1. Travel

Whether you grew up in a big city or a small village, you have been stuck with certain ideas and attitudes. Traveling the world can open your eyes to new ways of thinking, being and help you broaden your horizons. Even if you have no-one else to go with, grabbing your backpack and going it alone will only encourage you to engage with local culture and people more.

2. Change your attitude to money

When you’re a kid, it can sometimes all be about flashing the cash, particularly if you’ve listened to too many rap songs. Money is not an aim in itself – learn that it’s something you need to live on, not something to make for the sake of it.

3. Find your own path

As teens, most people wanted desperately to fit in and be just like their friends. In your 20s, it’s time to learn who you really are, what you really want, and what is important to you. And that’s going to be something totally unique to you. Your 20s is really a time to start to get to know the real you ‒ and what life-path will fulfill you.

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4. Start to take care of your body

In your teens, your body will take a lot of abuse. Overindulging in junk, missing sleep, and not exercising won’t seem to affect your ability to bounce back and get on with life vigorously. As you enter your 20s you’ll notice that your body will start to really show its ingratitude for being treated badly. If you want to stay looking and feeling good, start treating your body right.

5. Tame your tech use

Do you seriously want to live in a virtual world, or would you prefer to actually engage with real people and live a real life? Social media may be fun for teens, but if you don’t ever tone it down, it can become an obsession that stops you from getting out there and having real adventures. Learn to limit your use of technology, so that you develop your interpersonal skills, meet real people and have real fun.

6. Forgive yourself and others for mistakes

Teenagers often have the attitude that if someone does something wrong, then they’re a bad person and should be begrudged forever, instead of realizing that there are often several sides to a story and many ways of looking at things. Learn to see mistakes as mere disagreements or setbacks, not reasons to judge and condemn – especially ones you make yourself.

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7. Distance yourself from drama

Some people like to cause drama for the sake of it. In the end, it’s really not worth getting involved in the mental stress of it. By all means, learn when your friends really need help and lend them a hand, but protect yourself from toxic people and situations – it’s a waste of your time and energy.

8. Slow down

There’s no reason why you can’t fill your life with exciting things in your 20s, but it will also add a greater quality to your life if you allow yourself to slow down and breathe. Learn to become grateful, mindful, and enjoy the little things.

9. Invest in self-improvement

Whether it’s learning something new, reading more, or investing in coaching sessions to help build your strengths and make yourself a better, wiser person, you’ll thank yourself later for taking your personal development seriously in your 20s.

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10. Know your values

By your 20s, you should have started to notice certain things about yourself – things that make you happy, people you admire. These things are all reflections of your true values. Make an effort to notice what really matters to you, so you can ensure you live your life in a way that adheres to your values. I guarantee you’ll be much happier if you do.

11. Find your true friends

As youngsters, we often hang out with people who are in the same class or neighborhood – and sometimes we do end up friends with these people for life. But in your 20s it’s important to find a group of people who really ‘get’ you and who you can always rely on. These ‘kindred spirits’ can support you on your life journey.

12. Don’t lose your ‘childishness’

By your 20s, you should be mature enough not to be having temper tantrums or whining if things don’t go your way; but there are some very special childlike qualities you should hang onto as you get older. Keep your sense of curiosity, adventure, and fun. Your whole life will be better if your keep these great traits.

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13. Learn to economize

It’s too easy in your 20s to not think about your 30s, 40s and beyond. Learn how to invest or save money so that you’ll never be struggling for cash at whatever grand old age you manage to reach.

14. Set goals

You don’t necessarily have to have a whole timeline of your life laid out: marking out when you want to get married, have kids, write a novel etc. But if you want to achieve anything important, it’s smart to start setting step-by-step goals of how you’ll get there. Otherwise, all these things may remain aimless dreams forever.

15. Sort out your ‘issues’

You could go through your whole life suffering from low self-esteem, fears, phobias, jealousy, anger and other unhelpful emotions. Your 20s is the perfect time to tackle these issues properly. You should be mature enough to do it at that age, and doing so will ensure you live the rest of your life free from unnecessary suffering.

Featured photo credit: WanderingtheWorld /Chris Ford via flickr.com