7 Gigantic Pitfalls to Avoid in Your 20s

There are so many well-hidden suckholes that can stop all momentum, growth, and success in your twenties.

And you can fall into one of these pitfalls without even realizing it, and then stay stuck well into your 30s, 40s, 50s…you get where I’m going…

Now that I’ve successfully freaked us all out, lets talk about these pitfalls and how we avoid them.

 

Pitfall #1: My Circumstances are “Who I Am” 

If you start believing “well this is my lot in life and I can’t do anything about it,” then you are more than stuck.

Really this pitfall makes all other pitfalls nonexistent because you never walk far enough forward to even have a chance at failing at anything else.

Don’t be cemented in your circumstances. They change all the time.

We all have crappy subplots we need to work through. Don’t let them become your main story.

It’s really hard to step into your future if you don’t believe you have one. (click to tweet that)

Pitfall #2: Settling

Too many people date like they’re in the grocery aisle, grabbing a last second Snickers Bar because they’re hungry, so why wait?

Too many people are letting their careers pick them, instead of working with grit and determination to pick their career.

Too many people are settling in Sucksville because they don’t believe they can leave town.

Now, I do think for many of us we have to settle for certain seasons without settling completely. That’s different. That’s strategic settling for a season.

I know for me personally, there were many times I had to do jobs that weren’t my dream because I was working on my dream on the side.

Your twenties set the course for the rest of your life. If you start settling for a life that’s a “3 out of 10” now, it might not magically become better later.

Pitfall #3 Becoming a Double A-Hole (Someone who Analyzes without Action)

Yes we need to do the tough work of inner-work, but we can’t perpetually analyze our lives without any action to move us forward.

There’s such a glut of information at our fingertips these days, it’s hard to pick a restaurant, church, gym, or first date without feeling like you’re missing out.

Don’t be wrecked by research.

Do your homework and then choose to make a choice. Then move forward in that choice.

Pitfall #4: Never Committing to Anything

Find something you enjoy, that gives you life, and commit to it. It doesn’t have to be what you want to do for the rest of your life, to give a little of your life to it.

Your twenties are about what you plant in the ground, not about what you harvest. (click to tweet that)

We can’t keep pulling our seeds out of the dirt before it has time to grow.

Pitfall #5: Becoming Bitter, Instead of Better

You might be feeling good about life. Maybe you’re even at the grocery store, with an actual list, buying things like kale and argula!

You’re crushing this whole adulthood thing.

And then you jump into the line at the checkout and start checking out Facebook or Instagram, with the Glaring AMAZINGNESS of all your friends buying a new BMW, having a new baby, traveling to Istanbul to take pictures for American Express, and suddenly you want to replace your kale with a box of wine.

Obsessive Comparison Disorder has a way of heightening any discontent to “I only want to drink wine from a box” levels.

Don’t become bitter. Become better. Don’t smack yourself with some yardstick you’re not measuring up to.

You do you.

Pitfall #6: Doing Life Alone

We are made for community. We thrive in relationships. Your friends are struggling right next to you to find their purpose and place.

Call a friend. Be honest about what you’re going through. Seek out mentors. Ask them to coffee. Call your mom. Find a counselor if you feel you need one.

Don’t do twentysomething life alone.

No matter how amazing we’re making our Facebook profiles look, we all have the same smelly stuff in our toilets.

Pitfall #7: Failing to Clarify Your Signature Sauce

I believe you have a Signature Sauce – a unique mix of ingredients that gives the world a flavor that no one else can.

No, I’m not talking about some sort of magical marinara.

I believe that defining, refining, owning, and honing who you are, your unique tailor-made-ness, your personal Signature Sauce, is the absolute most important thing you can accomplish in your twenties. It’s the key to not only finding your passion, but living it for the rest of your life.

Don’t expect anyone to hire you for your passion if you can’t explain what it is. 

As Danny Rubin wrote at News to Live By, “Success in our 20s is the ability to exit the decade with a clearer sense of purpose.”

The people who are the most successful know who they are, what they believe, and why they are pursuing what they’re pursuing.

Successful people build a plan that is propelled by their purpose.

And when the details of the plan change, it’s not as devastating because their innate purpose stays intact.

And don’t get me wrong, this discovery process is not always simple and straight-forward.

This is why behind-the-scenes I’m working on something to help us figure this out. More on that soon…

You have a unique signature sauce that the world needs.

It just might take some time, strategy and intentionality to figure out what it is.

I’d love to hear your thoughts within the comments on this article: 

Have you ever been stuck in one of these pitfalls?