20 Tips for Surviving Your 20's ...

You need to set a budget for yourself, there just isn’t any way around it. Also be sure to keep it updated, making a budget once and never going back to make adjustments is the same thing as having never made one in the first place. If you are ever in your life going to make horrible financial choices it’s going to happen during the early years of adulthood. All I can say is, “Budget, budget, budget!” Maybe those bad financial choices will be less gruesome.

By far the best tip for your 20’s is to seek counseling. Do you have abandonment issues, daddy issues, or self-esteem problems? Or maybe something is wrong with you and you don’t even know what it is. The truth is, it is better to get to the root of those problems now before you carry your baggage into a marriage or pawn it off on your children.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and stand up for what you believe in. Go for that job you don’t believe you are qualified for or ask out that really hot stranger you keep seeing on the bus on the way to work. If you never take risks you will never know greatness.

Remember that pesky “Freshman 15” everyone kept talking about when you started college? Yeah, well do you think it gets any better when you start your awesome little desk job? Uh, no! Forget about the goodies in the office lunchroom; hit the gym or at least take a walk around the building. Whatever you do, don’t let your 20’s become an all you can eat lunch buffet. Those extra pounds don’t just melt off in your 30’s. No lie!

We all love Facebook. But take this tip for your 20’s to heart, know when to avoid Facebook. At all cost you should not attempt to update your status while drunk, depressed, after a break up, or while angry. Your passive aggressive post may feel brilliant in the moment, but later after your “Crying Game” is all over, you may feel like a complete loser.

Some of those friends you promised to stay with until the very end may not be there when life gets real. It’s not because they don’t love you anymore, but their life just got real too. Chances are you live in a different side of the country and you just grew apart. You know the old saying about how some people are placed in our lives for a reason, season, or lifetime? Many of your college and high school friends were only there for a reason or a season. Don’t feel hurt, it’s just life.

I didn’t just make that up. It’s a real thing. Wikipedia has a page on it. John Mayer wrote a song about it. One tip for your 20’s is to be ready for that quarter-life crisis. Sometime around 25 you are going to have a huge meltdown, and wonder what the hell you are doing. Don’t worry this too will pass. Britney Spears is a perfect example of a quarter-life crisis. She was 26 during her epic meltdown.

Share this tip for your 20’s with all your friends. That way you can all keep a watch out for each other. Drunk flirting is just as fatal as drunk Facebooking and drunk driving. You are going to say something totally degrading and humiliating if you drunk flirt. Trust me on this. Just remember friends don’t let friends drive, flirt or Facebook drunk.

Don’t be surprised if sometime in your 20’s your religious beliefs get tested. You may find yourself questioning everything you grew up believing. You may even find yourself exploring other beliefs. That is okay. It’s better to find your faith for yourself than to continue believing the same things you were forced to believe as a kid and not really know why. Eventually it will all fall into place.

Does this sound familiar? I know I said that a few times in my 20’s. The hard cold truth is life probably isn’t going to be all you had imagined. At some point you may find yourself eating your 10th bowl of Ramen Noodles for the week thinking that your goal was to be a big time designer in New York City sipping cocktails with Carrie Bradshaw by now. Don't give up those dreams. You just aren't there yet.

Need a career tip for your 20’s? I wish I could tell you that right after college graduation you will land your dream job and life will be smooth sailing from then on out, but that would be a huge fat lie. Instead you are going to have some of the worst jobs ever in your 20’s. You are going to do things for money you never would have thought to do as a teenager. Consider it a right of passage and a little character building for your 30’s. If nothing else, you will have some good stories to share.

Girl, you are going to fail. It is going to suck. You may fall so hard and right on your pretty little face, but everyone who has made it out alive will tell you this tip for your 20’s. It’s not about never failing. That’s a given. It’s about getting back up, learning, and going for it again with a new prospective.

Those skinny little things that are super beautiful and everything you ever wished you could be, are fake. They have a team of people that make them look the way they are. First a team comes in to dress them and do their makeup to perfection. Then a team works with the photographer creating perfect lighting and shadow. Finally another team comes back and edits the photos for even better results before putting them out for press. They are fake.

Trust me on this tip for your 20’s. The break outs aren’t over. To my dismay something magical doesn’t happen between 18 and 20 that tells your skin to clear up. No. Some girls may get lucky and have perfectly clear skin in their 20’s. I had relatively good skin as teenager, but horrible skin in my 20’s. My advice is to get a good skin care routine and keep at it. If you can't clear the breakouts maybe you can slow the wrinkles.

If you are naive enough to think your man is going to go through some sort a miraculous change after saying, “I do” then you are not ready for marriage. If you don’t fix those issues before the wedding they are not going to disappear after it. In fact, marriage may open your eyes to even more problems than you knew you had. I’m not saying don’t get married in your 20’s. Just don’t expect marriage to fix your relationship.

Babies don’t fix relationship problems either. That’s an awful lot of pressure to put on a child. Think about it, really. Would you expect a 5 year old to save her parents’ marriage from ending in divorce? I’m guessing not, so stop believing that having a baby is going to make him love you more or treat you better. Adding a baby to a bad relationship is only going to make the situation worse. Plus it's an unfair situation to bring a child into the middle of.

Don’t throw your values out the window to appease someone else. Your values are the things that make up a large part of the person you are. If you only take one tip for your 20’s let it be this one. No matter how hard you are pushed or how much you are challenged, don’t let someone come in and throw your beliefs and values away. Stay true to yourself.

With all the other crap going on in your life it is important to remember to give back. The thing about giving is that it really does feel good. Doing something nice for another person not only helps them out but it should give you a little mood boost too. Find something that moves you; help out at an animal or food shelter, visit kids in the hospital, or get involved with your church.

Even though things may not always go your way, you still have plenty to be thankful for. Always count your blessings. During the roughest times knowing the positives in your life may be exactly what you need to put things back into focus.

Don’t be fooled. The grass is not greener on the other side. Hollywood makes movies about this idea all the time. You think your best friend has it better than you and by some crazy hiccup, you and your best friend trade lives. However, you quickly realize that your best friend’s life is just as messed up as yours. What you admire about her life she yearns for from yours. Embrace what you have.

Life during your 20’s isn’t easy. That’s why it is so important to have these tips for your 20’s. Stop believing that your 20’s are only filled with heartache and failure. This isn’t true either. You are going to have some great life experiences in your 20’s. You will learn so much about who you are and what you want to be. You are still growing and maturing. Enjoy every moment of the adventure and learn from your mistakes. If you have already made it through your 20’s what are some tips for surviving your 20’s you have for others?

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