“Life is about doing things that matter first, not last.”
So you are in your 20s, whether that is 20 or 29, you are classified as a 20 something. Most likely a millennial. This is an extremely powerful time full of transitions, choices, and relationships. Here are five steps to help you navigate the wild ride of your 20’s…
- Focus on the day-to-day. If any of you out there are like me, you tend to think about what the NEXT step is, rather than reflect and appreciate where you are. It is so important to not immediately jump to the next thing you need to achieve, but rather engage and process your successes.
- Make Mental Health a PRIORITY. As we get older, we start to become more aware of everything around us. Our brains naturally mature and allow us to focus on things outside of ourselves (YIPPEE, for getting past those self-centered teen years). We tend to focus on our job, our friends, our relationship, our parents, our pets, what we are doing this weekend, next month, or next year. Instead of only living like this, take time EACH DAY (even if it is just one minute) to reflect on how you are FEELING and to be MINDFUL. Sit in those feelings and allow them to soak. If your daily feeling check is resulting in “negative” feelings; depression, anxiety, frustration, stress, sadness, anger, etc, consider taking a more active step to help yourself NOW. Try researching tips (you’re already doing great because you are here), look for a counselor to start with (peep contact me for more info), open up to your family and friends about what you are dealing with. Your mental health is IMPORTANT, so make it a priority.
- Reflect & Record. Take time to reflect about where you are on your journey. What are you proud of? What do you wish you had handled differently? What are you focusing on today? I ALWAYS suggest to my clients to start journaling (even though I am very inconsistent with it myself, hey we are all humans here). Journaling is a great way to bring forth and externalize your inner experiences. A lot of the time we need to process our experiences, emotions, and thoughts outside of our mind to fully understand their impact.
- Take a Breath. Life moves fast, I still feel like a 16-year-old most of the time worried I am going to miss curfew! It is OKAY to not have it figured out by now. It is OKAY to change your path. It is OKAY to try something new. Remind yourself to take a deep breath and relax because you’ve got this.
- Set Goals. Whether you set goals daily, weekly, monthly, yearly; it doesn’t matter (although I suggest monthly or bi-yearly). As long as you are identifying WHAT you are working towards and HOW you are going to get there you are allowing yourself to manifest those goals and are much more likely to make them happen. Write down your goals, get cha self a really cool notebook or just slap em in your iphone notes, whatever works for you. This isn’t an exact statistic, but I swear I saw it somewhere… we are 3x more likely to do something if we write it down. 3X!
As you move along in life remember to take a breath, focus on the day-to-day, make mental health a priority, reflect & record, and set goals. These five steps WILL help make you a more successful, mindful, and happy 20 something. If you are going through this list and it feels daunting or overwhelming, start with ONE item. Adjust these suggestions so they work for you because we are all individuals and unique; we work in different ways.
Finally, if you are EVER feeling you need someone to talk to, reflect with, rely on, open up to, share in your discomfort, ANYTHING, please reach out to me and we’ll get you set up with a FREE 15-minute phone consultation for counseling or coaching sessions with me!