The Biggest Lessons From My 20s
As I’m now closing out my 20s and just a few months away from turning 30 I find myself taking some time to reflect on my experiences.
My 20s have been a truly incredible decade, and I am so grateful for everything I’ve been able to accomplish.
Over the past two years this site has served as a great outlet for me to share those things as well as my takeaways from them.
With this post I want to narrow it down to some of the lessons that I found to be most impactful.
Keep Your Expectations Low
Throughout my 20s most of the times where I felt the least happy were due to setting my expectations unreasonably high.
With this came added pressure, and the tendency to be harder on myself than necessary.
In some cases it was because I expected things to come together quicker than what was realistic, other times it was because I set my sights higher than what was actually tangible.
This is something I struggled with throughout my teens as well, and I’m grateful to say that after over a decade of adulthood I feel like I’ve gotten a decent grasp on this.
Don’t Be Afraid of Rejection
Throughout my 20s I got turned down countless times. Whether it was for jobs, relationship prospects, entrepreneurial pursuits, or musical endeavors, the rejections were plentiful.
However, I never really saw that as a negative.
Even in instances where I thought I had a job in the bag only to not actually get the position, I was still grateful just for the fact I was able to give it a shot.
Sometimes things just aren’t the right fit, and it’s not something worth beating yourself up about if things don’t pan out the way you intended.
Enjoy Each Experience
To go along with the things listed above, there were a lot of times in my 20s where I had to make adjustments and make due with circumstances that didn’t quite match my intentions.
For example, when I graduated from college my intention was to use my degree toward a high-paying position and support a life for myself in a bigger city.
When COVID came around the job market slimmed down, and the opportunities to do that sort of thing weren’t as prevalent.
But, in hindsight I feel like everything worked out well, and a big part of that was me being able to adjust accordingly.
Even while I had to work jobs that didn’t pay as well or weren’t the sorts of things I had in mind while in college, I embraced them for what they were and found ways to make them enjoyable.
In fact, having things work out in that manner is a big part of making my 20s what they’ve been.
Otherwise, I might not be writing for this site, and I might not be the person that I am today.
