20 habits for your 20s A thread...

Habit 1:
Smile at the mirror

20s is the decade of self doubt. Where we feel inadequate, incomplete, lost.

The simple habit of smiling at the mirror, makes me drop my emotions in that moment.

And acknowledge me, for who I am.

Habit 2:
Make your bed
Starts your day with a small accomplishment.

Growing up, the 4 of us used to sleep together in the drawing room, since it had a cooler.

It was my job to make everyone's bed.
It was the last thing I did every night and the first every morning.
Still do it.

Habit 3:
Take the first 30 mins of your morning, for yourself

Don't start it with your phone.
Or with a person.
Or with a book.
Or the toilet.

Just you, your thoughts, some lasting memory of your dreams.

You will appreciate the power of slowing down.

Habit 4:
Call people by their names

Few things makes a person feel included, than hearing their name in a conversation.
Remember, consciously, to include their names, as you speak to them.

You will earn their respect, their attention and their trust.

Habit 5:
Write everyday

Not type.
Write.
With a pen or pencil. On paper.

When we write, we slow down our thoughts.
We structure our thoughts.
We train our mind to think coherently.
To reflect upon what we are thinking.

Habit 6:
Say thank you

Don't ever get tired of saying thank you.
Say it for the smallest things.
Say it to everyone.

And when you say it, be genuinely thankful.

That feeling of gratitude will help you, for your entire life.

Habit 7:
Resist the obvious

If you do what everyone else does, you will end up where everyone else will.

For every situation, think of what the majority crowd will do and then think of things beyond that.
Make it into a game.

Soon, it will become the way you think.

Habit 8:
Don't complain

We get good at whatever it is that we do everyday.
And that includes complaining.

Don't complain.
You can be angry, sad, bitter or dejected.
And that's normal.
That's human.

But don't complain!

Habit 9:
Don't be the commentator

It is very easy to comment from the outside.
It is intensely hard to be the one in the arena, fighting it out.

Appreciate the courage.
Savor the experience.
Encourage yourself to be in the arena.

But don't be the commentator.

Habit 10:
Live below your means

No one expects you to rich in your 20s.
So don't pretend to be.

Don't buy a house in your 20s.
Don't take loans in your 20s.
Don't have money in your bank beyond an emergency fund.
Invest.
Your money. In yourself.

Habit 11:
Send a cold email every week

Send an email to someone who doesn't know you.
It doesn't need to be with an agenda.
It could be simply an appreciation, an acknowledgement.

Doing so every week, you will set up luck to work for you.
How? You don't know!
But it will work!

Habit 12:
Work out everyday

Be it gym, running, swimming, playing, climbing - give your body the respect it deserves.

I abused my body for 33 years, before getting a second life.
But it took me a disease to realize it.

You don't want to go through the same.

Habit 13:
Ask questions

Do not give answers.
Do not pretend to always know.
Do not think you already know.
Ask questions.
As many as you can.
As dumb as they are.

Ask questions!

Habit 14:
Read books

There are 2 ways to learn from mistakes.
One is to make them, two is to read about mistakes other's made.

Read what you love the most - be it comics, magazines, articles.
Fall in love with reading.
The books will automatically happen.

Habit 15:
Patience

I grew up in the 80/90s when we had to stand in line to get milk, a phone connection, buy a ticket.

You today are devoid of this experience.
So force yourself into situations where you have to wait.

Because all good things in life, take time!

Habit 16:
Do one thing every week that scares you

We will always be surrounded by danger, by unexpected events, by difficult circumstances.

The only thing we can do, it to be comfortable with feeling scared.
And facing the fear.

This habit does precisely that!

Habit 17:
Know how to learn

The world is rapidly changing.
What you know today, may not even exist tomorrow.

The only thing then, that can set you up for life, is if you know how to become a student, when you have to!

Know what it is to learn anything, by yourself!

Habit 18:
Trust first

In a trust deficient world, learn how to trust people first, than wait for them to win your trust.

Believe that most people are not bad.
And that the 5% that aren't don't define the world!

Habit 19:
Eat right

This decade is when we abuse our body the most. And we think nothing will happen.

And nothing will happen - until much later, by which time it will be late!

Your eating habits in your 20s is the biggest indicator of your long term planning.

Habit 20:
Remove toxic relationships

It is in our 20s that we form the most meaningful relationships.
But it is also the decade where we persist with old ones that we shouldn't.

Knowing how to walk away from such relationships, is key to knowing how to respect yourself.

The 20s is a wonderful decade.

It is the time to explore - yourself, the world, your relationship with it.
In my experience, what you end up doing this decade can undo a bad past and setup a great future.

Use this decade to not set goals.
But set habits!

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