7 Things That I’m Glad I Knew in My 20s

Photo by S Migaj on Unsplash

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you

Turning to 20 year old is probably one of the biggest milestone for most of us. We starts to graduate from college, starts a new job, and living on our own. However, when we reach this period it starts to feel lonely and uncertain. We also starts to compare ourselves and then feeling insecure.

Personally I’ve experienced all of those negative feelings and I don’t like it, so I’m trying to find the answer on how to overcome it. Thus becoming happier, stronger and full of enthusiasm!

Please take a note that all of this come from personal experience. Although there are still so much things that I haven’t know, I want to share things that I’ve learned and I’m glad that I knew it in my 20s.

1. Mental Accounting
   One of the things that I’m glad I knew is mental accounting. This is a simple trick to decrease our expense and be more happy. One of the example of mental accounting is, “putting 200% price on something that you want to buy”. As a teenager, I also likes to buy branded merchandise or some expensive clothes, but this makes me think twice whether I should buy it or not, and most of the time this mental accounting has saved me from unnecessary expenses.
2. Being Rich is About Time not Number
   Other things that I learned is what defines whether the person is rich or not. And rich person is defined by “How long they can live without working.” and not “How much they make per month.” Being rich is not about the number or amount of money you have, but the amount of time you could live without working, this leads me to study about passive income and investment.
3. Invest!
   From what I know most of the rich people are investor, whether it is a real estate investor, stock investor, or start up investor. They could earn money with almost no effort. Well if you are in your 20s just like me, it’s better to invest on yourself first such as taking a short course to have a better paying job. But once you have a stable income you should try to invest your money but make sure you learn how to invest first. (learning about mutual funds, bank deposit, and stock market is recommended.)
4. Trial and Error
   Do you know what kind of job that you want to take in the future or are you still confuse ? Well if you already know what you are going to do in the future, Congrats! you are one step ahead than most of the people. But if you still haven’t know what career that you want to focus on. just try a lot of things until you find it. It is really a trial and error, keep trying something new until you find something that you like and worth doing. Meanwhile even though you are bad at it, don’t give up!
5. Your First Podcast Would be Awful
   When you start something new or hobbies, you will fail and make a lot of mistakes, and that is fine. We are not magical beings who can make everything perfects on one try. Even dude perfect make their shot multiple times to get that cool trickshot. If you fail at first time doing something, just try it again, and be proud of yourself. To be honest this is also my first time writing long articles for public in English, and I’m proud of myself. Let’s go through this journey together :)
6. Be Hungry
   Well what I mean by be hungry is not about eating, but you should be hungry for more knowledge, make sure you learn something new everyday. Just consider yourself stupid so you keep learning. “The time we thought we are smart, it’s the time we have to start learning.”
7. Be Excited and Be There!
   You can’t add days to your life, but you can add life to your days. Remember, if you are having a rough day, just be happy or at least try to, tell yourself to be the most energetic person in the room! You also have to realize that most of the golden chances comes because you are there! You have to come to the meeting, you have to come to the exam! Fight your fear with your enthusiasm!