As I approach thirty, I look back at my late teens and early twenties, and it’s clear I made a lot of mistakes that caused me to waste time, money and energy pursuing the wrong things. What’s even worse, they very often led me to suffer unnecessarily. Avoid these pitfalls and you’ll drastically increase your chances of making the best use of your 20’s and stay on track towards a life of joy, purpose, and fulfillment.
Mistake #1: Always play it safe
Your early twenties are the perfect time to take calculated risks, as you do not yet have significant responsibilities or concerns. The key here is the word “calculated”: take those risks that offer big potential rewards with limited potential drawback. Don’t take those risks that have limited potential upside and great potential drawbacks: taking drugs, joining the wrong crews, dropping out of school to pursue some undefined “passion”. These are not calculated risks. They are just terrible decisions. Investing what little money you have instead of saving it or spending all is a calculated risk, going abroad for a few months is a calculated risk, starting a business is a calculated risk. Only you can know which risks to undertake, but do not get too comfortable and do not engage only in those endeavors that you deem as “safe”. It’s beyond smart risk where you’ll find significant growth, and very often, purpose. If you fail, it’s no big deal. That’s the point of this period of your life: to dare greatly, fail often, learn, and gain real experience.
Mistake #2: Isolate myself
When I first started reading about self-improvement, a crucial mistake I made was to fall for the “lone-wolf” trap. I rejected any and all opportunities for socialization so I could go to the gym, read finance books, and watch motivational YouTube videos. And of course I learnt a lot, but after a year of this I had no friends, a completely lonely life, and no social skills. At that point, I realized all the knowledge in the world means nothing if you have no one around you with whom to sharpen your intellect and ideas. Monk mode is a tempting concept, and it’s definitely wise to spend some time on your own, focused on your goals. But this needs to be alternated with periods of socialization, lest you make the same mistake I did and spend a year isolated, letting all your relationships decay in silence. It’s difficult to build your social skills back up after you have lost them.
Mistake #3: I fell for this one lie of the “dating” and “pick-up” sphere
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Simple Men to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.