What Actually Matters in Your 20s

I spent most of my early 20s convinced I was behind, behind on career milestones, behind on having my life figured out, behind on basically everything that social media told me I should have achieved by 25. But here's what I've learned after working across multiple organizations for over a decade and talking to hundreds of people, both mentors, head of departments, CEOs, about their biggest regrets and wins. And the thing we stress about in our 20s are rarely the things that actually matter. And the things that do matter, we barely think about. So in this video, I'm showing the six things that looking back, I've realized truly matter in your 20s, the foundations that will set you up for a life with no regrets. Number one, have a bias towards action. So many of us spend so long researching the perfect side business, the ideal workout routine, the best way to learn a new skill. We make detailed plans, create spreadsheets, watch all the YouTube videos and then do everything additional except starting. And this was a lot of my 20s. I'd always find a way to convince myself that I wasn't ready just yet, that I needed to learn just a bit more before taking action. And I still find myself falling into this trap a lot and talking my way out of things. I have to keep reminding myself and coming back to the core idea that is you don't learn by thinking about something. You learn by doing it and then getting better. And there is a point where you need to stop over planning and start putting the work into action. Your 20s and your 30s are the ideal time to develop a bias towards action because that is the ideal time to build these habits. And it's also the time where you have fewer responsibilities and more room to mess up. The cost of failure is lower but the learning potential is huge. If I could go back to my 20s, again my early 20s, I would remind myself to start before feeling ready. Take the imperfect action rather than waiting for the perfect plan. You can always adjust course along the way but you can't steer a ship that isn't moving. Number two, build your financial foundations. Your money decisions in your 20s might seem small but they're actually disproportionately powerful. The habits you build now will either work for you or against you over the next 40 years. But most people think they'll just figure out money later. But later never actually comes. You get busier, you have more responsibilities and suddenly you're 35, 45, 55 wondering why you haven't started. We spend two hours researching which restaurant to go to but we won't spend 20 minutes learning how retirement works even though that knowledge could be worth thousands and thousands in the future. It's honestly mind-blowing when you think about it. When you start learning about money in your 20s, understanding how compound interest works, figuring out the difference between bad debt, good debt or just getting clear on where your money goes each month, you're setting yourself up completely differently. I remember when I first understood compound interest properly it was like someone had just switched on a light. Suddenly I could see why starting early mattered so much. It's not about being perfect or having loads of money to start with, it's about building that foundation of knowledge so that when opportunities do come up or when life does throw one of its curveballs, you know exactly how to handle it. Every bit of financial knowledge you pick up now is an investment that pays dividends for decades. Number three, build relationships over networking. The people who opened up the most doors for me in my 20s and even now aren't the people that I networked with but the people who I had built a relationship with and it's quite funny because we hear during our career that we need to network and we think of that as just collecting a business card at a networking event or adding someone on LinkedIn but actually building genuine connections with people you actually like and respect is often where some of the best opportunities come from. So think about how to above and beyond the networking connect as humans first, maybe a shared interest, helping each other solve a problem or just a good conversation that sticks with both of you. Instead of thinking about what people can do for you, think about what you can also do for them. Share interesting articles, make helpful introductions, celebrate their wins with them. Be the kind of person that others genuinely want to see succeed because when opportunities do come up people don't think oh who do I know professionally. Very often they think who do I actually like and trust and that's the difference between networking and relationship building. Number four, design your life intentionally. I followed the classic blueprint, go to school, go to university, get a job because that's what you do, apply for jobs in finance and then continued on that path and I thought I was actively choosing my life decisions but really I was just following the default path and the milestones that society had laid out for me and the scary thing is the default path really isn't designed for your happiness, it's designed for other people's expectations and the truth is if you don't actively design your life someone else will design it for you. Your boss will design your schedule, social media will design your priorities, society will design your definition of success and actually a really good question to ask yourself to know if you've intentionally designed your life or if you're just living by default is asking yourself the question would I actively choose the life that I'm living right now? If I could start from scratch is this the path that I would carve out for myself? Your 20s are the perfect time to start getting intentional about this before you become too set in your ways or too comfortable with the wrong path. Be intentional about crafting your life in this decade about what you actually want before you become institutionalized and lose the voice that you have. By the way if you are watching this thinking I have no idea what life I want to design and whether I'm living the default life or not that is completely normal. Most of us don't just wake up knowing what we want to do and so I've created a completely free financial life design workshop where together we figure out what direction you want your life to go in and then how you can rewrite your money story in a way that moves you closer towards your life goals rather than further away from them. Most people spend money in a way that keeps them stuck in this default path but when you flip that and start using the money that you already have to design the life that you actually want everything changes. Again the workshop is completely free you can find out more information in the description below. Number five think of your career as a portfolio not a ladder. I used to think building a career meant climbing a ladder. One clear path one right direction. So I spent most of my 20s in banking working my way up only to get to the end of my 20s and realize that the ladder I've been climbing this entire time was leaning against the wrong wall. And now looking back I realized the mistake wasn't choosing the wrong path it was just staying on it for way too long out of fear out of habit out of wanting to not waste the years that I'd already put in. The modern career it isn't a straight line it's a portfolio it's about collecting experiences and building a mix of skills interests and lessons that compound over time even if they don't all fit neatly onto a cv. If I could do my 20s again I would spend way more time exploring trying different industries saying yes to more projects that looked interesting learning things just because they seemed cool rather than if it impacted my promotion or my status or my pay. The skills I picked up whilst I was in banking many of them I still use today just in ways I never expected and if I kept moving or doing something new as soon as I felt like my learning was stagnating I would have been able to accumulate even more skills and experience. So my point here is instead of asking is this my forever job ask yourself what am I learning here that I can use anywhere that one question makes sure that you are always learning and it turns every role even the ones you hate into a stepping stone. And number six enjoy the journey. There were moments in my 20s where I was so stressed about my career and trying to make the right move and get promoted as quickly as I can that I completely missed some really special times and I remember being away for a weekend with my family my immediate family my extended family and that entire weekend my mind was in overdrive because I was anxious if I was going to land the job that I interviewed for the Friday before and I kept checking my phone I kept checking my emails and spent the whole time in my head instead of just being present with my family and it ended up being the last trip with my granddad and I often look back on it wishing I wish I just enjoyed it more and actually was there in the moment. Your 20s even your 30s can feel like this constant state of once I get this job or once I figure out my career or once I have more money then I'll be happy but the truth is there's always going to be another goal another milestone another thing to worry about. I'm not saying don't have ambitions or goals those definitely matter but don't let the pursuit of your future happiness rob you of your present happiness. Some of the best moments in your 20s are the random Tuesday nights with friends or the spontaneous trips or the conversations that go on until 3am even though it means you have less sleep before work the next morning and that job that I was stressing about that weekend I got it but I ended up not even enjoying it that much and leaving the bank the next year but I can never get that weekend back. Your 20s aren't a dress rehearsal for your real life this is your real life so work on those goals but don't forget to actually live whilst you're doing it. Overall as I was recording this video I realized that the most important investment you can actually make in your 20s is becoming someone that you can truly rely on and take bets on so you may as well build the habits the skills the discipline the confidence to be that person for yourself. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this video it's a bit more of a life reflections video rather than a personal finance money video or a self-development video. If you enjoy these I've got another playlist right here where I have more of my life reflection type videos for you as well. Thanks so much for watching.