20 Things You Should Know Before Entering Your 20s

By learning , I mean learning new skills. Totally not related to studying. Before you turn 20 is the best time to acquire various other skills, since the stuff you learn during that age is hard to let go…no matter how old you get, they are bound to improve and make you a better person.

1. For example, earn any extra-curricular sport that you like. It can be an indoor game like Chess or table-tennis or outdoor ones like football, basketball or cricket. This can even become your alter-profession someday!
2. Learn a new musical instrument, guitar maybe. How cool would it be if you are able to play your favorite song right on the first day of your college?
3. Learn to ride a motorcycle or a car, and by the time you turn 18, get that license for yourself. It’s the best ever feeling, to know you have the right to drive, trust me!
4. Learn a new language, preferably foreign. This should help you to focus your career goals later on in your twenties.

On the up you must have to do before entering your 20s :)

Here are 10 things you should know:

1. You should know how to live independently. By this I mean being able to find your own accommodation, pay your own rent, buy and wash your own clothes, clean up after yourself, do your own shopping, change light bulbs, hang curtains, etc.
2. You should know how to find your way around. Being able to use a map or GPS, using the public transport system, finding your way to any address you need to be at, on time, being able to navigate yourself while driving, booking a flight or train ticket to a different city and being able to find your way around in a foreign place.
3. You should know how to earn and manage your own money. By this I mean being able to generate your own income by working, open a bank account, manage your own budget, handling a credit card without overextending yourself, understanding the cost of credit and the risks of debt, etc.
4. You should know how to do most things for yourself. This includes fixing something, applying for a job or passport, making important life decisions, planning a trip, driving a car, changing a tire, basic first aid, etc.
5. You should know how to find information, how to learn new things or acquire knowledge, how to find out things you don’t know yet. You should know how to read and what to read, how to do basic research into a topic and how to separate truth from propaganda.
6. You should know how to maintain yourself. This includes being able to look after your own health, cook your own (healthy) food, get yourself to bed on time, get yourself up on time, manage your own time and priorities, get the basics of personal hygiene right (shower or bath every day, brush your teeth, wash your hair, cut your nails), keeping fit, being presentable, dressing correctly for the occasion and for the day’s weather, etc.
7. You should know how to master your emotions, how to motivate or discipline yourself and how to handle disappointment or failure. You will need to learn how to overcome laziness, depression, anger, procrastination and selfishness.
8. You should know how to interact with people. You need to have mastered the necessary social skills required of adults. How to introduce yourself, talk to strangers, make conversation, ask someone on a date, speak in public, speak in meetings or interviews, interact with colleagues, friends or a boss. How to give sincere compliments. You need to be able to project some self-confidence and maturity. You need to know what is appropriate and not appropriate to say in certain situations.
9. You should know that you know very little, and you will still learn and change a lot after age 20. Your career choice might still change. Your perspectives and beliefs may still change. You personality can still grow and change.
10. You should know that life is amazing. There is so much more to life than what you have experienced so far. Life is not just about you and does not revolve around you. Look around, focus on other people, make a difference. And you should know that where you end up at age 40 depends a lot on the choices you make now, in the next few years.
11. The world is trying to keep you stupid. From bank fees to interest rates to miracle diets, people who are not educated are easier to get money from and easier to lead. Educate yourself as much as possible for wealth, independence, and happiness.
12. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. By the time they build the curriculum, it’s likely that the system is outdated– sometimes utterly broken.You both learn and get respect from people worth getting it from by leading and doing, not by following.
13. Read as much as you can. Learn to speed read with high retention. Emerson Spaartz taught me this while I was at a Sumit series event. If he reads 2–3 books a week.
14. Connect with everyone, all the time. Be genuine about it. Learn to find something you like in each person, and then speak to that thing.
15. Don’t waste time being shy. Shyness is the belief that your emotions should be the arbitrators of your decision making process when the opposite is actually true.

In short, totally do whatever you like doing, that can essentially make you a better person. Never keep your head sunk in books. You have your school/college for that. But I won’t stop you though, if literature is in your blood, go for it like I said before, books are the best tools you can sharpen your mind with.

But all this can sound too much…how can one do everything they like? Coz school! The answer to that is weekends, holidays or even the little time you get after school! Use it! Take advantage of the time you get and do something that you love!

Your twenties will be the best years of your life! :)

All the best!