4 pieces of advice for someone in their 20s

from 4 different perspectives

For those of you who have read my previous blog posts, you all know that my number one goal in life is to help others, whether that's giving advice, being an ear to talk to, or helping empower others to find their purpose in life. I also don't claim to be an expert on anything though. I'm just a normal person who makes a lot of mistakes that others can learn from and take those lessons and apply them to their own life.

So when I came up with the idea that I wanted to do a post geared towards people entering their 20s or currently in their early 20s, I wanted to branch out to people in my life that I look up to and that I know would have a lot of advice that could be extremely helpful to others. I sent out a couple of texts and sat down with my coworkers and asked them what their single piece of advice would be to someone in their early 20s. Here's what they came up with:

1. Stay true to who you are

This first piece of advice came from my grandma, one of the strongest and wisest people I know. Your early 20s is a growing period. You don't know fully who you are or who you want to be, but you are starting to find out. Because of this, it is a period in our lives that leaves us vulnerable to not only peer pressure, but also the pressure of society in general. My grandma expanded on this piece by saying "Don't try and be something you're not." If I could add my own little take onto the end of that, it would be "Don't try and be something you're not and don't let anyone try and tell you that you're something that you're not." Not everyone you meet in life will agree with you and not everyone you meet in life will like you. It's crazy to think about the fact that every person we've ever met views us in a completely different light than the next person. Therefore, don't take anyone's opinion too seriously. If you know who you are and God knows who you are, all that matters is that you stay true to that person.

2. You're going to fail

This piece of advice came from my boss (works out well for me, huh?) but she's right. What would a life be without failure? How would you know what you like or don't like, what you're good or not good at? How would you learn? These aren't rhetorical questions, I just really don't have an answer. As my boss was continuing to expand on this topic, she started talking about how she wishes her son would grasp this concept. She talked about how he is so afraid of failing at something that he just won't do anything. What kind of life is that? To never go after your dream or try new things, just because of the THOUGHT of what if it doesn't work out. What's the worst thing that could happen? It doesn't work... Therefore it's on to the next thing, you always gotta keep it moving. Don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. After all, you will grow the most once you step out of it.

3. Slow down & experience life

Sheesh, when my coworker was talking about this one, I felt personally attacked because this is one of my biggest struggles in life. I am ALWAYS worried about the next step in my life, the future, looking forward to the next big thing that's going to happen. The way my coworker described it was that when you're 18 you want to be 21 so that you can drink, when you're 21 you want to be 25 so you're graduated, when you're 25 you want to be 30 so that you're settled down with a family... Stop wanting your life away and enjoy the place that you are at now. Life will happen when it is meant to happen, learn to embrace the moment.

4.Nothing is set in stone

This one comes from my big sister, who is still in her 20s, but has had an extremely successful life up until this point. She went on to say that if you don't like your career, who you are surrounding yourself with, or the place where you're at you have the power to change it. And I believe this goes for any stage of life. Too often we forget that we are in control of our own happiness and experiences. If you want something, go get it. If you don't like something, change it. You have too much life ahead of you to think that it's too late to change.

Ignore it, write it down, put it on your mirror... Do with it what you will. Just be open to the idea of letting others help you grow on this crazy journey called life!

Sincerely,

KU :)