The most pivotal time in your life is undoubtedly your 20s. While there are plenty of temptations and distractions, the decisions you make here are truly what dictate your future, as the weak fall and only the strong survive. This is the time for you to hustle, scrap and fight for the life that you want for yourself. You manifest your own destiny during these crucial years. Every move you make is a test. Don’t f*ck it up.
There is an inadvertently hilarious, extremely earnest article on the Elite Daily – “The Voice of Gen-Y” – detailing “20 Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make In Your 20s.” It’s by Adam Hayes. Here, we pickup top ten from those mistakes you don’t want to make in your 20s.
These are the 10 Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make In Your 20s.
10. Working for money, not for building your dreams.
Never do anything just because it’s convenient for you. Look to challenge yourself and build your own dream instead of building someone else’s. Even if it doesn’t exactly make sense now, create something with great value so you can cash out big. Always look to the future and never for immediate compensation. What are you going to do with those weekly wages anyways? Stop being so entitled and pretending like you deserve cash, prizes and vacations just yet. You will soon realize once you’ve made it that making money doesn’t make you happy. It’s the journey.
9. Thinking that this is the right time to fall in love.
While all of your friends might be doing it, don’t fall into the trap of getting into a relationship. Sure it seems like the right thing to do, but your 20s are entirely too crucial for your personal growth for you to be focusing on fulfilling the wishes of another individual. Not only does it make you complacent with where you are in life, but it makes your boring. When your business is at stake and your future is resting on your shoulders, the last thing you need is to be bogged down by an insecure lover rushing you home. Get out there, meet new people, test the limits and have fun. It will take you to the places you’ve dreamed of going.
8. Trying to act like the man rather than learning how to become one.
Instead of going overboard on the Gucci monogram and bottles in the club, as if you just signed to Rocnation, spend the time focusing on your career. Every second counts and if more time is spent pretending to be the person you want to be instead of becoming that man, then you’ll sink in quick sand without even knowing it. A real man is willing to make sacrifices. If you aren’t down to put in the work, then please don’t act like you are. You can enjoy the success when you actually attain it.
7. Making all your wants, needs.
Expensive women and cheap thrills coupled with the expensive sneakers should not be on the list of your needs. Setting the foundation for your business and team is far more important than updating your wardrobe and chasing s~x. Distinguish between what you want and what you actually need. Make sure your priorities are in tact or you will lose your track.
6. Forgetting that family comes first.
Those who supported you before anything deserve to be taken care of when you reach your success. If you aren’t doing this for the ones you love, then you’re not doing it right. Family comes first, no matter what happens. If you work for whom you love instead of just yourself, you will get far.
5. Sticking with jobs that didn’t teach you anything.
A bad job is like a bitchy girlfriend that gives bad head. Truthfully, the only reason you’re there is because it is the safest and easiest thing you know. Any job or relationship that allows for you to get comfortable should be avoided at all costs. The last scenario you could ever want is becoming like the rest of those miserable, 40-somethings faced with weekends of minivans and soccer practice.
4. Following the crowd instead of forging against it.
You can be aware of the trends, but never follow them. If all your time is spent trying to adjust to your surroundings, you’ll get lost in the crowd all the more easily. Success and greatness are constructed by trendsetters themselves, not those who latched on to what’s currently trending. We hope that you don’t have any aspirations to look like your favorite rapper. Temptation to be influenced by those who you aspire to be like is easy, but no one finds their calling following in the footsteps of another.
3. Think you need to stop learning and growing.
You have more zeros at the end of your bank statement, stamps in your passport and women in your bed than you had ever imagined. Don’t consider this your victory lap, but rather as a taste of greatness. Do you live to enjoy the moments you dreamed of or a lifetime of unimaginable success? The common misconception that once things are in your favor, you no longer have to put in the 3:00AM work hours is a dangerous problem. The fewer nights that you’re willing to put in the work, the fewer opportunities you will have to celebrate your achievements in the future.
2. Dating unstable women with mommy and daddy issues.
We need to control the invincibility we all feel when it comes to women. Whether she’s a stripper or a sorority girl, we feel the need to be the knight in shining armor for our women. As chivalrous as this may seem, we hate to break it to you, but you will never be able to change anyone. By setting yourself up for a losing battle, you’ve only ensured your misery for the next few months. She’s clingy for a reason, don’t be her Dr. Phil.
1. Holding on to friends that waste your time and add no value to your life.
You’ll be sucked down into the abyss right with them if you don’t cut the fat of the group. Family and friends could have been great to you as a child, but if they no longer hold the value and inspiration that is needed for you to thrive in life, then cut them loose. The only individuals you should be surrounding yourself with are those that challenge your ideas and motivate you to find the next solution to your problems. No, not the pessimistic assholes who shoot down your ideas with their negativity, but rather the ones who genuinely want to see you succeed no matter what you do in life.