There’s no right way to live life, and you grow with your own experiences. But here’s a thing about the 20s -you are transitioning into adulthood and soon realise it’s a trap! The choices and decisions you make now will always determine your future, so we have some healthy tips for you. Redditors have shared some experiences about what you can do in your 20s to avoid regrets in your 30s and 40s and it deserves your attention.
1. “Stay out of credit card debt, and put as much as you can into a retirement account. Oh, and focus on developing healthy habits around food and exercise.”
2. “If you are on good terms with them, spend time with senior members of your family and find out all about what it was like for them growing up and living through historic events. I wish I had known to ask my grandparents more about their young lives. You won’t realize until they are gone that you could have asked about all kinds of things, or that they would be happy to talk with you. When we are young we don’t realize that we ignore the elderly or that they have a treasure trove of knowledge and experience.”
3. “Start a retirement account. You can’t make up time. Setting up a 401k when I started working was a really smart move. Travel. Memories and experiences can never be taken away from you. Now I have kids, and traveling looks different. I probably won’t do the same types of trips when I’m 60, that I could now in my 40’s or that I did when I was in my 20s.”
4. “Have a good life/work balance. I know it’s easy to get caught up in the rat race and focus heavily on your career or future, but the future is coming, and working all of those extra hours while sacrificing your relationships is going to leave an empty feeling when you get there. Focus more on your happiness and the memories you’re making.”
5. “The best thing I ever did for myself in my 20’s was save up an emergency fund of 6 months of comfortable living expenses. It gives you so much mental clarity and peace of mind. Just knowing that an unexpected cost or job loss won’t send me to my parent’s basement lets me enjoy my life more fully.”
6. “Don’t waste time on meaningless relationships if someone doesn’t make you happy don’t waste your time on it. If there abusive, cheat, etc don’t waste your youth just move on.”
7.” Learn to trust your gut. Sometimes you can’t rationalize feeling a certain way or wanting to pursue something, and that’s alright. Any regret I’ve acquired through life has been from ignoring my gut feeling.”
8. “Build strong relationships and learn how to express yourself emotionally. I’m not talking exclusively romantic ones either. But in every part of your life. Family, friends, and work. It’s a lot harder to build relationships later on when everyone’s lives get busier with kids, etc.”
9. “Understand and accept the reasons behind your decisions. If you know why you made the choices you did, then there is nothing to regret. Everyone will make some decisions that they won’t like later on, that’s part of life. Never try and live someone else’s life, live your own.”
10.” Save regularly, starting with the first paycheck you get, so you never miss the money in the first place. Have the money taken out or transferred automatically. It makes a huge difference starting in your 20s instead of your 30s. Investing can save and be simple.”
11.” Realize that your 30s are pretty much the same as your 20s and you have plenty of time to complete whatever goal you want. Turning 30 was never a checkpoint in life where you need to have done “x.” That was just something some people said one time.”
12. “I’m 53 and I learned every single one of these the hard way. Never pass up a chance to go to the bathroom. Tell the truth. Display good manners with all people. Practice safe sex. Whenever possible, investigate both sides of an issue. Feeling confident in your own views is a good feeling. If you find yourself tearing others down so that you can feel good, you are doing it wrong.”
13. “Start finding healthy things that you can tolerate now before you need to in your 30s. I’m now in my late 20s and most of my high school peers have put on a ton of weight probably by eating the same way they did in HS. I’ve maintained about the same body weight mostly by cutting out soda and just reducing the number of sweets, but I still haven’t found the healthy meals I like and eventually, that will catch up to me. Your energy levels will drop drastically when that happens if you’re not eating more healthily.”
14. “Spending multiple years in a toxic relationship. The 20s is a time to spend meeting new people and figuring out what you want in a long-term partner.”
Read more: 16 Underrated Dating Tips That Can Benefit Your Relationship.