One of my friends recently shared a great TED Talk on Facebook titled “20 is not the new 30″. I was immediately interested. First, because I have that natural desire to see how I measure up on the list of what I’m supposed to be doing, and second, because no matter how many years pass, I’m still not really sure what’s on that list in the first place. While this clip doesn’t have all the answers, I do think it’s a great piece to encourage you to capitalize on your youth by investing in your twenty-something years.
Thankfully, after watching the video, I didn’t feel off track or like I was postponing life to begin in my thirties. While I don’t think I’ll ever say I escaped my 20s completely unscathed, I do feel I put the necessary effort into everything early in the game, and now the last 3 years of this decade are about keeping things on course. Finishing my education, taking care of my finances, and investing in my personal relationships has put me in a great place (in my opinion) and while I am deeply entrenched in the race against myself for professional and personal success, I also feel deeply grateful for and reassured by everything I’ve received and accomplished so far.
In other words, I feel successful because I don’t look back at my twenties and ask “what was I thinking?” or “what was I doing?” — but I know a number of my peers that do. This is what they did wrong:
1. Unnecessarily drag out your education. Students that repeatedly change their major, flunk out of programs, reduce their course load, or go back for extraneous degrees are wasting their time and money. Every year you delay entering the workforce, is a year you lose a full-time salary. Think it’s rough paying tuition? Add the cost of lost income. The title of “professional student” is amusing, but its damage is serious. Figure out what you want and go for it, don’t hang around trying things out and hoping everything will eventually take care of itself — it won’t, and all you’ll have to show for it is a shoddy transcript, a massive student debt, and a few crucial irretrievable years.
2. Procrastinate developing good habits. I had rude lifestyle awakening a few weeks ago when I was making yet another joke about my unwillingness to exercise, emphasizing that if I’m still slipping into a size small, what motivation do I have workout? My friend pointed out that while I might be able to ride on good genetics and a youthful metabolism for a few more years, failure to establish the habit now would make it that much more difficult when I actually need to cash in on the benefits later. That really struck me, and if you follow me on twitter you know I’m now running 10-15km per week like a champ. Developing good habits in your twenties so they stick with you later is true for every area of your life. Now is your chance to get into good habits of how you manage your money, how you maintain your home, how you interact with people, and how you treat your body. It’s never too late to start taking care of your life, but sooner is better than later.
3. Be lazy. The number one way to lose a decade is to not be bothered to seize obvious and some not-so obvious opportunities that the Universe will lay at your feet. In my opinion, NOTHING will hurt you more than long stretches of nothing (no school, no employment, no volunteering) or doing the absolutely minimum to get by. Figuring out the least amount of effort you need to put in to not get fired from a job is NOT a worthwhile endeavour, but as you go through your career, you’ll find it’s a common workplace strategy. I would also encourage you not to be lazy in your personal relationships. Make a concerted regular effort to support your partner, nourish your friendships, and show love to your family. Your main goal should always be to cultivate a reputation of being an industrious, competent employee and a reliable, loving friend or family member.
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