1- Learn a Money-Making Skill
This is one of the most important things to learn in your 20s; the reality is that you need money to fund any life you desire to live.
I’m not talking about living in luxury; the life you desire can be a simple one, perhaps living on a small farm in the countryside; this is not free.
So, start learning something that will allow you to make money, preferably remotely.
You can check freelance websites like Upwork and fiver to find out which skills are in demand.
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My recommendations
- Coding
- Copywriting
- SEO
- UX/UI design
2- Learn How to Handle Money
This is another thing you should learn in your 20s that will set you up for life.
People are constantly broke because they spend the same amount of money they make every month, many times, even more, thanks to credits cards.
It would help if you learned how to save and invest; it’s easier said than done, I know.
School and universities won’t teach you this; you need to read books and practice.
You can practice by signing up with a platform like E-toro; they’ll give you $100k FAKE money to start investing.
My recommendation is to start with ETFs; don’t start with individual shares, and do not use leverage as you can lose money quickly.
3- Learn to Be Mentally Strong
Many things will distract you from your goals.
Parties, family and friends dramas, social media, anything that brings immediate satisfaction will get in the way of working towards your goals.
Small failures might also put you in a depressed state that won’t allow you to work towards your goals.
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When you fail at something, it is easy to get carried away in thought trying to figure out what we did wrong; this is nothing but a waste of precious time and energy.
That’s why you need to learn to control your emotions and your thoughts.
If in your 20s, you learn how to be mentally strong, you’ll be doing much better than 90% of the population.
I recommend you to look into meditation books and apps such as Calm and Headspace.
4- Learn that Romantic Love is Not a Fairy Tale
- Not everyone finds love in their 20s
- Love fades with time
- The pain of a breakup will fade
- Some things are just not meant to be ( You need to be mentally strong to accept this)
- Long-term relationships come from adult commitment and not simply out of a feeling of love
When you’re in your 20s and in love, it’s easy to devote yourself entirely to a relationship and feel that it means everything to you.
- If breakup happens, then depression might settle in.
- If you marry, after the first couple of years, you’ll realize that your partner is full of flaws, and problems will arise.
You need to be aware of all of this, so you know how to handle it because the chances are that you’ll fall in love in your 20s.
5- Learn that Life is in Constant Change
Nothing ever stays still. Seasons change, friends come and go, relatives pass, jobs change, people change.
In our 20s, we need to learn that things are constantly changing; otherwise, we’ll spend a lot of time suffering over things that are a natural part of life.
6- Social Media is Fake
- Fake influencers that bought followers and pretend they live in luxury
- Fake successful people trying to sell you a course on how to make money online
Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, they’re everywhere.
Regular people on social media only post or brag about the good part of their lives; most people don’t post about their real-life struggles on social media.
Learn how fake and harmful social media is; otherwise, you might end up in depression, believing that everyone but you is living an extraordinary life; when the truth is that we’re all struggling.
7- Learn that No One Knows What They’re Doing
We’re all winging it.
Go to school, get good grades, get a loan to go to the university, find a good job, find a better job, marry, have children, and you’ll be happy.
Life is not like this. You can not dictate what your life will exactly turn out to be.
Yes, you can work on preparing yourself to seize opportunities and even create them yourself; but, dictating what your life will be like at each stage, no.
Everyone is trying to do the best they can with the opportunities that show up and working towards going after better opportunities.
8- Life is Not Fair
Something fundamental to learn in your 20s; unfortunately, life is not fair.
You might spend hours working on getting good grades and graduating with honors; this doesn’t mean that you’ll find a good job, pay your debts, and be happy after graduation.
On the other hand, that one classmate who didn’t do much to graduate might know someone in some big company and land a high-paying job this way.
This is real life.
But just because life isn’t fair doesn’t mean you have to give up on working towards the life you want; the secret is being mentally strong.
9- Learn that Life is Short
A lifetime is not a long time; life goes by quickly.
While it is important to stay focus on working towards your goals, make time to hang out with the people you love, spend time doing what you love, eat the things you like.
We’re not in this world only to work and pay bills; we’re here to enjoy.
10- Learn that Happiness Comes from Within
Super important to learn in your 20s
- The excitement of owning the latest iPhone fades
- The new good job excitement won’t last too long
- The newlywed happiness will go away sooner than later
- The joy of having thousands of Instagram followers will quickly die
If you think that happiness lies in physical objects, achieving a goal, or in a relationship, then you’ll find yourself in a never-ending race chasing after happiness.
The only way to achieve a real estate of happiness is by tapping into gratitude for what you currently have.
This is easier said than done; I recommend you to look into meditation, books, and apps like calm will help.