20 THINGS I’VE LEARNED BY THE AGE OF 20

ADVICE TO MY YOUNGER SELF.

Now I am no expert at life and do not have it all figured out by any means. But here is a list of 20 things that I think every 20 year old should know & advice to my younger self. (buckle your seatbelts kids…. it’s a long one)

1. YOU ARE A BYPRODUCT OF THE 3 CLOSEST PEOPLE TO YOU (you also are what you consume)

Take a look at your 3 closest friends or the 3 people you associate yourself with the most. If those 3 people aren’t pushing you to become better or living a life that you want to live, you need to rethink your friend situation. Who do you follow on social media? Do they have your dream life? Does their content make you want to be better & educate you? If not, I also think you need to do a little social media cleanse — I’m just saying.

2. YOUR ATTRACTIVENESS IS 80% CONFIDENCE AND 20% PHYSICAL LOOKS.

I live by the saying “act confident and no one will question you” (thank you Sarah’s Day) and it is true when it comes to how other people perceive you. I promise that if you start acting like you’re the hottest girl in the room, 9 times out of 10 people will actually think you are. It’s all in the confidence I swear.

3. LIFE ISN’T THAT SERIOUS AND YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT.

Like seriously…. There is no rulebook to life and nothing is permanent. Ever. You are not obligated to work a 9 to 5, to go to college, to live in the same town that you grew up in, to settle down.

4. DO TACTILE THINGS AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.

Put away your phone and do something tactile. Read (on paper, not a device). Go outside. Draw. Do a puzzle. Sit in silence. Journal. Bake. Literally anything, just connect to something other than your online life.

5. YOUR MORNING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR DAY.

I genuinely believe that if you are trying to level up in any aspect of your life, your morning time is important. It sets the tone for the day. Set your alarm, wake up, workout, journal, have a good breakfast and coffee. I promise this will positively effect your life.

6. IT IS CRUCIAL TO BREAK OUT OF YOUR BUBBLE. (yes…. you have a bubble)

If there’s one thing you take away from this spiel, let it be #6. I cannot stress enough how crucial it is to live in a world outside of how you were raised and conditioned. Establish your own views. Look at things from multiple perspectives and learn to LISTEN. Experience new types of people, cultures, environments. Challenge the things you believe in and ask why.

7. FAILURE IS A PART OF SUCCESS.

If you aren’t failing, you aren’t winning. Every failure is a stepping stone to something bigger.

8. BEING A JUDGMENTAL BITCH ISN’T CUTE.

You know how in movies for some reason the mean girls are always the most popular at the beginning but then end up getting their shit served to them by the end? Yeah well thats real life too. Being kind is cool. Being a condescending bitch is not.

9. YOU DON’T NEED A FIVE YEAR PLAN.

You still need goals and dreams, but please for the love of god stop trying to create your life on some sort of shitty timeline. You don’t have to be married by 25, having babies out by 27, your dream job by 30. The beauty in life is the journey. Have goals, dreams, and action plans but don’t put your life on a timetable.

10. THE SIMPLE THINGS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT.

• Being awake early in the morning & feeling like you’re the only person in the world
• Trader Joe’s sugar free chocolate bar (iykyk)
• Fresh flowers
• Getting a free Chick-Fil-A from rewards
• Rediscovering a song that you used to love and forgot about
• Waking up thinking it’s a weekday but realizing it’s actually Saturday

11. BUY EXPERIENCES NOT THINGS.

I struggle with this one. But I can speak from personal experience that buying materialistic things aren’t nearly as fulfilling as experiencing something new for the first time. Buy a $100 round trip rather than a $100 pair of leggings from Lululemon (sorry Lulu if you ever see this). You don’t have to travel across the country in order to experience something new. Just do the damn things rather than buying the damn things, ya know what I mean?

12. SAY POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

I swear by this. If you do not love the person that you look at in the mirror, you will end up destroying her. How you speak to yourself is how you teach others to speak to you.

13. KNOW YOUR “WHY” TO EVERYTHING.

This is so important. Like SO. Everything about yourself just start asking why. For problems you face, ask “why?” 5 times to dig deep and uncover the sole root of the problem. You want to lose weight? Why? To look like someone else? What is it that you’re in search of that you feel like you can not achieve at your current size? Is it a boy? Is it a social status? Do you lack confidence in your workplace? What value do you hold in looks? In what ways would losing weight solve your current problems? You get the idea here. If you do not understand what your motivation or reasoning is, then it will impossible to change due to being unclear.

14. LOSING WEIGHT REALLY IS 80% WHAT YOU EAT AND 20% EXERCISE.

Want to lose weight? Focus. On. Your. Diet. And I don’t mean diet as in fad diet. I mean focus on eating cleaner and more nutritious foods. Stop having cheat weekends or cheat days. Work on your relationship with food. It is important.

15. WASH YOUR FACE.

Please take care of your skin. Do you want to be a MILF or not? Invest at a young age so you don’t look like a raisin at the age of 27.

16. STILLNESS IS KEY AND BEING BUSY IS LAZY.

I literally just read a post by the collective on Instagram that said “being busy is being lazy” and it really is such an interesting perspective. We stay busy a lot of the times to avoid something else. That is self-avoidance. Recognize it. Being still and having time management is cool. Your time is precious and you should treat it that way. Saying “I don’t have time” is lazy and weak.

17. IF YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF IF HE CARES, HE PROBABLY DOESN’T.

If you are constantly questioning if he cares about you/your relationship, there’s your answer.

18. LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE.

In so many different ways. If you do not value yourself, you will find someone who doesn’t value you either. If you do not respect yourself, you will find someone that does not respect you either. This is why self love and learning how to be alone is so important. How you value and treat yourself is the standard set in which others will do the same. Be the energy you want to attract.

19. SHIT NEVER STOPS HAPPENING.

Life happens. Stop using it as excuses. The timing will never be perfect for anything. THATS LIFE.

20. GET USED TO BEING UNCOMFORTABLE.

Growth is outside of your comfort zone. Get used to it and more importantly, learn to love it.

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. That was a spiel, I need to catch my breath.

Like I said, I am no expert and certainly do not have life all figured out. I still struggle with a lot of those things listed and am working on them as we speak. We’re all a work in progress and I think that’s pretty cool. On that note, I’m headed to bed.

Xx

Maycie Rae