If you’re currently in your late teens or your twenties, make the most of it – you may well have more freedom now than you’ll ever have in your life! It may not feel that way at times (especially when money is tight), but I wanted to give you three thoughts on why this is a great age to be:
You’re young in the eyes of the world
Some of the older people who I hugely respect will remind me (nicely!) from time to time that I’m still pretty young. When I’m bewailing my lack of novelistic success to my writing mentor, he points out that most novelists weren’t published writers at the age of twenty-three – and I realise I’ve done well to have a few short stories out there.
If you’re somewhere around 18-30, people will expect you to make mistakes, and won’t expect you to meet the same standards as someone older. It’s a great time to do things like starting your own business; older folk like to see spunky young people succeed, and they’ll often be more than willing to do you a few favours to help you get started.
(To build up business skills, and to get a bit of cash too, you might want to check out Student Gems; I wrote a review of the site recently. The employers there will know that you’re a student and just getting started, so they won’t expect an unreasonable amount from you. That’s not to say, of course, that you shouldn’t do your utmost to deliver a professional piece of work.)
You can get yourself sorted out before life really gets going
I was chatting to the wonderful Tim Brownson a couple of weeks ago, and he suggested that whilst I might not have the same sorts of hassles in life that some of his coaching clients face, I’m at a great age to build habits that’ll see me in good stead through rocky patches.
I’d never quite thought about it like that before, but he’s absolutely right. Your teens and twenties are great years to work on yourself – to build a framework for your life that’ll help you make the most of not just your time at uni but your time on this planet!
That’s all very well in theory, what does it look like in practice? It might mean:
- Solving your procrastination problem once and for all.
- Working through an issue in your past that’s been holding you back.
- Getting your body to a healthy weight, and getting yourself fit.
- Starting a savings account and putting money into it regularly.
- Learning about yourself so that you know what career you want to go into.
As you can see from that list, getting some of those sorted out now could well save you a lot of time and aggro in the future.
You can decide to do pretty much anything you want
Want to drop out of uni and travel the world? Want to start your own business? Want to eat only raw food? Want to change your religion? Want to write a novel? There are an awful lot of possibilities open to you at the moment: you probably don’t have kids, a mortgage, a menagerie of pets, a career…
If there’s something you think “I’d love to do that one day” about, is there some way you can make it a reality this year? Some goals do require money, but others – including travelling the world – can be done on a shoestring.
Don’t limit your possibilities. There’ll never be a perfect time to chase your dreams, so why not go for them while you’re young?
Are you in your teens/twenties? How’re you making the most of it? If you’re older, what advice can you offer to us – or what do you wish you’d done while you were younger?
9 comments:
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I couldn’t agree more. I actually just wrote a bit about this before I read this article. I’m freaking out a little bit that I’m turning 20 and still haven’t accomplished anything worth writing home about.
But I took some time to think about it and realised that it doesn’t matter yet. I’m still young and have plenty of time to figure out what I want to do, to try new stuff and work out exactly what I want to do.
I saw this quote on a forum that I think sums up brilliantly how young people and students should look at their life:
“Go out, get drunk, get laid, study when its called for, and find your passion through living life. Then you chase it with everything you’ve got.”
Great quote, Andrew, thanks!
And yes, 20 is really pretty young (I know it doesn’t feel that way) — the best thing you can do at the moment is figure out what you want the rest of your life to be about. Sounds like you’re doing all the right things.
Good luck finding, and following, your passions.
Hey Ali,
great post and so true. I just turned 27 and in some ways I’m still a kid. (Like I refuse to take out the garbage, my husband should do that!) But I’m really glad with the way life and studies have worked out so far. I switched around my subjects until I was super happy with the combination.
I took time off and travelled and met amazing people from all over the world, which in turn enabled me to travel even more for less money. Then I got married and had my daughter. She’s turning two years old soon.
All the moms in the birth-prep-course were 5 to 10 years older than me. By time I’m their age I hope I’ll have 5 more kids ;-). It’s so fantastic, when you fill your life with a lot of living.
And sometimes I wonder if you ever feel old if you keep getting the most out of life. It might be a nice goal to always feel young compared to the amount of things you have accomplished and to the adventures you have experienced.
Hey Elli,
I think you might be right about staying young at heart — I’ve heard a it said that “you’re as old as you feel”. And I know some fantastic people in their 70s and 80s who are still out there, travelling, enjoying life to the full!
Five more kids — wow! I can see you’re gonna make the most of being a mum.
Thanks for sharing your travelling experiences — the more stories I hear from those who’ve travelled, the more determined I am to actually find the time and money after my post-grad degree to do some travelling myself.
Hi Ali
Many thanks for mentioning studentgems again. It is very interesting to read all the views about age. I was married at 22, pros and cons to both. Let’s say I am encouraging my children to play hard and work hard. Having said that I wouldn’t want to be married to anyone else!
Hope the MA studies are going really well.
Joanna
Thanks Joanna: I’m enjoying Student Gems so more than glad to mention it (I’ve not actually applied for any jobs through the site yet because I’ve got a full workload at the moment, but I’m keeping an eye out for anything that really grabs me.)
Getting married is a whole experience in itself (a few years down the line yet for me…), getting married young sounds like a great way to make the most of being in love
The MA is going brilliantly, thanks, I’ve started on a new novel for the first time in a couple of years, which is very exciting! I’m trying to follow my own advice on the “making the most” of these years…
I’m 25 and I feel 50 years old, I guess.
Reading your article, while I do relate and agree with some points, most of it wouldn’t apply to me at all. Although I’m still on my twenties, not married nor with kids, I have a responsibility with my family first and foremost. My mother is reaching her eighties soon and both my brothers won’t look after her — their either too busy with themselves or still depend way too much on her. I’m not even being bitter, it’s a reality. To just leave it all and go travel the world, for example, is indeed impossible right now,not only because of my responsibilities but financially too.
I know that you can’t write an article about every type of situation, I’d just like to put this message here because I know I’m not alone, there are a good lot of people in similar situation. For you guys: Don’t feel bad, you are doing your part. Just don’t let all these make you older at heart, like me. That way you can be 50 years old and travel the world without feeling any less younger than 25.