13 Tips To Everyone In Their 20s To Have A Better Self In 30s
In these early years of my 30s, I ask myself what I could have done better when I was in my 20s.
These are the implications of the search for a better self.
Here we go.
#1 Spend time with your upper generation
People learn from their mistakes, and they usually build sentences that start with “I wish.” I believe these sentences are meaningful and act as a life-saving.
I suggest an in-depth talk with your previous generation can be an inspiration to shape your lives.
Listen to their advice, ask challenges in their lives, check their energy level, and examine how they behaved themselves when they were at your age.
I think that history is recurring in most subjects, so there is no harm from looking at the recent past.
#2 Stop toxic relationships
I would probably say this first if I had time to go back and talk to myself.
Your environment is affecting your words, thoughts, behaviors, and even your academic success. Your habits and routines are altering because you are trying to find a place in your peers.
My sincere advice is for you to stop your abusive relationship. When you are in that relationship, you perceive it as healthy dynamics of it, but that is not true.
Neither be with someone who is disrespected to you nor spend a minute in that environment.
Every moment you remain silent or patient will slow your recovery period in the long term.
Also, some friends are like parasites, and they regularly absorb your energy with their negative mood or thoughts. They might be demanding in their friendship, so as soon as you realize it, run!
Addicted friends like drugs or alcohol can be amusing than others, and you may spend a splendid time with them. I know what I am talking about because I had many.
These people will usually be harmful themselves, but spending time in these environments can make you aimless.
The 21st century has a new addiction, which is social media. Imagine your friend looks at her/his phone instead of looking at your face while eating together. I recommend that you review the depth of your friendship.
#3 Join a TEAM activity
In my previous job, our general manager told me that the TEAM is defined as “Together Everyone Achieve More.” which is a perfect definition that reflects its meaning.
Team activity does not need to be related to sports, like football or basketball. It sounds a little bit 90s fashion for me.
There are many other options that you can join like game clubs, coding weekends, book clubs that you learn to be a part of a puzzle piece at an early age.
During my 20s, I include various team activities. I took a dance course and presented a graduation show with my classmates. I was sailing, and I raced in North Stream Race in 2013, and I passed through the Baltic Sea from Flensburg to Saint Petersburg. I joined a drama club, I was a part of a musical show, and I climbed to the top of a chair and sang to hundreds of people on the stage.
What have I learned from my team events?
-Active Listening: If you have a deadline to finalize your task with your team, you should be an active listener to be an active player. You need to clarify the optimum solution in a limited time, so without listening, you can miss bright ideas.
-Improve communication skills: Explaining yourself clearly in front of a group and try to convince them is an essential asset. Giving precise direction speeds up your process. You can also ask their opinions and bounce ideas with each other.
-Respect and Trust others: Team activities have always seemed safe environments for me, and I never hesitate to share my view about something. There is less judgemental behavior, so you learn to act likewise.
-Helps to widen your network: If you are in college, it will be useful to have friends who are studying in different fields. They may have a diverse thinking mindset, which is beneficial to see this.
From my drama class, we have a sincere friendship, and all of us have a different occupation, which prospers our conversations.
#4 Travel a lot
I have visited more than 30 countries, and I’ve learned many things from each of them. Being aware of different cultures and lifestyles will widen your view because each state has its sprit.
I also suggest reading about their histories while you are traveling and try to deduce the impacts of their past on today’s situation.
Money is essential for going abroad, but there are cheap options like work and travel, being a pet sitter, student exchange programs, or volunteering events.
Do not forget your own country while traveling outside. Unfortunately, I have friends that instead of visiting the cities of their lands, they consider it more valuable or trendy to go to other places.
I was born in Turkey, and until this age, I have tried to travel all over it. The obvious thing was the differences between east and west or north and south in each country. Even the accent in their language, natural beauties, weather conditions, architecture, culinary tastes, ways of living, view of religion, and interpretation of it are varied.
#5 Read different genres
I think it is a cliche to say “read a book” and so thinking that everyone is already reading a book, I recommend you to read as many different genres as possible.
Reading different genres increases your imagination and creativity. I also suggest learning from various authors from different nationalities to see their perspective.
Not stick on American books, and German literature, Russian literature is the instrument that best reflects a particular period in history.
Differentiate your reading basket and read blogs, newspapers, or magazines, which help to keep track of the current trends.
#6 Enrich your creativity
We leave many of our habits that stimulate our creativity when we become adults. When our stress level raises, creativity is halved.
However, creativity makes me enjoy life more, and it motivates me to produce something. I try to keep this alive and active as much as possible.
It will be handy to reintroduce small habits into our lives to revive them like drawing or illustrating, dancing, playing an instrument, or making music. Hand making skills like crafting, sculpturing, playing with clays and making ceramic, pastry, or wood engraving boost your creativity.
#7 Take care of your body
Your body is an essential part that will carry you to the future.
After the 30s, our bodies slowly falling apart; your bones getting weaker, myolysis is starting, metabolism goes down, and we cannot convert food to energy efficiently.
To eliminate this, you’d better start including sports and physical activity in your daily life like walking, swimming, cardio exercise, learning martial arts, bicycling, dancing, canoeing, or tennis.
I am a Yoga Instructor, and I practice Yoga, so I experienced that Yoga is suitable for both my body and my mental health.
Proper nutrition is one of the most critical requirements of the body. A balanced diet is vital for a healthy and enjoyable life. I try to get less alcohol, caffeine, and sugar as possible. Consuming excessive alcohol damages our brain and creates blackouts and memory lapses.
#8 Keep journaling
Journaling is like a guide in the journey of self-discovery. It relaxes your mind and makes your thoughts and feelings tangible in everyday life. In the long run, it’s also pleasing to remember happy moments when you reread it.
There are two types of journaling for me. The first one is the morning journaling, which is the initial thing to do when I wake up. The second one in night journaling as you assume that I prefer to write before going bed.
Both serve different to me. If I write mornings, it prepares me for the long day. I can overlook my daily responsibilities and boost up my motivation to get ready for the day.
Night journaling has a therapeutic impact and makes my mind free. I can realize my achievements or mistakes, so it is like a final check of the day. It increases my self-awareness.
#9 Cultivate your mental health
We use the frontal lobe to handle our daily issues. You can include many activities like driving a car, making a calculation, studying on an exam, or working on an excel file.
However, we need to activate the other parts of the brain, and we should rest the frontal lobe a little bit rather than expecting more from it.
Meditation and breath exercises help increase our mental health. It has been proved that twenty minutes of meditation increase your self-awareness and your reactive decision-making decrease, and you feel more balanced.
Over the years, your mind will be filled with so much used or unused information that carrying them will challenge you day by day. With the meditation habit, you acquire at an early age; you can continue your life with a clearer mind.
I apply John Kabat Zinn’s 5 stage mindfulness meditation, which is a proven meditation technique that reduces stress in Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training.
#10 Have a pet and plant
It is advantageous to have a plant or a pet to be more compassionate towards life.
It is delightful to see the growth of a living creature that is entirely in need of you.
It teaches you the importance of caring and patient.
It also teaches me loving something just because of itself without expectation.
#11 Widen your income sources
Although university education starts to crack today, unfortunately, due to the education system, we can only have a specific profession end of it.
It is nice to be an expert in a subject, but having a single profession and having a single source of income is risky.
My suggestion is to find different sources of income and protect yourself as much as possible from economic crises.
#12 Learn the taxation system
“The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.”
- Albert Einstein
The golden rule of increasing your money resources and managing it well is knowing taxation issues.
The sources of income you diversify may be differing from countries, so I recommend you to research the tax obligations of those countries and even get help from experts if you have an opportunity.
#13 Nurture your relationships
My last piece of advice is to appreciate the beautiful and deep relationships you have and don’t lose them.
Take care of your childhood friendships that you have beautiful memories. Growing an experiencing together, and having collective memories are priceless.
Those friendships are essential parts that remind you of your childish excitement and purity, and even if you are an adult, you can easily be a child with them.
Even if you think that you have changed and differentiated over the years, accept everyone as they are, and claim those memories and your childlike spirit. Be thankful for having them.
Final words, you will shape our tomorrow with today’s choices, so live full of knowing the value of your time and youth.
