The most difficult and most important life lessons are often learnt while we're still in our twenties, as this is a time when we are on a journey to 'find' ourselves and begin to grow into the people we want to be. Anything that's worth having doesn't come easily and in order to change, evolve and become the best we can, we have to face a few stumbling blocks along the way. These are a few significant lessons that most of us will learn while we're in our 20's.
The Most Important Lessons We Learn In Our 20's
1. Love hurts, but not as much as not loving.
2. The friendships you nurture will have a greater effect on your life than where you work or what you earn.
3. You are not your job. You are not your bankroll. You are not the sum of your possessions.
4. The company does not love you. It has no heart. You are replaceable.
Keep your parachute handy.
5. Few decisions will ever shape your future life more than who you choose to marry.
To marry well, you must choose well.
6. Believe it or not, passions grow out of your values. Make early, wise choices to value what and who is good, trustworthy, and praiseworthy.
7. Rejoice in your health. It fades fast.
8. Find a passion. If you want to develop your passion and gift, stop worrying about the things you do poorly. Go with your strengths.
9. Don’t bother comparing yourself to others—this only leads to heartbreak, anger, and disappointment.
10. Most disappointments grow from unmet expectations. Set realistic expectations for yourself, based on your strengths, then strive to exceed them.
11. Don’t set expectations for others when they haven’t or cannot commit to them.
12. Don’t complain. Either change your situation, learn to cope, or change your perspective.
13. Don’t worry about making major money immediately, worry first about doing whatever you have to do excellently.
14. Little stuff matters—even in lowly jobs. The boss notices and even if not, your peers and colleagues do.
15. Don’t look down on others because they don’t have what you didn’t earn—your intellect, your beauty, and your culture of birth are undeserved gifts…be humble.
16. Failure is an opportunity: no great man or woman ever achieved significance without great failures to learn from.
17. Never withhold an apology when it’s merited. Deliver it quickly, sincerely, and personally—before resentment festers.
18. You don’t need to nurture old guilt when you’re forgiven. But remembering the remorse can help you avoid repeats.
19. The main thing you need to do quickly is to stop doing things quickly. Trade hurry for calm, confidence, and precision.
20. Everybody needs an editor. Everybody.
21. Avoid fights. Seriously. Avoid them like a plague: nobody wins in a fight, even if you walk away unscathed. But when a fight picks you, leave everything on the mat and give it your all. Hold nothing back.
22. If you’re bored, you’re doing it wrong.
23. The skills that will help your career most are the abilities to assimilate, communicate, and persuade. Keep learning.
24. Protect your joy. Nothing is easier to lose by over-thinking, overanalyzing, and second-guessing. On the other hand, always consider the long-term consequences of your choices: stupid decisions made in the moment can rob you of years of joy and happiness.
25. Your purpose in life determines how you frame events. You can maintain your joy in the most dire circumstances if you find meaning for your life. Dig deep.
26. It truly matters what you think about. Think well by reading good books, building good, loving relationships, having good conversation, and imitating great people.
What Have You Learnt in Your 20's?
*Original list by Rich Tatum. Editorial via Schon Magazine.
