What to Do in your 20s to Make your Life Better Later

Your 20s are a very important stage in your life.  There are things you can do to make your life better later.

##1 Change the way you speak

Many of us say many things that we do not know have an impact in our lives. Believe it or not, words are powerful.

Nearly everyone I know that said when they were in their 20s that they would die young , have indeed not lived into old age, or are challenged with some debilitating illness, very unfortunately.

You may think you did not mean what you said, but death and life are in the power of the tongue. It is much easier to speak life and lift your spirit, than to speak death and feel low. In order to speak right, and be positive, you need to discipline your mind. Think about what you are thinking about. Because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So mind your language!  

##2 Discover your purpose

There are people who are 80 and still don’t know why they were even born. Is life just about getting married, having kids, having a good education followed by a good job?

Everyone has a unique DNA. That is our unique code. It means we were created uniquely. Why? Because we have a unique purpose of why we are here.

You need to discover the real you. You need to find out why you came. That is the only way you can lead a purposeful life. Else you can spend 5 years at university, even getting a PhD, and finding you never enjoyed one more of it. Else you can find you are living someone else’s dreams or expectations. In the Bible, Jesus stated clearly why He came into the world.

We need to know why we are. Even if your parents told you that you were an accident, your existence is not. You need to reprogram that mindset and discover your purpose. Enlist a mentor and /or coach and get cracking on this vital step. There is a lot to say on this topic, but we will leave for another time.

##3 Set goals

Once you know your purpose, start outlining your goals. What are your short, medium and long term goals.

Someone said if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Don’t plan to fail in life. Don’t let life happen to you. You happen to life. Roll out of bed with a purpose. It will help you overcome sadness and even depression.

I recently had an earth shaking tragedy happen in our family. The one thing that kept me focused and helped me to keep keeping on, avoiding sadness and grief, apart from my faith, was my sense of purpose. Knowing why I was here. Knowing what I had to do with Defying Mental Illness. It kept me propelled. Kept me focused. Kept me from giving up when I could have crawled into bed and sleep away my life, because being awake meant realizing it was not a dream but a reality!

##4 Start saving

The borrower is a slave to the lender. In life, there will be many projects and events that will involve money!

I have shared this story before in & ways to avoid financial regret in old age. I wanted to buy a bag, and the guy I was dating at the time was telling me I already had several bags! That he said that, I was not impressed about! But that is not the story today. Anyway, an elderly lady overheard our conversation and told me to be cautious about my spending. She was once young and now regrets that she did not save her money. (Well, I was saving hard at the time…so I did not appreciate her well meaning comments so much). But she had a good point.

Your parents might help with buying your first car, give you a deposit for a house, and so on…but they are pretty much gonna expect you to stand on those two legs before too long. For one thing, I am sure you will not expect them to pay the mortgage, and if they bought the house outright, it still cost money to maintain and run it. So save now and gain the advantage.

I know a guy who started saving early. He just turned 30 and already has about 4 houses on his portfolio. Mortgaged of course, but he still needed money for the deposit, and so on, and to prove that he could afford the properties!

##5 Get on the housing ladder

Well that follows on from the point above. Never think you are too young to start. Start early and finish paying off the mortgage while you are still young enough.

If you bought a house at 25 and took out a 30 year mortgage, you are done by 55. Those years will go quickly. Think about it, you are 25 now, how quickly have those years gone since you were learning nursery rhymes? They say time flies quicker the older you get. If you are in a good job, don’t spend all the money on flash cars and designer clothes. Those will come later if that is your thing. Get in and not have to deal with landlords!

##6 Start a pension scheme

If you are in the UK, it is good advise to be on a private pension scheme. Don’t rely on your NI contributions to make your life comfortable in old age. Else, you may get to 70 and still having to work to buy the bills.

Now there is nothing wrong with working at 70. Where did retirement originate from anyway? But if you are planning on giving up work to do more interesting stuff like charity or something you have always dreamt off, ask your employer about if they offer pensions schemes. Or get into one. Don’t start thinking about it when you are 50!

##7 Read, read, read

Someone said leaders are readers. You want to lead, you want to win, you must have a ferocious appetite for reading.

OK, maybe not so hungry, but you gotta r-e-a-d. We are right in the swing of the Information age, and if you are not reading, boy, you going to be at some serious disadvantage. There is so much information out there. So much. But be choosy about what you read.

Someone said that where you will be in 5 years depends on the books you read. Are you just reading the tabloids and the gossip columns about who is fighting who?

Ask yourself how that will benefit you in 5 years? OK, lets be kind, how will that benefit you next week? No one will be talking about it even from tomorrow!

And besides, to know how to do most of what has been listed above, you are going to have to do some research…which involves reading!!!

What are you doing now that will help your future?  Share with us here or on any of our social media platforms like Twitter.

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About The Author

Zoe

Zoe met Eze (Chuck) in the 14th year of what turned out to be an 18 year ‘journey’ with mental illness. They got married less than a year of meeting with Zoe fully knowing Chuck had a diagnosis of mental illness. In the 18th year, Chuck defied the odds of mental illness. A consultant psychiatrist signed him off the mental health system with a bill of NO MENTAL ILLNESS. The consultant was so amazed by Chuck’s astonishing recovery that he even questioned how Chuck was diagnosed with mental illness all those years before, in the first place! Today Chuck is free from medication, its dependency and hospitalizations. Zoe’s award nominated book, DEFYING THE ODDS, chronicles the highs and ‘lows’ of this journey. Zoe, often writing from the standpoint of a caregiver, clearly understands that mental illness does not only affect an individual challenged with the disease, but also families, marriages and society as a whole.

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