Last updated on December 28th, 2022 at 09:26 am
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I truly believe the personal growth in your 20s is one of a kind.
Your 20s are the start of your real adulthood life. You’ve likely graduated school and are trying to figure out your career path.
Being in your 20s is strange. There’s such a variety.
So much seemingly happens in these 10 years.
You, along with at least a few people around you have done at least one of the following…
- Left their hometown
- Moved back in with their parents (or at least moved places)
- Got married
- Have kids
- Changed jobs multiple times
You experience so much personal growth in your 20s.
I’m not sure if this topic is nearly talked about enough so I wanted to dedicate a blog post to this subject.
What Being a Twenty-Something Year Old Feels Like
I remember once seeing a GIF on Tumblr (yes, Tumblr was a popular social media platform back when I was in high school) where it was a picture of two pandas tumbling around.
Although I’ve seen countless GIFs throughout the years, this one was extremely memorable. Not because of the picture itself but because of what people wrote underneath.
It basically said that when you were younger, you used to think people in their twenties were adults and have life figured out.
As an actual twenty-something-year-old, you’ll realize most of us are fumbling through life. Just like the pandas.
Okay, I know I’m not a young adult anymore (I’m 26 years old already, my goodness) but you get the point.
When you were younger, you have these hopes and dreams of what being a real adult is like.
Reality hits very differently.
For example, school is all you’ve ever known for more than half your life.
But now it’s all about work.
You’re thrusted into the real world where you’re going to countless job interviews trying to find your first real job.
All of a sudden, the wheels are turned and you’re supposed to adapt to this whole different lifestyle.
Hopefully, you have some experience with summer jobs or internships/co-ops but it still doesn’t 100% prepare you for a full-time job.
It’s like walking down the road with your eyes closed. Your hands are out trying to find out if that’s the right direction.
That’s what being in your twenties feels like.
A Race Against Time
As you get closer to your mid to late 20s, it’s even weirder. You’re still young-ish but you’re not THAT young anymore.
You and your friends will have many conversations about how there’s pressure trying to figure life out. What the next steps are.
There’s also certainly a lot of pressure about checking most things off your bucket list.
People tend to use 30 years old as a standard to do ‘adult’ things.
I’ll get married at 30.
Or
I’ll buy a house at 30.
Or
I’ll have kids at 30.
Is it because 30 sounds old to those who are younger? Is it because the number in the front changed from a 2 to a 3?
Being a part of this decade is being confused and overwhelmed. You and your friends are all trying to figure it out.
It all feels like we are racing against time.
As someone who’s inching towards her late twenties, I admit there are times when I’m internally freaking out.
I hear my friends tell me about how our old classmates are getting married or having kids.
The title of being a wife and/or mom certainly contributes to huge personal growth in your 20s.
And although I know I’m far from those steps, a part of me still can’t believe that I’m already at that age where it’s getting more common.
There are moments when I still feel like that tumbling panda from that GIF in life.
Personal Growth in Your 20s
If you think about it, being a twenty-something-year-old is only the beginning of your life.
Society might wire us about the fact that we must accomplish most things by 30.
But it’s not true at all.
It’s important to remind yourself that your life doesn’t magically end when you reach the big 3-0. There’s still a lot that can happen after that age.
If you have trouble convincing yourself, go to a women’s magazine website (like this Cosmopolitan article). These types of articles talk about advice older women would give to younger women.
You read enough of them and they seem to say the same thing over and over again in different words.
Some of your best years happen when you’re way past your twenties.
How to Achieve Personal Growth in Your 20s
Rather than focus on all the things you HAVE to get done, improve yourself.
Create a solid foundation for good habits such as cutting out unnecessary expenses, implementing a self-care routine, and not drinking alcohol all the time.
Build these habits now so you can have a brighter future (sorry, I know this sounds extremely cheesy).
It’s easier to change your habits now rather than later. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to change your habits because you’ve been doing them for so long.
Also, step out of your comfort zone. Do things you’ve always wanted to do. Try new things.
Get to know yourself better.
Your 20s are a time when you (hopefully) have less to worry about. There’s probably only more stress as you get older.
At the same time, don’t feel like you have to achieve every single milestone within this decade.
Please don’t forget that there isn’t a ten-year deadline. It’s not being imposed on you, you’re imposing this on yourself.
This is something I’m constantly reminding myself when I hear another friend or old schoolmate is experiencing another life change.
Your life journey might look a lot different than someone else’s but that’s okay. Comparing yourself to them will only make you feel bad about yourself.
Some people do experience some life changes earlier than others.
It could mean that your time just isn’t here yet.
Or it’s not something for you.
Fear of Getting Older
On top of feeling like there is a ticking countdown to when we turn 30, a part of the reason is also a fear of getting older.
Society idealizes youth. People chase after a successful life in their youth so they can retire earlier.
Once you’re in your thirties, you can no longer call yourself young.
If you think about it, the time when we’re young is very short.
There’s nothing we can do to control that.
Even though you might be worried about aging, it’s a natural process that can’t be stopped. (You can LOOK younger though. By having a good skincare routine.)
Instead of letting the fear of getting older get to you, embrace getting older.
Some of us might even feel like we should do certain things because we don’t want to have regrets in the future.
Here’s something I learned – your future self might not agree with the decisions you are making now but there’s no way of knowing.
You will fumble around (like those pandas in the Tumblr GIF) but that’s a way of learning.
You have no idea what life has in store for you in the future – the good and the bad.
It can be scary to think about but it’s also a part of the beauty. We all don’t really know about the future so we can only focus on the now.
Final Thoughts – Personal Growth in Your 20s
Your 20s can be unstable because there are so many moving parts you’re trying to figure out.
Although it can be too much, remember to focus on achieving personal growth in your 20s like creating good habits and finding out your likes and dislikes.
Your life doesn’t end at 29 years old so there’s no need to rush to tick everything off your bucket list.
There’s no firm deadline. We might all know this deep down but we need to remind ourselves from time to time.
But there’s one thing for sure: you’re going to experience a lot of personal growth in your 20s and learn many life lessons along the way.
Now to You – Personal Growth in Your 20s
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Xoxo,
Nicole
P. S. This personal development blog post took me a while to write because it was hard to put my thoughts into words. Although it’s not my longest one, it’s one I can deeply relate to. At one point, this was the only thing I could think about.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!