Early 20s is the period where we pass from teenagers to young adults, and that could be stressful for most people going through this period, due to the feeling of being lost, pressure of not knowing what to do in your career, and the fact that you want to enjoy your 20s but also take it seriously, because it might make or break whatever is coming later on in life. 

In this blog I will share with you the 4 most important lessons to learn in your early 20s, based on my own experience. 

Tip 1 : It is okay to feel lost

In a young age you might develop a lot of different interests, whether in your hobbies, studies, career… and that might leave you conflicted, not knowing which path to follow, which path to invest your efforts in. 

The thing that people in their early 20s think is that everything should be sorted out, and clear, but that’s not the case, there is a vast number of people who still experience a sense of loss in life even in their 30s and 40s. 

The only thing you can do to have clarity, is to try as many interests as possible, that way you will know if that thing is something worth your time or effort or not. And it’s easier to do it in not only your early 20s but in the whole decade. 

Tip 2 : Stay in touch with your loved ones

The early 20s is such an unpredictable phase, anything can happen, life can take you somewhere you were not prepared to go to, or even imagined to happen. Because you are not stable in life, you are still curious and  experimenting new things. 

One of these unpredictable things is you leaving and living away from your family due to work or university,  which automatically means that the time spent with your family will massively decrease. And life will throw things at you that you need to navigate, and that might make you occupied by trying to figure those things out and you end up not realizing that you haven’t connected with your loved ones in a while. 

So make sure that you prioritize your family and friends because they matter so much… not the money or the status 

Tip 3 : Build your boundaries  

Building boundaries is a very important thing when it comes to developing a strong personality. Again, in the early 20s we are constantly exploring life and trying to figure out who we are as individuals. So during this journey we meet a lot of people, we expose ourselves to different ideas, principals, and relations. Although this exposure is an important thing, it might put us in a situation where we should protect ourselves from things like, a bad influence, a person who might harm us or hurt our self-esteem. 

Now this is where boundaries are important to have. They prevent these threats from getting to us. These boundaries will make people know what you are okay or not okay with, and they will have to respect it, they will not be happy with your boundaries but they have to. Just make sure that your boundaries are healthy and reasonable. 

Tip 4 : Learn about how money works

“So make sure that you prioritize your family and friends because they matter so much… not the money or the status” that what I said at the end of the 2nd tip. But that does not mean that money is not important. Lately it has been a challenge to achieve, with all the high living expenses. As a solution there are several things to learn and apply : 

• Get financially literate : learn about what an asset, liability, ROI, networth, interest rate… here is a list of the essential financial terms your need to know
• Read books about finance : Rich dad poor dad, The psychology of money, Think and grow rich… 
• Manage your income : have a spreadsheet where you set a budget for your different expenses and log the amount you spend, make sure to not go above the budget. 
• Make a secondary income : whether it is an online business or investing in stocks or providing some kind of service… 

We keep learning new things in all stages of our lives. There are some stages that shape us more than the others, the early 20s is one of them, so make it something that will shape you to be a better you in the future and remember to grow at your own rhythm.