People Are Sharing Their Amazin Cheat Codes To Life (2025)

U/Soggy_BreadCrust recently asked the people of Reddit, "What’s a 'cheat code' you discovered in real life that actually works?" The answers were very thought-provoking — and who knows, these tips might just change your own life:

1. "Compliment people. Not every time you see them, but every once in a while. Be sincere about it. They will be happy and they will be nicer to you and you will be happier as well."

—u/Educational_Dust_932

2. "I’m a bouncer at a club. People give a lot of attitude when I don’t let them in 'cause they forgot their ID or it’s expired. I’ve just started being like, 'Yeah man, I totally get it, but that guy (I point to a random patron near the door inside the club) works for the liquor board. He’s doing a sting on me right now and he’s watching everything I do like a hawk. His partner could have a fake, an expired ID, no idea.' 99.9999% of the time, it immediately diffuses the situation while eliminating the 'Nobody is gonna know!' excuse and the person leaves without a hassle."

—u/ExpiredPilot

3. "Thankful people get more — more invites, more gifts, more everything. Take that five seconds and thank that friend for inviting you over, or for helping out with XYZ. It's five seconds of effort."

—u/JelloBrickRoad

4. "When you need stubborn little kids to do something:

👎'It’s cold outside, put on your coat please.'

👍 'Do you want to put on your unicorn coat or your flowers coat?'

The illusion of choice does wonders."

—u/TimedDelivery

5. "Asking people to do an extra step before you do something for them greatly reduces unnecessary requests. For example: 'Yeah, I'll re-send you that file you can't find, can you please tell me the date I sent it to you so I can find the email?' They have to search for the email and find the file themselves in the process. It works great with lazy coworkers or students."

—u/SpicyAbsinthe

6. "Whenever my anxiety starts getting the better of me, I do this thing I call 'gathering evidence.' Taking an example of 'Am I shit at my job,' I will say: 'Has your manager given you any feedback which supports this concept?' 'Do people at work trust your judgment?' 'Do your workmates/clients/customers respect you?' Generally, the 'evidence' will outweigh or disprove any thoughts that my anxiety is pushing onto me, and that definitely helps to reduce it."

—u/AVillainTale

7. "You'd be surprised what people will do for you if you just ask. My mom was really big on 'You won't get what you don't ask for,' so I grew up with a lot of practice just asking for what I wanted. When I took this to the real world, people were always shocked at how just asking for something nicely can get you exactly that."

—u/Coloner_Moopington

8. "For any nonviolent conflict, treat the problem as the enemy. The other people in the conflict are your greatest allies in destroying your enemy. So many people are terrible communicators, and when you can actually facilitate these things, it makes everyone feel much better and issues actually get solved in a respectful way."

—u/Veggies-are-okay

9. "Listen. Just listen. People love to talk and you will learn a lot about who people really are — whether that's positive or negative."

—u/boredandmessy

10. "Treating retail workers, waitstaff, or customer support nicely will increase the chances of them bending the rules for you."

—u/Karash770

11. "Promotion within many organizations is so much more about who you know than it is demonstration of competence. Competence never hurts (unless someone feels threatened), but recognize that you have to make friends with the right people to climb. Call it schmoozing if you want, but you gotta recognize that we are relational creatures, we are all biased by relationships, and a little rapport can go a long way."

—u/Prestigious-Fig7261

12. "Use a VPN, Firefox, and private browsing when shopping for an expensive item or service from large companies. A lot of times, you'll get a much better deal."

—u/JakobWulfkind

13. "Ask bartenders how they are doing, and actually listen to their answer. People always complain to them about their days, but not a lot of people actually care about how bartenders are doing. I get so many free drinks this way."

—u/Swingingtothebeat

14. "Lower the resistance to the things you want to do. Want to study for 15 minutes? Tell yourself you'll do just one minute. Then, at the one-minute mark, decide if you want to keep going. Chances are, you will. Inertia is a powerful thing. Use it to your advantage."

—u/Germanspartan15

15. "Drink water more often and your life will be better."

—u/Vegetable_Device_399

16. "Give restaurants and food apps random dates for your birthday. Do you really want 37 different free appetizers or desserts on your real birthday? Spread 'em out throughout the year. It's always your birthday somewhere!"

—u/pinniped90

17. "A brush/hair dryer combo has drastically cut down my hair-drying time and energy."

—u/ilovethe90sforreal

18. "If you look stressed out at work all the time, people will think you’re busy."

—u/NoLimitSoldier31

19. "If you're looking at something like a hotel or a flight, call them directly. For example, usually what I'll do is look on Expedia or Kayak and see a room for $100 a night. I'll call the hotel directly, 'Listen, I found a promo for a room, $100 a night. I'd rather give the money to you than them, is there anything you can do?' More often than that, if you're kind and understanding, they'll apply some discount code or promo code. The last few hotels I've stayed gave me state government rates with free upgrades. It pays to be nice."

—u/DaysJustGoBy

And finally...

20. "Be nice and kind to everyone. It actually works."

—u/Plenty_Excitement531

Any tips of your own? See you in the comments!

These entries have been edited for length and clarity.