Our 20s are our discovery periods. It’s a time in our lives when we choose what career we want to spend the rest of our lives building, a time to learn and unlearn.
And the good thing about this whole thing is that you are allowed to make mistakes in the process of figuring out what you want to achieve with your life because you can recover easily from most of those inevitable mistakes.
Your 20s are a great time to experiment, fail, and bounce back eventually. You see, life is full of challenges. So you’ll need to learn how to let go of failure, toughen up and teach yourself how to become mentally and emotionally resilient to both good times and rough times.
However, there are a few poor decisions that have lasting effects that can affect us badly. So, as much as it is a time to explore and discover oneself, knowing certain things that could wreak havoc in the near future is important.
In this blog post, we’ll be sharing with you 10 common mistakes young people make in their 20s.
- Giving in to peer pressure
If you thought peer pressure is something that happens only amongst teenagers, wait till you see young people in their 20s comparing themselves to their friends and getting carried away working tirelessly just to meet up with their friends and make sure they get everything their friends have no matter what it takes to achieve that.
With easy access to social media, it’s even worse now. Everyone wants to be like their online friends. They want to have what their friends want, forgetting that every one of us, including the friends we are hoping to be like, is still trying to figure things out.
You know what? We’re going to keep figuring things out till we’re no more. So don’t beat yourself up. Be patient and give yourself time to grow.
- Thinking education and talent are enough
Good results and certificates are good but that you have one doesn’t automatically land you a good job. No, you have to work hard. Relying only on degrees is one mistake young people often make.
According to Sylvie di Giusto, founder of Executive Image Consulting, “Sweat, hassle, pain, as well as diligence, perseverance, and an enormous amount of effort and energy characterize my career at this point. I’ve learned that there are very little short cuts when it comes to career success. Success doesn’t ‘just happen.’ Never.” According to Giusto, he spent his 20s in corporate environments that involved working nights and weekends.
Sitting back and expecting things to fall in place for you all because you think you got the best certificate out of college and you’ve got a talent like no other while ignoring the role of hard work to succeed is one mistake that can have a lasting effect in a person’s life.
- Poor saving habits
Because most people have no family responsibility or any other big stuff to shoulder in their 20s, they tend to rule out the importance of developing a good savings habit at a young age.
According to a recent study from Bankrate, out of 1,003 participants, it was discovered that 69% of those between the ages of 18 to 29 had no retirement savings at all, mostly because the idea of retirement seems far away.
As a matter of fact, when it comes to savings and retirement, it’s best to start when you are young with fewer financial commitments. That way you’d have mastered the act of savings become you get too involved with other financial commitments that come with building a home.
- Undefined goals
Most people do not know what exactly they want to do with their lives, especially during the early years of their lives. For those in their 20s, it’s a little challenging because there are so many things to choose from and so many discoveries to be unfolded.
You’re probably still trying to figure out the career path to follow and a bunch of other stuff. But failing to set a defined goal would definitely be a terrible mistake to make.
By setting a definite goal, it doesn’t mean that you have to have everything completely figured out.
For instance, say you want to become a businessperson, even if you do not have everything figured out, the most important thing is to know what you want to do, dedicate some time to learning about the field and take steps to achieve it one at a time.
- Not paying attention to their health
As you age, your body ages as well. You can no longer party all night for 3 good days as you used to nor can you drink as much alcohol as you used to, otherwise, your body will begin to break down and you might spend the rest of your lives treating one illness and disease or the other.
Take care of your health. It will stay with you for the rest of your life because your success or failure depends heavily on it.
- Sticking to wrong relationships
Young people are of the belief that they have a lot of time on their hands so they can play around a little. As a result, some stick to the wrong relationships because of money, sex, or other benefits that they may be enjoying at the time.
- Equating money to happiness
Granted! We live in a society where money is needed to purchase literally everything, but money doesn’t equate to happiness. This is an important lesson we all need to learn, both young and old.
This doesn’t mean a fat paycheck isn’t necessary, it just means that you shouldn’t spend your life pursuing money in place of your passion.
- Trying to please everyone
Young people often make the mistake of trying to please everyone. They try to please their bosses, coworkers, clients, and everyone else around them just to earn themselves a soft spot in their hearts.
They forget that everyone won’t always like you. So you have to learn how to deal with it, instead of trying to please people.
- Thinking they are the only ones struggling with life’s challenges
Regardless of their job or income, the truth is that every 20-something is still trying to figure things out.
So, just like your friend who has a nice car and is earning a decent amount of money, you are all in the phase of figuring out what’s next. He’s got some insecurity, just like you. You know what? He’s probably looking at you and wondering how you’ve got things so figured out even though you do not possess all the luxuries in the world.
In the end, we’re all admiring our friends and seeing them as better achievers than we are, when in the real sense, we’re all struggling with life challenges.
- Giving up easily
Giving up always seems easier than pushing further.
For instance, it’s easier to want to quit your job, discontinue your business, or end a serious relationship because things got a little rough and didn’t turn out the way you wanted. But when you push past the roughness and remain positive with a mindset to get the best out of the situation, one thing is sure; success.
In conclusion, don’t joke about your life in your 20s because that’s the best period of your life.
Thank you