10 Things You’ll Regret Not Doing in Your 20s

Sarah Abraham, TIR: Teenage years are of angst and rebellion. Twenties are when you have the freedom to dabble and find out just what parts of that rebelliousness come from deep-rooted beliefs that you might hold on to for the rest of your life, and what part of it is just a reaction to rules that you don’t want to follow simply because they are rules. It’s also the time when you can have fun. 

Every age comes with advantages, but in your twenties, you have that rare balance of responsibility, daring and for most of us, metabolism and health that we really will miss later.

So here are ten things you must do before you find out that it might be too late to do them.

1. Travel alone.

This is the time when you are responsible enough to take care of yourself, confident enough to be able to make friends and stable enough to be able to afford a few trips. Travel alone; you’ll find a lot of things – the best of which might be how much you like yourself.

2. Volunteer.

A large number of people in their 20s don’t have financial worries apart from rent and groceries. This is the time when you don’t have to go for a paycheque that will pay loans or must stretch to pay school fees. Take a pay cut and volunteer. You must have spent a lot of time being a Facebook warrior. Now is the time to do something about it.

Do not spend more than three years from 20 to 30 like this. Get up, join a clean the city drive.

3. Go for night or evening classes

Not to give yourself improved career prospects, though that might be a welcome side effect of it – but to give yourself a skill you want, purely for yourself. It might be learning Spanish, or salsa, or to play the guitar, or the nuances of local cuisine wherever you might be. It doesn’t matter. Learn something you want to know, only for yourself.

Learning to play the tuba will probably not get you laid or a job. Do it anyway. Pic credit: Thomash

4. Step outside your comfort zone.

It might be simply to go for a musical when you’re not sure if you like theatre, joining a book club where you don’t know anybody, joining a group of fellow-foodies and going for the group meetings. Step outside your comfort zone and meet people. You won’t like some, sure, dealing with people you don’t like is a skill you will need later, and you will also meet people who will become friends.

5. Go for movies or plays or a fancy meal at a restaurant or even a shopping trip by yourself.

It’s amazing how many people have never done these simple things while enjoying their own company. To be a good friend, or a good partner in a relationship, you do have to be able to enjoy your own company and be a person you can like. Unless you can learn to enjoy at least a certain amount of alone time, any relationship will become a prop for you to avoid being alone.

No, you’re not a tree. Point is, alone is not equal to lonely. and you’ve got to learn it now. Pic courtesy: G Fordham

6. Start saving.

This is a sensible piece of advice, because twenties is the time when you should also start to be sensible. You don’t have to save a lot, and you are also perfectly entitled to have fun. But find that balance: the moment your cheque is credited, put some aside as savings, because then the rest is for you to spend either sensibly or recklessly – the sweet part is that you can spend it all recklessly if you like, as long as you understand and welcome the consequences.

When you get you cheque, first RD, then jet ski.

7. Wear whatever you like.

Don’t try to fit into fads, and don’t stop yourself from wearing something because you think you’re too fat. It doesn’t matter. For most people in their twenties, it’s the time when you’re glowing with good health, good skin and the good looks that come with youth. Learn to be confident in yourself when you’re looking your very best and that confidence will stay with you to help you age gracefully a couple of decades later. Wear that bright green t-shirt and those yellow shorts if you like – you will look back and kick yourself for being too insecure to do so if you don’t.

Wear this if you like, or the opposite of this, if that’s your thing. Just don’t wear anything because of insecurity.

8. Explore food, and learn to cook.

Teenagers live on either home food or fast food, but now you can afford to find your signature flavours, discover that deep-fried does not automatically mean tasty, and that cabbage can also be delicious. Your metabolism in your twenties still means that you can get away with eating a lot of stuff you won’t be able to without real consequences later. Use the time wisely to begin to develop better food habits, and discover that salads can also be made yummy.

Turning this to deliciousness is a key life skill to learn before your life depends on it. Pic courtesy: Mei Teng

9. Give everything a chance.

Have you always turned your nose up at independent and art house cinema? Watch a couple of such films. Never liked classical music? Listen to some. Read popular authors as well as obscure ones. You might know some of what you like in your 20s, but there is so much out there that you might fall in love with. Give it all a chance to impress you, and keep an open mind.

10. Expand your sources of knowledge.

There’re two parts of this: First, spend as much time with the elders of your family as you can. If you still have them in your life, you are lucky. Learn from them; listen to their stories, their jokes. They will teach you more about the past than you will learn from books. Second, reach beyond mainstream media for your news. There are many things happening around the world, and mainstream media should never be your only source. Learn more, meet people who know more, and never stop exploring. But make sure you start exploring in your 20s.

He could teach you a lot, including how to get the most out of your 20s. Pic courtesy: redvisualg

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