If you could give anny advice to someone in their twenties what would it be?

Question

If you (preferably women) have lived through your twenties I would like to know any advice because I am 25. I am doing research on quarter-life crises. Anything to do with financial, career, relationship, self esteem, etc.

Answer 1

I'm a guy. So, take my answer for what it's worth.

Financially
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Get out of debt. Pay off your credit cards. Never buy a new car unless you have as much money as Bill Gates. Buy used because cars depreciate tremendously as soon as you roll them off the lot. Buy a house as soon as you can. Save money for a down payment and stop paying rent. Get your own place. Townhouse, whatever. It's amazing how quickly property can appreciate and add to your networth. I wasted 7 years in apartments. Bought a house and in 5 years it's appreciated 100k. Save as much money as you can. Don't waste it on stereos or too many shoes. When you get to the point where you want to have a family, having more money gives you more options. (Staying home with the kids longer, a bigger down payment on a house means lower mortgage payments, etc...) You'd be amazed at how expensive kids can be. I have two in daycare and the costs is $2000 a month. Diapers, formula, clothes...its all very expensive. Just save your money. If you have a job and contribute to a 401k account do it. Especially if your employer matches. It's free money!!!! Max out your contributions to your 401k. I've learned a lot by subscribing to Money Magazine and watching Suze Orman on tv. I suggest you seek these resources out.

Education
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If you don't have a Bachelors Degree get one. Even if you marry young and plan on being a stay at home mom, having a degree gives you options if things dont work out or if your husband becomes ill and you need to step up and become the sole provider for the family at one point or another. Pursue a graduate degree before the kids come.

Friends
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Make a real effort to keep your good friends from high school and college. It's great to be able to build on those friendships and take them in new directions. I have a friend I met at a job after school when I was in high school. I kept that friendship up and he's now the god father of my daughter and I'm the godfather of his daughter. Our kids are friends and our relationship has gone into different directions. We still talk about the days when we were young and wild.

Mentors
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Find mentors in your life. Look for people that are successful at doing what it is that you want to do and seek out their advice. It's great to be able to get tips from people that have been there and done that. They can help steer you clear of pitfalls and obsticles that they probably had to tackle.

Risks
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Take risks...with your career...with love...This is a time in your life where you have the ability to apply yourself at anything and give it 100% of your focus. As you get older, it is much more difficult to make big risky changes when other people depend on you. If you want to start a business, do it now.

Fun
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Travel a lot. Go to Europe. Get a different perspective on things. Go to the big parties...mardi gras...springbreak, etc... When you are older you may have more money to do these things, but it will be a different experience. I had a blast bar hopping in London. If I were to go now, I'd have the kids and it would all be a very different experience.

You literally have the power to do anything you want. You have no idea what a great adventure you are about to embark on. Good luck.

Answer 2

I'm in my twenties so maybe I'm not the best person to answer this question, but the advice I wish someone had told me was get an education... go to college, get a degree in something that will allow you to live a life you want without needing or wanting anything from anyone else.

I'll have my masters when I hit 30, so that's my advice, get a head start on the rest of your life, don't waste time.

Answer 3

Your life is pretty much beginning , your adult life that is...you need to look at things with a whole new light then you did in your childhood years...
If you haven't met the right person then your twenties are when that will most likely happen..Your future depends upon how much you have matured..Are you going to be a success or failure.. This is something you need to find out by trying diffrent things ..You are an adult now and everyone expects you to act like one..although there are some who never grow up........The decisions you make now will affect the rest of your life

Answer 4

Make the most of your twenties because if you haven't already noticed the years seem to go by faster when you hit 20. When you were a kid, summer seemed like forever and now a years goes by before you know it. It only seems to go faster in you 30's. Protect yourself from aging by using a lot of sunscreen, don't get in deep dept, have children if you plan too, and try to marry before you are in your 30's because the men in their upper 30's are usually already divorced with dependents or are confirmed batcherlors. Most of all enjoy those years because you will want them back no water how difficult they might have been.

Answer 5

Work. Save your money. Allow yourself an allowence, but definitely save as much as possible. Don't by alot of luxery items. When you buy something, buy moderately priced things that are good quality. Don't trade up. That is a bad habit. I see working class people doing it all the time. That's a sure way to use up credit and savings. Only trade up if you have to. If you ever have money to invest, invest in real estate. Don't gamble, buy stock, etc.
If you are like most people you don't have alot of money, so just be frugal with what you have and then forget it. Concentrate on the good in your life. Be with the people you are with rather than tripping over all of the little dramas and imperfections. Just love them and let them love you.
Take care of your health and live a healthy lifestyle. Avoid chemicals, including household chemicals, and learn about the environment, because what you do now and are exposed to now will affect you when you are older.
Get as much education as you can in any way that you can...college, reading, internet, talking to people, listening to old people, watching people, discovery channel, or whatever interests you. Never quit learning.
Things change. Hair and eyes change. Health changes. Relationships change. Finances change. Everything changes. So don't base your life or your decisions on things staying the way they are now.
Good luck. If you are asking that now, chances are you will do well.

Answer 6

Trust your thinking. Trust your thinking, trust your thinking.

Being a young adult is hard. No one is holding your hand any more, but you are still lacking some information and could really use help. It's an in-between stage where we're treated a little like adults, but without the respect of being "full" adults. It is demeaning and frustrating.

That's why it's important to trust your thinking. Only you know your situation, only you know what is best for you. Sure, if you always trust your thinking you're bound to make some mistakes. But mistakes based off your own thinking are more easily corrected than mistakes based off someone else's thinking.

Answer 7

A quarter-life crisis? The things they come up with these days, lol. The issues you brought up are relevant regardless of age.
It probably seems insurmountable right now, because depending on your lifestyle, the twenty-something age group tend to lean more toward material needs rather than looking at the big picture.
Once you get your priorities straighten out & decide what your long term goals are... the issues you brought up will fall into place. Finally, just enjoy it while you can is all I've to say=)

Answer 8

Okay, I'm not a girl, I am at least a half-century old young guy.

I noticed one of the responses was to the effect: Realize you are not the center of the universe. Good advice. You are simply not important to most of the people in the world. Most of the decisions in life you make probably won't be noticed much even by people to who you are important. Do make sure that you are important to youself.

In a movie "Billy Jack" something stuck with me. Billy said something like "If this was the last day of your life, what are the things you would do? If you knew you are going to live forever, what are the things you would do?" Think about those two questions and put them together. My daughter broke her nail and had a fit for almost a day over that nail. If she asked herself those two questions, she would realize that her nail wasn't worth the stress or turmoil, it was truly insignificant. If she was going to die tomorrow, she would have much more significant things to consider. If she is going to live forever, the nail grows back and she can get acrylic nails if she wants, it's simply no big deal. Those questions put happiness and money in perspective.

There are several axioms and sayings that speak well for someone in their 20's.

It is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.

It is better to try and fail than to fail to try.

The only thing to fear is fear itself.

Time waits for nobody,.

There are thousands and I may have misquoted them a bit, but the message is clear.

Life is a journey with an end. Along the way we set a lot of goals. Goals are good, but don't forget the journey along the way to reaching your goals. Look at a goal in life symbolically; You're going to travel from LA to NY by car. You drive 80 mph and stop only for gas, food and to sleep. You reached NY in two and a half days, wow, great, but what did you do. You keep making new goals and, leave NY the next day and drive the same way and reach each goal fast. What have you accomplished? After two years you crisscrossed the country churning out accomplished goals left and right. Then a friend comes along and says, "I am going to travel from LA to NY by car." She calls you two months late and exclaims, "I made it." You laugh and tell her she is an underachiever and how you did it in two and half days. She says, "Yeah, maybe you're right, but you know what? I visited the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, Monument Valley, the Mermac Caverns, the Great Lakes, visited some Native American Reservations and so on and so on. Oh, I met so many people and made a lot of friends along the way, and did you know..., and did you know...?" You stop to think when you're 70 years old. I accomplished so much, but why am I not happy? Your friend says, "Oh, I envy you for accomplishing so much. I only accomplished 1 goal for your every 20." But you notice how happy she is. The goals she accomplished were full and meaniful. Yours were many, but hollow and without meaning.

So set your goals in life, but make sure the journey is full and meaningful or the goal you reached may be hollow. Don't wait very long because you might die tomorrow, but plan well because you might just live forever (or at least a long, long time).

Answer 9

First, I would tell you to take care of your body. You want to live comfortably in it for the next ?? years. By 25 you should know what you want to do. If not remember that it is never too late to go to school. Relationships are important, but you should get yourself financially stable before getting into long term relationship. You will feel better about yourself in the long run, and usually successful people attract successful people. You must have good self image before you can attract the right people. Good luck and a happy life.

Answer 10

This might be really awkward coming from a 22 year old. But just try and find your passion, what makes you happy, don't care what everyone else thinks about you, and go and run in a field every once in a while or roll down a hill. Stay young :)