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I spent most of my early 20s convinced I
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was behind. Behind on career milestones,
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behind on having my life figured out,
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behind on basically everything that
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social media told me I should have
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achieved by 25. But here's what I've
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learned after working across multiple
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organizations for over a decade and
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talking to hundreds of people, both
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mentors, head of departments, CEOs,
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about their biggest regrets and wins.
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And the thing we stress about in our 20s
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are rarely the things that actually
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matter. And the things that do matter,
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we barely think about. So, in this
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video, I'm sharing the six things that
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looking back, I've realized truly matter
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in your 20ies, the foundations that will
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set you up for a life with no regrets.
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Number one, have a bias towards action.
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So many of us spend so long researching
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the perfect side business, the ideal
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workout routine, the best way to learn a
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new skill. We make detailed plans,
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create spreadsheets, watch all the
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YouTube videos, and then do everything
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additional except starting. And this was
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a lot of my 20ies. I'd always find a way
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to convince myself that I wasn't ready
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just yet, that I needed to learn just a
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bit more before taking action. And I
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still find myself falling into this trap
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a lot and talking my way out of things.
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I have to keep reminding myself and
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coming back to the core idea that is you
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don't learn by thinking about something.
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You learn by doing it and then getting
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better. And there is a point where you
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need to stop overplanning and start
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putting the work into action. Your 20s
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and your 30s are the ideal time to
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develop a bias towards action because
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that is the ideal time to build these
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habits and it's also the time where you
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have fewer responsibilities and more
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room to mess up. The cost of failure is
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lower but the learning potential is
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huge. If I could go back to my 20s
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again, my early 20s, I would remind
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myself to start before feeling ready.
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Take the imperfect action rather than
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waiting for the perfect plan. You can
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always adjust course along the way, but
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you can't steer a ship that isn't
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moving. Number two, build your financial
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foundations. Your money decisions in
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your 20s might seem small, but they're
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actually disproportionately powerful.
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The habits you build now will either
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work for you or against you over the
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next 40 years. But most people think
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they'll just figure out money later. But
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later never actually comes. You get
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busier, you have more responsibilities,
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and suddenly you're 35, 45, 55 wondering
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why you haven't started. We spend 2
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hours researching which restaurant to go
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to, but we won't spend 20 minutes
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learning how retirement works, even
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though that knowledge could be worth
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thousands and thousands in the future.
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It's honestly mind-blowing when you
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think about it. When you start learning
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about money in your 20s, understanding
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how compound interest works, figuring
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out the difference between bad debt,
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good debt, or just getting clear on
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where your money goes each month, you're
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setting yourself up completely
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differently. I remember when I first
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understood compound interest properly,
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it was like someone had just switched on
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a light. Suddenly, I could see why
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starting early mattered so much. It's
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not about being perfect or having loads
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of money to start with. It's about
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building that foundation of knowledge so
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that when opportunities do come up or
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when life does throw one of its curve
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balls, you know exactly how to handle
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it. Every bit of financial knowledge you
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pick up now is an investment that pays
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dividends for decades. Number three,
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build relationships over networking. The
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people who opened up the most doors for
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me in my 20s and even now aren't the
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people that Iworked with, but the people
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who I had built a relationship with. And
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it's quite funny because we hear during
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our career that we need to network and
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we think of that as just collecting a
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business card at a networking event or
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adding someone on LinkedIn. But actually
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building genuine connections with people
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you actually like and respect is often
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where some of the best opportunities
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come from. So think about how to above
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and beyond the networking connect as
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humans first. Maybe a shared interest,
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helping each other solve a problem or
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just a good conversation that sticks
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with both of you. Instead of thinking
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about what people can do for you, think
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about what you can also do for them.
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Share interesting articles, make helpful
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introductions, celebrate their wins with
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them. Be the kind of person that others
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genuinely want to see succeed because
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when opportunities do come up, people
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don't think, oh, who do I know
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professionally? Very often they think,
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who do I actually like and trust? And
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that's the difference between networking
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and relationship building. Number four,
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design your life intentionally. I
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followed the classic blueprint. go to
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school, go to university, get a job
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because that's what you do. Applied for
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jobs in finance and then continued on
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that path. And I thought I was actively
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choosing my life decisions, but really I
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was just following the default path and
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the milestones that society had laid out
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for me. And the scary thing is the
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default path really isn't designed for
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your happiness. It's designed for other
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people's expectations. And the truth is,
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if you don't actively design your life,
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someone else will design it for you.
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Your boss will design your schedule.
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Social media will design your
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priorities. Society will design your
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definition of success. And actually, a
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really good question to ask yourself to
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know if you've intentionally designed
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your life or if you're just living by
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default is asking yourself the question,
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would I actively choose the life that
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I'm living right now? If I could start
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from scratch, is this the path that I
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would carve out for myself? Your 20ies
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are the perfect time to start getting
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intentional about this before you become
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too set in your ways or too comfortable
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with the wrong path. Be intentional
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about crafting your life in this decade
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about what you actually want before you
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become institutionalized and lose the
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voice that you have. By the way, if you
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are watching this thinking, I have no
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idea what life I want to design and
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whether I'm living the default life or
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not. That is completely normal. Most of
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us don't just wake up knowing what we
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want to do. And so I've created a
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completely free financial life design
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workshop where we together we figure out
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what direction you want your life to go
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in and then how you can rewrite your
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money story in a way that moves you
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closer towards your life goals rather
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than further away from them. Most people
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spend money in a way that keeps them
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stuck in this default path. But when you
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flip that and start using the money that
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you already have to design the life that
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you actually want, everything changes.
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Again, the workshop is completely free.
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You can find out more information in the
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description below. Number five, think of
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your career as a portfolio, not a
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ladder. I used to think building a
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career meant climbing a ladder. One
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clear path, one right direction. So, I
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spent most of my 20ies in banking,
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working my way up, only to get to the
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end of my 20s and realized that the
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ladder I've been climbing this entire
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time was leaning against the wrong wall.
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And now, looking back, I realized that
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the mistake wasn't choosing the wrong
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path. It was just staying on it for way
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too long. out of fear, out of habit, out
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of wanting to not waste the years that
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I'd already put in. The modern career,
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it isn't a straight line. It's a
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portfolio. It's about collecting
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experiences and building a mix of
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skills, interests, and lessons that
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compound over time, even if they don't
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all fit neatly onto a CV. If I could do
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my 20s again, I would spend way more
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time exploring, trying different
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industries, saying yes to more projects
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that looked interesting, learning things
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just because they seemed cool, rather
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than if it impacted my promotion or my
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status or my pay. The skills I picked up
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whilst I wasn't banking, many of them I
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still use today, just in ways I never
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expected. And if I kept moving or doing
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something new, as soon as I felt like my
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learning was stagnating, I would have
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been able to accumulate even more skills
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and experience. So my point here is
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instead of asking is this my forever
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job? Ask yourself what am I learning
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here that I can use anywhere. That one
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question makes sure that you are always
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learning and it turns every role even
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the ones you hate into a stepping stone.
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And number six, enjoy the journey. There
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were moments in my 20s where I was so
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stressed about my career and trying to
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make the right move and get promoted as
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quickly as I can that I completely
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missed some really special times. And I
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remember being away um for a weekend
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with my family, my immediate family and
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my extended family. And that entire
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weekend, my mind was in overdrive cuz I
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was anxious if I was going to land the
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job that I interviewed for the Friday
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before. And I kept checking my phone. I
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kept checking my emails and spent the
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whole time in my head instead of just
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being present with my family. And it
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ended up being the last trip with my
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granddad. And I often look back on it
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wishing, I wish I just enjoyed it more
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and actually was there in the moment.
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your 20s, even your 30s can feel like
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this constant state of once I get this
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job or once I figure out my career or
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once I have more money then I'll be
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happy. But the truth is there's always
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going to be another goal, another
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milestone, another thing to worry about.
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I'm not saying don't have ambitions or
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goals. Those definitely matter. But
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don't let the pursuit of your future
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happiness rob you of your present
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happiness. Some of the best moments in
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your 20s are the random Tuesday nights
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with friends or the spontaneous trips or
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the conversations that go on until 3:00
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a.m. even though it means you have less
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sleep before work the next morning. And
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that job that I was stressing about that
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weekend, I got it, but I ended up not
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even enjoying it that much and leaving
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the bank the next year. But I can never
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get that weekend back. Your 20s aren't a
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dress rehearsal for your real life. This
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is your real life. So work on those
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goals, but don't forget to actually live
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whilst you're doing it. Overall, as I
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was recording this video, I realized
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that the most important investment you
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can actually make in your 20ies is
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becoming someone that you can truly rely
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on and take bets on. So you may as well
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build the habits, the skills, the
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discipline, the confidence to be that
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person for yourself. Anyway, I hope you
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enjoyed this video. It's a bit more of a
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life reflections video rather than a
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personal finance money video or a
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self-development video. If you enjoy
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these, I've got another playlist right
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here where I have more of my life
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reflection type videos for you as well.
