Our 20s are a whirlwind of decisions, emotions, and events. We struggle with grades, try to find a job and have some fun. We move. We drift apart from old friends and make new ones.
Some of our friends are getting married early, some get really focused on their career, yet others travel the world or seem to change their major so often you lose track. Some of your friends move in with their partner and some never seem to keep a job.
Amongst all this mess your parents are lovingly nagging: “At your age I’ve already built a house and started our family.” No pressure at all mum.
It is the time we struggle with finding out what we want for ourselves, while feeling the pressure of meeting and/or disappointing expectations set by family, friends, and society.
The 20s are a-mazing! And many lessons can be learned. My sister and I sat down and wrote out our Top 15 Life Lessons we learned in our early 20s.
Lesson Nr. 1
Do not underestimate the water quality in Egypt. Our sensible European stomachs might not be able to handle the tap water. This might lead to extremely uncomfortable situations without any toilet in sight. Not that that ever happened to me mind you . Ps.: What I didn’t know, they of course use tap water to clean the salad and they often make soft drinks with tap water 
.
Lesson Nr. 2
Do not party too much during your first semester at college even though everyone else does. It seems that during your first semester there is an endless string of parties going on. I am not saying have no fun. But I know you want to do great, so just don’t overdo it. Get some friends, who like to study. Tip.: You will most likely meet them at the library! And once the second semester starts, you’ll see how many students had to drop out. Most often they are also the ones you saw partying all the time.
Lesson Nr. 3
Take extracurriculars. These days many people study. It’s pretty difficult to get a well-paid job these days. If you want to work in marketing for example – you compete with all the marketing, business, and design students. If you join a marketing club and design homepages for small companies in your spare time, you will have an advantage over your competition. Therefore, try to do some extracurriculars and internships, while you are a student.
Lesson Nr. 4
Work and study smart. I know you want to do your best. In order to do so you have to work smart. Regardless of whether we talk about work or university.
Most students study the material from top to bottom. This is fine if you start early enough and manage to finish all the material. But how likely is it that you studied absolutely everything?
The star in the following pics stands for the material that will be tested. Let’s say you study from top to bottom and manage to finish 80%. This means you didn’t study everything that will be tested in the exam.
Top to Bottom: Important First:
Rather than that focus on the material you think might be examined. Usually your prof will make comments, you’ll get some test exams, or you’ll just have to think like the one who designs the test. Also check out the 80/20 Rule.
The same goes for work there are only so many hours. First and foremost, focus on the important. What’s important for your boss? Which deadlines have to be met?
Lesson Nr. 5
Don’t try to find your purpose. I think trying to find your purpose is rubbish. There is not one thing you are meant to do all your life. How are you going to find it anyway? What you do with your life and what you focus on is a decision. In order to make that decision you need to try a lot of things. How else will you know what you might like or dislike. It doesn’t matter which work you’ll do there are always fun tasks and tasks that just need to get done. Explore while you are still young and have few responsibilities.
Lesson Nr. 6
Don’t live other people’s dreams. Your father always wanted to be a doctor and now you are studying to become just that. Does it really make you happy? Or might it be that you study medicine for your father’s approval?
Go really deep and think why you do what you do. Have you been influenced? Maybe? Despite that you love your job? Great! If not make a hard decision. It’s your life after all.
Lesson Nr. 7
Live alone for a while. You will learn a lot by being independent and on your own. Who would have guessed I can repair broken toilets and fix broken cabinets? When you are by yourself, you’ll be forced to do things outside of your comfort zone. You’ll make many new experiences. From paperwork to making new friends and fixing things. I can only recommend everyone to live on their own for a while.
Lesson Nr. 8
Start a side hustle while you still have the time. A side hustle will not only give you the comfort of security when you can’t find a job immediately: it also gives you the chance to learn about finances. I regret not having done anything on the side while I was still a student. When you have a 9 to 5 it is still possible, but your available time is a lot more restricted. Add in a family and it will be really tough. A side hustle can become your future job or help you in getting a job.
Lesson Nr. 9
Relationships trump grades. Once I had an interview at a company and they told me I got the job. A few days later they called and told me they had changed their mind. Someone else got the job. Later on, through the grapevine I learned that the job was given to the son of one of the managers.
Being able to build relationships is one of the most important skills in society. The more connected you are the easier you will have it.
Lesson Nr. 10
Be grateful for what you have. I am not saying don’t strive for more. I am saying each moment only comes once. Appreciate what you have at each step of your life. Your family, nature, the smell of freshly mown lawn, a calm morning before your family wakes, a hot cup of coffee after work. Enjoy the little moments and appreciate them. Aren’t those little moments the ones that make our life worth living for?
Lesson Nr. 11
Make international friends. They will give you a new perspective. Your community has a standard of beliefs and norms. If you meet people from abroad your beliefs get challenged. Maybe some of the things your culture has taught you weren’t as true as you believe? With international friends you’ll learn new things and grow.
Lesson Nr. 12
Don’t strive for perfect before you even start, or you might as well never start at all. Truth is you can always improve something. My high expectations and perfectionism have often held me back from starting something. Accept that in the beginning it might suck, it will definitely not be perfect, and it might fail. Do it anyways and improve on the way. Everyone sucks when they start.
Lesson Nr. 13
Don’t wait for something to happen. Be proactive. No one will knock on your door and ask if you want to go on a sponsored world travel. Well at least the chances are fairly low. Are you most of the time proactive or reactive?
Make a list of all your tasks and categorize them according to proactive and reactive.
The first hour of your day try to do something proactive. Take the initiative. E.g. approach clients.
Lesson Nr. 14
Make time for the important people in your life. You never know how long you will have them. Don’t postpone visiting your grandparents. Don’t skip your family parties. Don’t miss out on your kids achievements for work. Life happens. You think you have so much time and suddenly that person is gone forever.
Lesson Nr. 15
Set a good foundation. What we mean with that is: start early eliminating bad habits and establish productive and healthy routines. Someone who brushed their teeth starting at 3 will have better teeth than someone who started at 40. The sooner you start the better. Again, be proactive. And remember it is never too late to start a new habit or routine.
So, to sum it up our top 15 Life lessons are:
Do not underestimate the water quality in Egypt
Do not party too much during your first semester
Take extra curriculars
Work and study smart
Don’t try to find your purpose
Live your own life.
Live alone for a while
Start a side hustle while you still have the time
Relationships trump grades
Be grateful for what you have
Make international friends
Don’t strive for perfect before you even start
Don’t wait for something to happen.
Make time for the important people in your life
Set a good foundation
What are the life lessons you have learned so far? Let us know down in the comments?
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Love from Germany,
Julia and Carina
