7 Valuable Life Lessons I Learned in my 20s
Some lessons have to be learned the hard way, and others… well, most are learned the hard way.
They say your 20s are the decade in which you are supposed to make mistakes.
Now that I’m 31 years old, I can confirm that that is true.
In my 20s, I lost my license for a year due to speeding, lost multiple businesses, went through many relationships, and was forced to sell property.
And that’s just the start of it.
I want to share the lessons I learned so that you can avoid making the same mistakes I did.
1. “This too shall pass”
So, something went wrong. This feels like it’s the end of the world.
I’ve been there, I get it. It sucks!
It’s important to remember though that everything passes with time. It may feel shitty now. It may feel like this is it for you, but…
“This too shall pass”.
The same way the last terrible thing blew over, and was forgotten about - this too will be.
Keep moving, and remain positive. You’ll be okay.
2. There is always another side to the story
You will have learned this lesson already if you’ve been in a relationship or have had a business partner… There are always two sides to every story.
When someone is ranting to you about how horrible someone is, it is best to remember that and wait to judge for yourself.
This doesn’t mean you should ignore what they’re saying or assume they’re lying. But, it does mean that you should keep an open mind while listening.
Rumours are called rumours for a reason. They aren’t always what they appear to be.
3. Listen closely to your parents and grandparents
Your parents and grandparents want the best for you and they’re doing their best.
Although the times are changing and the wisdom they’re sharing for you may not apply in the ways they mean it to… a lot of their life lessons will make sense eventually.
The number of times that life smacked me in the face and quickly reminded me that they were right… well, it is rather embarrassing when that happens.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have your own opinion, but you should always pay attention and take notes. It will make it easier to avoid mistakes if you do.
4. Everyone has their moments
People will naturally freak out when they have bad days, and they make mistakes.
That’s okay! Let them have their moments.
Them having a bad moment doesn’t mean they’re a bad person. Some people are amazing 95% of the time and then the rest of the time they have bad days and aren’t acting themselves.
That’s okay!
You’re like this too, and you know it!
If someone is having a moment, let them(within reasons of course), and when they apologize, accept it.
We are all learning as we go.
5. Regret is often worse than failing
I’ve passed up on plenty of investment and business opportunities which if I had committed to… my life would be incredibly different.
While I made the best decision given the knowledge I had at the time, I still have some regret about not taking the risk.
I’ve had many awful failures, but the regrets haunt me more than those failures.
You don’t want to end up like one of those old people lying in their hospital bed regretting their life once it is too late to do anything about it.
That brings me to my next point.
6. Just do it
When you’re older, the default answer should be no if the question does not excite you. Your time is valuable and you need to make you spend it doing things you love, with the people you love.
When you’re younger though… you just try as many things as possible. Get on the dancefloor, go on the crazy adventure, and take the risks.
To go back to lesson 5, you will regret it if you don’t.
The consequences of failing are greater the older you get. So, while you are young, just do it.
7. Enjoy the little moments
The older you get, the faster time goes. The faster time goes, the more you realize that you have to enjoy the little moments.
The moments where you’re at peace, the moments when you’re laughing with your friends, and the moments when unusually awesome things spontaneously happen.
These moments come and go and are too soon forgotten.
Enjoy them while you can.
Be present.
Closing remarks
Our 20s are filled with mistakes. If you’re doing them properly, you’ll be learning along the way
Sometimes you’ll catch the lesson immediately, and other times it’ll take years until you realize what life was trying to teach you.
While I want to share my life lessons with you so that you don’t have to learn the hard way… It’s unlikely that you will learn until life teaches you the same.
At least now I can say, “I told you so”. *shrug*
Thanks for reading
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