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I’m greying fairly quickly and my young wife is now in her 30s. Many a car guard has called me “grootman” for longer than I care to remember and in general the music played at restaurants has got to loud for my liking. Even the ANC no longer defines me as youth. This is how I’m justifying writing this column which is going to advise the younger generation…
20 things to do in your twenties..:
- Live your best life, nobody expects you to have your life figured out in your 20s. In fact, in the main it is expected that you’re still working through stuff. Take full advantage of that by travelling frequently, staying out late and partying to excess.
- 2) Maintain your fitness, you can stay fit without even trying in your 20s, you’re you going to miss that when you transition beyond, so work out regularly and stay active. If you play soccer or netball or whatever sport, don’t stop! Even when you’ve done too much the previous night, get up and go play. Your body will thank you later on.
- 3) Job hop, before you get jaded and weighed down by adulthood and all that goes with it you should leave one job for another, assuming you’re in a country that doesn’t have sickeningly high youth unemployment like Lesotho. If someone offers you more money to do a job take that money. If there’s opportunity to move up in the ranks, move up. You won’t regret it.
- 4) Start that small business, law of averages and even the available data suggests that business will fail, but what if yours is the exception? Also this generation has more information and data available than any other. The AI tools at your fingertips ought to make tailoring a specific business even more beneficial. If you can start a business in an area you’re passionate about, I think its worth it.
- Date until you’re tired, your 20s are for youthful endeavour. Dating is one such an exercise. Date the chakra hun and the city girl. Go out with abuti Maseru and the focused king. Build a portfolio of knowledge through experience. Establish exactly what you want and experience everything that goes with it. In your 20s you only owe yourself an explanation.
- Don’t respond to inanities, “when are you getting married” and “when are we seeing grandkids” are questions that have been asked for generations upon generations. There’s no good reason for you to suddenly have the answer to them!
- Stay loyal to the self, you will never regret being loyal to yourself and your principles. Friends come and friends go but you will always have to live with the person in the mirror. Stay true to that person and their moral ethos. It’ll take you far in life.
- You don’t have haters, even if you do why would that matter? Just focus on yourself and what you need to do and minimise the noise. The social media generation seems to have picked up an unhealthy habit of being defined by external forces rather than by the self. Leave off. There’s no need.
- Travel, whenever possible. Few things will expand your horizons and views like travelling. Seeing all parts of the world and understanding how different things work. It’s fascinating and stimulating. Whether it’s in a group or solo, just do it. From Maseru to Madagascar
- Read A LOT, again for the development of your mind and your ideas, read. Not just social media posts and links. Books! Read fiction and non-fiction in equal measure. Give yourself the best opportunity for knowledge.
- Learn a language, that isn’t your home language or English. The more exotic the better. It too will help you expand your mind. You might also decide to immerse yourself in the culture of the language you’re learning. You lose absolutely nothing from that experience.
- Save money, invest and save for that rainy day! Purchase unit trusts, invest in bonds and speculate on the stock market. Make sure you’ve built a nest egg for that tomorrow that seems so far away.
- Be reliable, and dependable as a friend, partner and colleague. When you’ve said you’re going to do something, do it. It’s gratifying for your own self.
- Get to know yourself, really explore the lengths and breadths of the self. Your likes dislikes and define yourself before society does. You don’t need to be any one thing either. You can be a series of contradictions. That’s absolutely acceptable.
- Take a break, from social media, from grooving, from life. It gets super frenetic in your 20s and it feels like you always have to be at the coalface, but you don’t. Every so often you can unplug and recharge. It’s encouraged!
- Ask for help, it’s difficult to do when you’re young and have all the answers. But there’s a point where you realise that you don’t actually have them. Many get stuck, you need not, just reach out and ask.
- Don’t do drugs, in as much as your 20s are for experimenting I really think there are some experiments you can learn vicariously. You don’t actually need to put yourself through the test to see the outcome. In general, the drugs’ outcomes aren’t good ones.
- Don’t abuse, I mean it’s crazy that it has to be said but statistics suggest it bears repeating. It’s nobody’s right to hit another person (I don’t even think corporal punishment is right) so keep your hands and abusive opinions to yourself.
- Contribute altruistically, give back to the community. If you can do community service and give of yourself, you will gain so much!
- Document your life, through pictures or journals/diaries document it all. You will miss that crazy part of your life when you’re down the road. Take the memories with You, but don’t miss the moment trying to capture it….
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