The Surprising Truth About Your 20s Nobody Tells You

Reflecting on those pivotal years of my 20s, I share some heartfelt regrets that continue to shape my journey at 49. If you've ever wondered about the real impact of missed financial education, inconsistent nutrition and sleep habits, or the importance of sustaining friendships post-school, this episode offers candid insights. My journey wasn't without its challenges, and I delve deeply into how these experiences have molded my present self. You might be at any point in your life, but the lessons shared promise to resonate and perhaps steer you away from similar missteps.

Moreover, I recount the struggle to find balance between work commitments and family time, a lesson that rings true for many of us. With a child of my own on the brink of leaving school, the urgency of teaching them the value of intentionally invested relationships has never been clearer. This episode serves as a reminder that reflection is valuable regardless of age. It's a call to action for listeners to embrace change and nurture values that deflect future regrets, fostering a path toward personal growth and enriched connections.

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Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:00

Here are five regrets that I've got about my 20s. I'm 49 years old now. I'm clearly a middle-aged man, and occasionally I look back at my younger years and I think to myself if I could do it all over again, would I change anything? You've probably heard the cliche, like I have, I wouldn't change a thing. Well, I don't really agree with that. I think I would change a few things. I'm not going to get stuck in regret, but when I'm asked the question, do I regret anything from my 20s? There's a handful of things. Whether you're a young man or a young woman, maybe you're middle-aged like me, maybe these five things will be worth while you contemplating so you can see what things you might be able to put in place as well. Let's dive into it.

Speaker 0: 0:39

Five regrets I have from my 20s. Number one not getting a financial education. I grew up in a family where we didn't talk about money. I don't know why Maybe my parents' parents didn't talk to them about money, but in my home, growing up, we didn't talk about money and, like most of you, my school didn't talk about money either, and so I had to learn about money by making mistakes, getting it wrong and then changing things, and boy did I waste some time on trying to get a financial education the hard way. One big regret from my 20s is not realizing I needed to learn about money, how to make it, how to manage it, how to invest it and how to keep it. I wish I got a better financial education in my 20s.

Speaker 0: 1:21

Regret number two is not nailing my nutrition and sleep disciplines. When I was a young man I traveled to the other side of the world to pursue my sporting dreams and it was a great time in my life. But unfortunately, because I had no other responsibilities, all I had to do was play sport and get paid to do it. I stayed awake to all hours of the night, I ate bad food and it kind of set me off on a bad pathway. And I went through my twenties and through my thirties and now in my forties I'm still trying to fight that animal of nutrition discipline and sleep discipline. I regret not getting that nailed in my twenties because I've had to have an arm wrestle with that for decades. Now that I'm still fighting with I know I would have had more energy and more time if I got that sorted way way back.

Speaker 0: 2:09

Regret number three from my 20s would be losing contact with my school friends. It's interesting for me now as a middle-aged man with my firstborn child who's about to leave school, and I've been telling her all the time that your friendships have to be invested in intentionally. When school comes to an end, we don't realise when we're at school that the environment of our education kind of just makes our friendships work for us. We don't really have to do any work, but when school finishes we actually have to make a phone call, send a text message, arrange a get-t together. You've actually got to invest intentionally to keep the relationship going. And for me, when I finished school, I kind of separated a bit from some of my friends, not because we had issues but because I didn't invest intentionally and I regret that because now I don't have some of those friendships and I wish I still had them.

Speaker 0: 3:02

Regret number four and, as you're listening along, whether you're young, whether you're middle-aged like me, or whether you're old, it's never too late to do something about these values and these lessons. It's better to start late than never. But definitely if you're in your 20s or your teens, take these thoughts on board and see how they might apply to you, to make changes so that you don't end up with middle-aged regrets like this guy. Regret number four is getting too busy with my work. In my 20s I committed so hard to my work and to doing what needed to be done that I probably got my diary a little bit out of balance between family time and work time and I get the idea that balance is very difficult to achieve. But I know in my own heart I probably went too far with the work because I was succeeding, I was doing well, the things I was responsible for were growing and all of that got me a little bit too excited with giving everything I had to my work and I didn't really keep enough energy for the home front, for my marriage and when my first child arrived. I was able to change that in my 30s but I regret that I didn't have that nailed in my 20s. Let me give you one more for this episode today.

Speaker 0: 4:14

Regret number five as a middle-aged man looking back at my 20s, that is ignoring creative expression In my middle age, as I've watched my young son begin to grow into his own creative expression. He loves making videos and he's very keen on music and he loves talking and he's quite artistic and loves making things. He loves his sport as well. But I'm watching all of these creative expressions in my own son and I'm realizing and being reminded that that's a lot what I was like as a young boy as well. But somehow, when I got into my twenties I put creativity aside and I got over-focused on work and doing and achieving, and I regret that now because I don't quite have all the tools in my toolkit that I'd like to have creatively. I'm starting to re-engage with it in middle age, but I regret that I cut ties a little bit with my creative expression in music, in song, in performing, in doing things like this in front of a camera, because I think I could have been further down the road if I didn't do that. So it's a regret that I've got now.

Speaker 0: 5:20

Maybe you resonate with some of those regrets. Maybe you're a late teen or an early or mid-20s right now and perhaps something I said today was helpful for you to put it in your thoughts. I better get busy with that idea. I hope that's the case. I hope you've heard something today that's been helpful to you and, as I mentioned earlier, even if you're middle-aged or older-aged already, it's not too late to start and do something about these things. We can move away from our regrets by taking action.