avatarDrthefit | Ankita

Summary

The article discusses the author's personal journey in learning and accepting five challenging life realities during their 20s, emphasizing financial independence, work-life balance, personal agency, future visualization, and immediate life enjoyment.

Abstract

The author reflects on the tough realities they learned in their 20s, starting with the importance of managing one's finances independently, a lesson particularly significant for women who may have previously relied on male relatives for financial guidance. The article emphasizes the misconception that long working hours equate to productivity and success, advocating instead for adequate rest and personal time to foster creativity and focus. It also encourages readers to take control of their lives by auditing their activities, jobs, and relationships, and to visualize their future by setting realistic goals and adopting a positive mindset. Finally, the author challenges the idea of postponing life enjoyment until retirement, urging immediate pursuit of dreams and the creation of happy memories.

Opinions

  • The author believes that personal financial management is crucial and more accessible than often perceived, with abundant online resources available for self-education.
  • Working excessively long hours is not a measure of productivity or success; rest and personal time are vital for a balanced and fulfilled life.
  • Individuals have more power over their lives than they realize and should actively seek to change patterns that make them feel stuck or unhappy.
  • Visualizing one's future is a key step in achieving personal goals, and this vision may evolve with personal growth.
  • The concept of waiting until retirement to enjoy life is deemed obsolete; the author advocates for living fully in the present and creating happy memories now rather than deferring them.
  • The author suggests that small, consistent steps towards personal goals can lead to significant life changes over time.
  • Experimenting with new endeavors is part of the fun in life, and there is no need to regret trying new things, even if the outcome is uncertain.

5 Tough Realities Of Life I Learned In My 20s

Learning to thrive

Photo by david williams on Unsplash

When you are growing up, parents and people around you make your life comfortable and usually try to hide the hard realities. Maybe because they want us to protect.

But the thing is no matter how much people try to protect you, one day you are gonna leave the nest and fly your wings to learn about the world.

Sometimes I wish that my parents prepared me a bit better on how to tackle difficult situations and people, or how to manage my expectations.

Some people learned it sooner or some (like me ) took a whole lot of their 20s to learn to deal with the tough realities.

So here I am sharing some of the hard realities I learned to help you and make you happier every day.

1. Learning to manage my finances

It’s especially true for women because most of the time, financial/money matters are usually handled by the father or brother. I was no different.

When I started working, I relied on my father to make the financial decisions for me and where I should invest. I thought managing finances is too difficult for me to understand or learn.

But it turns out it’s quite simple and you can find a great deal of information online to research and learn about money terms, building a financial portfolio, filing taxes, etc.

Also, if it seems overwhelming at first, you can always hire a consultant to help you.

So if you are still not managing your finances, start today. It can help you secure your future and let you deal with hard times.

2. Productivity doesn’t mean working 15 hrs. a day

I have seen my father working for 12–13 hrs. every day and hardly taking any day off. Rain, snow, heat, he will constantly be working even when he was sick.

I thought if I want to achieve success in life, this is the only way and put up the hours as much as I can.

But the reality is different.

Working for 15 hrs. every day doesn’t reflect that you are productive and it’s not a parameter to measure success.

Adequate rest and time off are equally important to rejuvenate yourself, allow some thinking time, and do things that bring joy and happiness to your life.

It will help you open your mind, bring creativity, and will increase focus.

3- Broke-up with the hamster’s wheel

I have felt stuck my whole life only to know what it’s how I supposed to feel and most people feel this way. So it’s okay to live a dreadful life.

But now I realized you have more control over your life than you think. and you have all the power to break the patterns.

Audit your time, retrospect on your current job, and revisit your relationships, and your habits.

If you feel stuck, not happy, or bored, it’s high time that you revisit your lifestyle and priorities.

If you want to be healthy, change jobs, or want to start a side hustle. To be in a meaningful relationship, you need to change your outlook, and mindset to get all these things.

Eliminate bad habits, and put together an action plan with tiny steps that you can take every day.

4. Visualizing your future

It’s easy to analyze your past or present. And it can lead you to loathe if you are lacking something in your current life.

How easy would life be if we just get what we want by wanting it and doing nothing in return?

I am not there yet when I envisioned myself in my twenties. Honestly, I am not the same person I was 5 years ago.

As a human being, I am evolving. So my dreams, aspirations, and how I want to live my life.

One of the key lessons I learned is to get things in life, you have to give to the universe first. If you expect people to respect you, start respecting everyone you mean.

If you are looking for true love, spread love around you.

I can tell you when you start sending positive vibes to the universe, you are getting ready to receive all the better things.

So I realized that with the right mindset, it’s all doable. It begins with a picture in your head that you believe you can get there.

And then teach yourself how to.

5. Not waiting until retirement to enjoy life

The concept of retirement is so obnoxious. Too often we get caught up in the cycle of working long hours and raising children, and decide to wait until we retire to pursue our own dreams.

But the reality is you can do it today.

Life doesn’t wait for anyone and you never know what’s gonna happen tomorrow so why not enjoy the time we have today?

Work smart, take adequate rest, travel, and explore life.

So why wait until retirement to enjoy your life.

Get rich by creating happy memories, spending time with family, and doing things that you love and care about.

Become a wholesome person instead of working until your social security kicks in.

Lastly-

I am not saying your life will turn around overnight but taking a small step each day can help you reach there.

When you do new things, you won’t know if it’ll work out or not. Trust me, I sometimes still don’t know if something is going to work out.

But it’s fun to experiment and learn from it.

And you won’t regret having fun.

About the outcome? You’ll know once you try.

“As I said, I wish I could say it was easy. It wasn’t, but it wasn’t hard either. But without a strong reason or purpose, anything in life is hard. ”― Robert T. Kiyosaki

Be Bold

Be Courageous

Be Your Best

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Life
Life Lessons
Self Improvement
Personal Growth
Psychology
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