My twenties so far have been anything but seamless, and I'm betting you can relate.
And for so many years, I just chalked it up to what everyone and their mother said:
"your twenties are your crazy years, everything changes at thirty."
And so for the first 5 years of my twenties, you better believe I lived up to that ('cause I was given hella permission to do so) -- you know the pattern...get up, go to work for jobs that suck the life out of you, say yes to all the parties/events because you're afraid you'll be missing out if you don't, spend so much time trying to look like some magazine's definition of what an "ideal woman" should look like, which of course leds us to years of binging and over exercising until our inevitable quarter life crisis break down ensues...
Or at least, that was my story.
Can you relate?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about spending your twenties to figure out who you are and what you want (and along the way, you can bet it's gonna be messy AF), but why do we have to hit rock bottom for us to wake the fuck up and make a change?
What if we could equip ourselves with tools that allowed us to do the inner work, the REAL work, so that come our thirties, we had already started to put into place some intentional habits that were in line with how we wanted to feel & show up in the world.
Habits that are deeply rooted in our VALUES.
My hope is that by sharing what I wish I had known, you can avoid having your own burnout broken quarter life crisis that takes years of work to undo.
Here we go.
20 THINGS YOU SHOULD START DOING SO YOU WON'T REGRET YOUR TWENTIES
1. Wake up early. If this gal can become a morning person, so can you.
2. Get into a regular exercise routine. You don't need to go crazy at the gym or kill yourself at a spin class on the regular, but 30 minutes of moving your body a day is so important for your health.
3. Cut out processed foods (FO REAL YO) and focus on simple REAL foods. Check out my FREE BUSY BABES GUIDE TO HEALTHY LIVING e-book to learn how to get started!
4. Have the courage to say YES to the things that excite you.
5. Have the courage to say NO to the things that aren’t aligned with your values.
6. Explore and discover what your true values ARE (don't know where to start? Check out this post)
7. Say buh bye to the friendships that don’t serve you — you know who they are.
8. Read books — here’s a great place to get started!
9. Take yourself on soul dates.
10. Tell the truth and expect it in return.
11. Break free from the typical “adulting” day to day life and add more freaking PLAY into your day.
12. Create a budget and start putting a little money aside into a savings fund NOW.
13. Trade in blackout party nights for a glass of wine or kombucha with a gal pal and inspiring and goofy conversations
14. Create self care rituals that you do on a daily or weekly basis. Some of my faves? Check 'em out here.
15. TRAVEL more -- it doesn't have to be to faraway exotic cultures (although those are awesome too), but even a simple road trip 2 hours away for a weekend in the woods can do your soul some GOOD.
16. Do something that scares you every single day. Apply to that dream job. Ask the guy out. Try that move in yoga. It won't only get you one step closer to the life you want, but your confidence will grow in the process too -- double win!
17. Get in touch with your body and your womanhood. For more information, listen to episode 7 of the podcast with Claire Baker.
18. Start administering self breast exams. But FOR REAL. 1 out of 8 women will develop breast cancer over their life time. 1 out of 8! This is clearly on the front of mind for me right now but I was always told by my doctors to rock out self exams on my own and never did because I always thought "that won't happen to me".
19. Start journaling. Whether it's through journal prompts or using the "brain dump" method and just spewing your thoughts on paper, it can be such a powerful way to actually get to know yourself, your emotions and your dreams.
20. Practice self compassion. You are learning. You are growing. And while it may feel like you so often don't get it "right", or that you haven't "arrived", remember that this journey is a beautiful rollercoaster (and so often one we cannot control), but what we can control is the way we speak to ourselves and treat ourselves along the way.
You've got this, babe.
Let's push the habits that aren't serving us to the curb and start implementing one or even two of these practices in our lives.
Which one are YOU going to start with first?
Xo Amanda