10 things I would tell my 20-year-old self
29.04.2021, Mumbai
I celebrated my 30th birthday today. For a week, I have been retrospecting the last few years and I end up writing 10 things I would tell my 20-year-old self.
You will never fall short of Opportunities — In the next 10 years, the world is going to undergo multiple phases of changes. And the changes are going to happen quicker than you’d realise. Many things will bring amazing opportunities — from cloud computing to AI to dancing on cringe songs to make stupid(and some creative) short videos — the next decade is not going to be short of any opportunities. The world is going to transition from a place full of opportunities to a place where you create your own opportunities.
Be emotionally strong — There is no other option. People you love are going to die(literally and metaphorically). You can choose to be emotionally weak, suffer for few days and rise. You can do that, but that will only cause a delay in everything. Not saying you shouldn’t grieve, you should, but you shouldn’t let emotions control you.
Know your priority — Family, friends, career, money — all are important but nothing will come above your health(physical and mental). Every single day you procrastinate about taking your health seriously and taking it for granted will haunt you even before you know, and it will be too late then. You can get many lost things back, and many things you will lose. The unfortunate thing about having bad health is that the bad things come to stay forever and the good things leave soon and never come back. ps. Back pain will come to stay forever & lost fitness will be very hard to bring back.
Accept who you are — There will be times when you might be in a place where you will feel that you are an outlier. It is okay to be one. Introspect what is making you an outlier, are they better than you and you are a bad outlier for some reason? If yes — accept, observe & improvise. But please don’t pretend what you are not. You cant lead a pretentious life for long. Don’t understand or like watching Nolan movies? It’s okay don’t watch them. The sooner you accept yourself the better it will be for you to start moving in the right direction.
Invest. Invest. Invest. Right from day 1. Doesn’t matter how small the amount is. Just invest. Don’t just save, invest.
Learn to say no. — You will turn 30 in a decade and you will still not know how to say no. But the least you can do is try to learn to say a no. By saying no you are putting yourself first, and respecting your decisions too. If you cant respect your decisions you can’t expect others to respect them.
Don’t delay failures — The fact that you never failed in school or college will make you a failure-virgin and you will never want to lose it. Not failing is not the true measure of success. The one achieved after initial failures is such a polished version of success. The success achieved without failures produces mediocre output. Spend less time in making perfect plans. There is no perfect plan. Execute mediocre plans, to achieve excellent outcomes than to create excellent plans and achieve a mediocre outcome.
Be patient — Everyone has a different clock. Some things will come late in your life compared to others whereas some things will come sooner. Patience is very important. Every problem in life has a solution, you need to be patient. If things ever get bad in life, be it in any aspect, the first thing you buy for yourself is time. :) Nothing else will help you resolve the issue other than time.
Continue making friends — That’s one thing you are good at, in fact very good at! That will help you in every aspect of your life.
Most of them will always show up when you need them. Drop the ones who suck out your positivity. You can’t choose family but you can always choose your friends. So choose wisely. You are the average of your group — in terms of success, happiness, money, everything. So choose wisely.
Continue practising kindness — You may realise the importance of kindness a little late, but it’s never too late to be kind. 10 years later kindness will be the new cool.
Tell me what are the things that you would tell your 20-year-old self…
