful to my woman. I was taught by example by the vast majority of my peers and mentors while growing up that "banging" many was a sign of machismo and it was greatly encouraged and rewarded. It took me many years, hurting many fantastic and completely undeserving women to finally realize that cheating is unethical, immoral, hurtful, undeserved and self-sabotaging.
2. Only your actions will define you. Not my words, hopes, dreams, promises or thoughts. Only what I actually DO, my action!
3. The sum of your individual choices will dictate the direction and state of your life, so make them mindfully. The choices I made throughout my life is the reason I am where I am today at 60. I can honestly say I feel my good choices outnumbered the bad ones, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Thinking about me at 60 when I was 16, 20, 30 and even 40, and making my choices then accordingly would have been nice.
4. Put together great habits and routines, they will give you the momentum to accomplish so many more great things in your life. Our habits and routines help mold us all. They are mainly behind the scenes "mini actions" that build us all to who we are right now, mentally, physically and spiritually. They range from oral hygiene to sticking to a rigorous diet and exercise routine. Looking back there were so many simple little habits and routines if I had adopted at 16 it would have paid compound interest on its benefits for me at 60.

With that said, I honestly don’t look in the rearview mirror too much while I am speeding along in my life, I spend most of my time looking forward, so I do not dwell too much on the past. I use it mostly for lessons for myself and others. If there was a way to teach my 16-year-old self, so I would’ve done them differently, but that isn’t possible, so I choose not to spend too much time dwelling on my mistakes, but I do spend a lot of time being grateful for the good life I have.  And besides making some pretty good "choices", some productive "actions", being disciplined enough to have, and stick to more good "habits" than bad ones... I now have a beautiful wife whom I am 100% faithful to.