Flourishing in your twenties

I love this quote by Thomas Sowell: “Young people in general need to understand that they cannot retrieve in their forties, the opportunities they threw away in their twenties.” So, how can you (we) truly flourish in your (our) twenties?

Your 20’s are your selfish years. It’s a decade to immerse yourself in every single thing possible. Be selfish with your time, and all the aspects of you. Tinker with shit, travel, explore, love a lot, love a little, and never touch the ground. – Kyoko Escamilla

Get an education: An education is invaluable. I find that it is not so much of what you actually learn in school but how the structure it provides refines you. For example, attending 8 am classes might teach you time management, perseverance, and responsibility more than the Physics 101 you are actually learning.

Form meaningful friendships: Great friendships are so vital. Now is not the time to have a large group of meaningless relationships. A few solid ones are enough. Meaningful friendships also include forming a solid relationship with God, which is really the most important weapon you will be needing in your twenties.

Learn a skill: Apart from your formal education, learn a skill and be a master of it. It might come in handy in future.

Travel: You are young and bursting with energy and enthusiasm and this is the time to go to a few places, wander, experience new cultures and learn a bunch of awesome things. This way, you can discover yourself a lot more.

Take care of your body: Treat your body as a priority. Be mindful of what you eat and don’t forget to exercise. Remember the computer term, Garbage in, Garbage out? Same applies to your body.

Learn a new language: Studies have shown that younger people have the mental capacity to pick up new languages compared to older people. Plus, I think more than one language under your belt is definitely stellar. I wrote about this a few weeks ago, you can read here.

Get a savings account: Realistically, financial flexibility might not be entirely possible in your 20s. It’s almost like you have the time and the energy to do so many things but no money to do it. That said, get a savings account and put some money away regularly, no matter how little. It will definitely come in handy sometime.

Read books: I am a strong, strong advocate for reading books, simply because knowledge is power and no knowledge is wasted. I think a wealth of knowledge is something every young person should have, after all, our brains are relatively sharper.

Make mistakes: Not to say you should deliberately put yourself in bad situations, but this is the time to allow yourself make mistakes in the process of doing something you’ve always wanted to try. What better time than to try stuff out, test the waters and be a bit more daring and risky?

Fall in love: No explanation needed. I just think it’s something every twenty-something-year-old needs to experience. (Honestly, I can’t think of a logical explanation for this but please if you can, help me out in the comments.

So, I believe all these are essential to flourishing in your twenties but what do you think? What did I miss out on? Let me know.

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Here’s to flourishing,

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