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By Jessica Davison
Guest Contributor
A week after I turned 30, I found myself wishing for an “aha” moment to take hold. Nothing big, just the thought that I embarked on a new decade was quite overwhelming. I need to have a clear sense of who I was and what I was doing. People spend way too much time telling you a list of books to read in your twenties or a list of places to go in your twenties? Those are actually ways only to escape your twenties. Escaping by doing that stuff just sets you up for a disaster in your thirties. Here are 5 major life decisions every woman needs to take in her 20s for a better life in 30s:
Sheryl Sandberg was right
“The person you choose to spend your life with is the most important career decision you will make.”
Even Warren Buffet agrees to it. According to CNBC, “employees with extremely conscientious spouses (two standard deviations above the mean) are 50 percent more likely to get promoted than those with extremely unconscientious spouses (two standard deviations below the mean).” Your life will be significantly harder if you don’t have someone who believes in your path as much as you do. Choosing a life partner is one of the most crucial decisions you’ll make in your 20s.
Think of Money as a Result, Not a Goal…
It’s natural to want to live comfortably later in life, especially after ‘retirement.’ But don’t fret over earning money; it will come. So, the question is what should you focus on instead? The best thing is to finding what you like to do and getting good, better, best at it. It won’t be wrong to say that you don’t have many responsibilities during your 20s and can take risks. So, the best idea is to follow your passion and not get tempted by short-term gains.
Invest in Self-Knowledge
You’ll start indulging in activities and things that might not really matter, so your 20s is a great time to start understanding yourself. From what upsets you and what makes you happy, you should know almost everything about yourself. Moreover, realizing what is the thing that would motivate you in times of extreme failure. You must find the answers to questions like: What is your fear? Who loves you? What do you want to achieve? And so on.” You might take a cue from these 56 deep questions to ask yourself in your 20s to help you find out who you really are.
“Learn something about yourself,” says Andrew Gumperz. “Our biggest learning task in life is learning who we are.”
Your health is not to be taken for granted
You may not realize it in your twenties, but as you get older, your body requires more and more care. If you’re not comfortable in your skin, now is the time to get in shape. If you don’t have a health regime, now is the time to create one. If you don’t have a health insurance, now is the time to get one. We tend to let health take a backseat in our fast paced lives. However, you must remember that when you’re young everything’s in your favor, but that may not stay the same as you get older.
Your twenties are not practice time. It’s your life.
So don’t worry about relocation. It’s playing in the world of false choices. We forget that even though our twenties seem like playtime, it really isn’t. People in their twenties spend way too much time making dead-end decisions that they pretend don’t count. Instead, you must focus on using a methodical way to try new jobs and new relationships and eventually figure out where you fit. You should not worry about the fact that things are not in the right place in your twenties because everything happens so fast. You often here, “Oh, my gosh, you’ve grown up so fast.” Well, time does speed up as you get older, and with the blink of an eye your twenties will be over.
So much of what people in their 20s focus on is how they look to the world right now and not what the future looks like. We tend to overthink about choices that don’t really matter. But, the best decisions you can make are ones that will last into your thirties. That way, you know you are doing things in your twenties that will matter.
However, even though it may be daunting, turning 30 is not the end. Perhaps you might not have accomplished all you want to, or maybe your relationship status isn’t what you hoped for; it’s okay, you still have your 30s as long as you learn from past mistakes and are confident.