The 20s are the foundation, or I will say the planning phase for how your life will turn out to be.
For most, it is the time when you are accorded more responsibilities and may still have the freedom of your needs being catered to by either your parents or guardian.
There is time for everything and the twenties are a time to lay the foundation for how you want your life to be in many areas.
Time is money and in your twenties you are blessed with a lot of it.
There are a few important things you should pay attention to now that you are in your 20s, and still have ample opportunities to make several mistakes.
These are some of the ones I consider very important.
1)Having the right Friends/Building a network
The network of the friends you have now will influence where you will be in the next ten years. They can either derail you or help you in fulfilling the goals and vison for your life.
Build and maintain a genuine network of friends, and be a genuine friend yourself.
Great friends are a currency, value them.
2) Money is important
It does not have to be anything elaborate, but you have to lay the foundation for your finances. In your spending habits, saving, investment, etc.
You have to be intentional about your finances, and have a plan for it. This way you don’t get older and find yourself still living from hand to mouth, or working tirelessly just for money in your retirement age.
Money is good, money is important. Pay attention to making more of it, and investing it than to spending it.
3) Health
Health is wealth. When you are young and your metabolism is right, you feel on top of the world.
You are now more in control of most of your life’s choices especially those regarding food and exercise. Cultivate a healthy lifestyle, pay more attention to what you put in your mouth.
Investing in your health, is one of the most important investment you will ever make. It does not make sense to miss out on living a fulfilled life based on the bad lifestyle choices you make now that will affect your health.
There might be things beyond human control, but a lot of health challenges many face later in life is as a result of poor health choices when thy were younger.
By all means enjoy life, eat ice-cream, have a burger if you must, but moderation is key.
4) Your purpose/passion/values/goals
What are your passionate about? What motivates you? What gets your excited about life? what do you want most out of life? What are you living for?
You will have to define all this. Your answers to these questions will determine the kind of life you live.
Also know that as much as you have set all your plans, goals, have your vision and you are ready to work in your purpose, you need to make room for adaptation.
5) Failures
Weird right? That failure should be included, but it is good to know that failures are a very much important step to becoming successful in life. Your 20s are the best time to fail and fail gracefully.
It is the best time to know that failures are just a temporary bump in the road, and to learn how to recover from your failures. There is this phrase I once heard, “fail hard and fail fast”.
You have more time for a lot of trial and errors in your life now.
Failure is definitely not something to be afraid of, especially in your 20s.
6) Education
All Through life, learning will never stop.
Aside getting a degree, education also means learning from others because you do not know everything.
I read a phrase that gives more meaning to this, it reads, “it is better to be the dumbest person in the room and learn, because as soon you feel that you have arrived in knowledge, you will not learn anything”.
7) Your relationship with God
You cannot navigate through this life successfully without the help/input from the one who created and gave you the life. It is like riding a car without learning. The chances of you crashing are higher.
From the examples of so many older successful people, after getting to the top, they discovered it is quite lonely and does not bring total fulfilment.
The one thing that gives meaning to it all, is having a relationship with God.
8) Your thoughts matter
Your thoughts matter. What you believe, is what you would end up eventually becoming. What you give more thought to, is what will influence your actions and choices in life.
You become the sum total of things you take in, so watch your thoughts. Watch the people you listen to, the people you allow to give you advice.
The books you read, the messages you hear, the conversations you have, the movies you watch, the music you listen to, all shape your thoughts.
9) Work now, play later/ work hard, play hard
You are young, you have all the energy, use it wisely. Burn that midnight candle, quit procrastinating on the things you need to do.
Also create experiences, travel as much as you can, etc.
You do not want to work so hard and discover life has past you by, neither do you want to play your life away.
Life is a journey. It is all about creating a healthy balance between work and play.
10) Cut your coat according to your size
A lot of mistakes many young people in their twenties make is living extravagantly and living well above their means.
By the time they are in their 30 and 40s, they discover they accumulated a lot of debt that they will spend a lifetime paying.
Credit card debts, debts from extravagant material possessions they thought they needed, just to impress their peers that really do not care.
11) Make use of all your opportunities
People often say, opportunities come but once, well if you are lucky, they come twice.
Grab them and make proper use of them when they come.
12) Who you marry is important
If you desire marriage, you should know that nothing shapes you future as much as who you align yourself with.
Choose well and choose wisely.
13) Have an opinion but be open to change
By all means, have an opinion and don’t allow yourself to be easily swayed by the crowd.
But also be willing to listen and be more open to change when the need arises.
There may be a better way to do something, than that which you are aware of. Be flexible.
14) Choose your battles wisely
Spend less energy of on non-important things. It is not every thing that deserves your attention.
The bulk of what you spend your time and energy on now, will not matter in a few years.
You definitely do not need to answer to every insult.
Stay away from negative energy, negative vibes and negative people.
The more time and energy you spend on things that do not matter, the less time you will have for things that do matter.
15) Don’t be in a hurry
Enjoy every season of life. Fall in love with the journey on the way to the destination.
Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. – Ecclesiastes 11:9a NLT
