Hey there! It’s been a while. I am wishing you a very big Happy New Year to each and everyone of you reading this post. I hope 2020 treated you well in spite of everything that happened. I also hope you all enjoyed the holidays and that this year is being good to you so far.
As some of you guys may know, the beginning of each year is a new age for me, which allows me to reflect on my personal development. Check out the 25 Lessons I learned Before Turning 25 blogpost I wrote last year for more inspirational posts. Some of the lessons I will be sharing with you in this post are things I may even still be working on myself, as it takes longer to master them. By reading this post, you will find some valuable advice to help you combat some of the challenges you come across in your mid twenties. So without further ado, here are a few life lessons I’ve learned in my mid twenties, that I would like to share with you as a way to for you to become your greatest version too.
1. LEARN TO EMBRACE YOUR FEARS
This can mean different things to different people. You can challenge yourself to do the things you’ve always been afraid to do. That’s always a great idea, but in this case, I’m also referring to embracing the person you are and being you regardless of anything that tries to stop you. Ignoring the little voices that shy you away from being your most authentic self. I’m referring to the anxieties you feel when you want to speak your mind and express yourself. That’s the fear of being judged and pulling yourself back just so you can keep hiding. It’s time to embrace it all even when in fear.
I’m a very shy person who tends to hide my personality from people to the point where I never show the other side of who I fully am.
I’ve lately started to regret some of the ways I interact with others because I go back home stressing on the fact that I could have said that one funny phrase that popped up in my head and end up replaying that thought in my head. What I have now realized is that there’s a difference between being shy and reluctant to do something, and being shy but wanting to express yourself in the moment. I could have simply been myself and acknowledged the fact that it was something out of my comfort zone. This is tough to work on in the moment, but keep working on it and you will be just fine. It’s okay to mess up while learning the process of showing who you are.
I’ve basically had to do this to grow my social media platform and for the person I am, it’s been very hard. I started drafting this blogpost at the end of October (31) where I was at such a constant audience growth (1749 followers). As soon as I started to challenge my fears and began sharing some exciting experiences with the world, I became more confident and started to grow. A small milestone, but I’m happy to announce that my audience have slightly gone up since then. Socially engaging with people has always been an issue with me, but I was so ready to just leave that behind as I got older, especially when I turned 25. It’s been an interesting journey so far and there’s absolutely no turning back because I love it here.
2. STOP SEEKING VALIDATION FROM OTHERS
I truly believe that not being confident is one of the things that tricks people into seeking validation from others. It helps to know whether they are on the right track or impressing someone enough. When you are confident in making your own decisions, you won’t need anyone to confirm that for you. Work on trusting the decision you make in your own life.
3. STOP GIVING PEOPLE SO MANY CHANCES
Trust me when I say this – they will take that opportunity to walk all over you and hurt you in the process. Stop giving people the benefit of the doubt so many times. They know what they are doing. They know the number of times they have apologized for the same thing they keep doing over and over again. But guess what, they know you will forgive them and go right back to their old ways.
Make sure you create some boundaries to avoid people from walking over you and treating you anyhow they want. It is so important to make your boundaries clear in the beginning of all types of relationships.
Related: 20 Valuable Lessons to Learn In Your Mid 20’s (Part 2)
4. KNOW YOUR WORTH
In addition to creating boundaries, get rid of people who add nothing to your life. Keeping toxic people around you creates nothing but negativity and self doubt. It’s better to have a lesser number of friends than many of those who are never there for you in terms on needs. Get a friend that reciprocates the love and care you share with them. Create a circle of friends who you can celebrate and also cry with; friends who share similar humane values and give you the chance to be yourself.
I recently came across a fabulous Youtuber named Breeny Lee and in her own words she stated that “people do to you what you allow them to do, and they treat you how you treat yourself.”
I can’t stress on how true that is. I have opened my heart several times to so many people who never cared as much in return. Do not lower your standards for the sake of empathy for those who truly never cared about you. They rather took advantage of your kindness. So don’t hurt yourself for other people’s happiness.
A few months before I turned 26, I finally decided that I will no longer cry about old friends who have hurt me in the past. When you have given so many chances and heard too many apologies from people who have done you wrong, you need to learn to realize that you deserve better and that they repeat their mistakes because of how often they took you for granted. You need to toughen up before it’s too late.
5. CREATE EFFECTIVE BOUNDARIES
I’ve stated it and I will state it again-create a healthy boundary for yourself. Referencing back to Breeny Lee, not having any sense on boundary in your life is all in reference to fear. You may be scared or anxious about how people will react to you having your own limits, but you have to be confident enough to not care so much about what others think about your life. Be you and be a good person. Having standards won’t hurt you, but not having standards can.
6. LEARN TO ENJOY YOUR OWN COMPANY
Now, I have to be honest, this can be pretty tough. I personally enjoy being out with friends and family, but there’s one thing I prefer doing alone, and that’s shopping. If it’s not shopping, I’m usually exploring with another person, but that gets tougher as people get busier the older we get. In that case, it’s important to still learn to enjoy the little things by yourself. This includes examples such as going to the theater, eating lunch, or even going to a concert. I understand there are certain things that are extremely boring without friends, but try a few adventures alone to test it out so you don’t have to wait on anyone to enjoy life. I’m so interested in doing this to the point where I can travel solo one day!!
7. BE CONFIDENT IN YOURSELF
I am in the process of learning not only how to speak and act more confidently, but also to physically learn how to stand and sit up straight. These are both tiny and big steps that can make a huge difference in the way you feel about yourself, and how people view you. Start working on all the skills you need to improve on to gain full confidence.
8. BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN LIFE
It’s clear that we all are victims of something that happened to us which has affected our lives while growing up. It’s very easy to fall into that cycle of blaming the cause of it all, but I assure you this, working on yourself and moving forward will make you happier in the end. Nothing feels better than being in charge of your life and combatting the fear and the pain of whatever happened to you. The sadness may always be there, but once you’ve overcome that mindset of feeling like you’re unable to do something because of your past, you will immediately start noticing a difference in how far you have come. Hang in there, you got this.
9. WORK HARD, BUT SMART
I have a full time job and I also blog. This comes along with having many social media platforms to help me become successful at blogging. I have worked so hard to come this far, and I am forever proud of myself. However, I didn’t think of how much rest I needed until got completely got burnt out. That made me realized that it’s very important to get some rest and to work smart for all my hard work. By thinking of working smart, I am looking at ways I can still stay consistent on my platform by breaking down one project into multiple parts, rather than creating different projects for each blogpost. You will have to find what works best for you in this case, but don’t work so hard with no backup.
Working hard but not smart is also an interesting lesson that I have learned in the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” It’s very important to invest in something while working hard to achieve your goals.
10. SAVE MONEY
If you haven’t already started, your mid-twenties is a great time for you to look into saving some money for a rainy day. I’m pretty sure you didn’t hear this from here first. So many people suggest this because life can come at us unexpectedly and it’s very important to have something saved so you don’t end up helpless or in debt in case of emergencies.
Keep an eye out on part two on the valuable lessons to learn in your mid twenties.
GET A SIMILAR LOOK
Thank you so much for reading the first part of this blogpost. I hope you enjoyed my list of valuable lessons to learn in your mid twenties. Keep an eye out for part two coming up very soon. Until then, I hope you liked this reading and my whole look.
Check out the 25 Lessons I learned Before Turning 25 blogpost.
Check out more lessons and advice blogposts here.
Make sure to check out my shop menu or follow my LiketoKnowit page for more Fall/Winter inspo. Follow me on pinterest and Subscribe for more posts!
