Life in Your 20s: You Don’t Have to Have It All Figured Out

There is something strange about turning 20.

One day, you’re a teenager who still feels like a child, and suddenly you’re expected to understand adulthood. People start asking you about your career, your future, relationships, money, marriage and where you see yourself in five or ten years.

You are expected to have goals.

You are expected to be independent.

You are expected to know what you want.

But what happens when you don’t?

What happens when you are still trying to figure yourself out while everyone around you seems to be moving forward?

The truth is, your 20s are not supposed to be a perfectly planned chapter of your life. They are a chapter of discovery.

You are learning who you are, what you want, what you value and, perhaps most importantly, what you no longer want.

And sometimes, that process is beautiful.

Other times, it is messy.

You Are Allowed to Feel Lost

One of the biggest misconceptions about your 20s is that you are supposed to know exactly what you’re doing.

You graduate from high school, go to university, choose a career and somehow everything falls into place.

Real life doesn’t always work that way.

You might choose a career and later realize that your interests have changed. You might have a five-year plan and watch it completely fall apart. You might have no idea what you want to do next.

And that doesn’t mean you’re failing.

Sometimes being lost is actually part of finding yourself.

There is nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t know yet.”

You don’t have to know exactly where you’re going to take the next step.

Maybe your goal this year is simply to finish school.

Maybe it’s to find a job.

Maybe it’s to become financially independent.

Maybe it’s to heal from something you’ve been carrying for a long time.

Maybe it’s simply to become happier.

Whatever your current goal is, let it be enough.

You are allowed to figure things out one step at a time.