21 Powerful Investments Every Twenty-Something Can Start Making Today.
Your 20s will be one of the craziest times of your life. Here’s how to make it better.
“Feeling better doesn’t come from avoiding adulthood, it comes from investing in adulthood.”
Invest in your finances.
Mathematically, how much you save and invest in your 20s will have a disproportionate impact on your lifetime financial trajectory. Just make sure it's aimed in the right direction. Save and invest more than you think you might need.
Invest in your friendships.
Your friendships will change the most during this part of your life. Some people will stay. Some will go. Others will come back into your life. Don’t feel stuck with a friendship just because you went to high school with each other. Length does not determine quality.
Invest in your family.
Sounds odd. But since you’re an adult and may have moved out of your family home. The relationship you share with your parents and siblings will change. You get to decide how much or how little you want them in your life. Choose wisely.
Invest in your education.
Never let your schooling get in the way of your education. Continue to educate yourself by reading, listening to podcasts, and online courses. You can educate yourself for zero to low cost via the internet. There are no barriers, only expensive excuses.
Invest in your health.
Stay healthy while you’re healthy. Prevention is always better than cure. You don’t need to overcomplicate it. Eat more plants. Incorporate more movement in your day. Get out in nature. See the people you love more often.
Invest in your mental health.
Chances are that you’ve been through some sh*t in life and they are now starting to impact your life. The best investment I ever made was finding a good therapist. Once you work through your insecurities they stop being life traps. Evolve or repeat.
Invest in your brand.
Sounds gross, but everyone’s got a digital brand now. Whether you like it or not, it's part of the game of life and work. Pick a social media platform to start creating a brand. My personal choice is LinkedIn and Instagram. Once you have a brand, you’ll become a magnet for opportunities.
Invest in your business.
Once you have a brand, create a business around it. With the internet, you can start low-capital, no-inventory businesses you can set up over the weekend. Through my brand on LinkedIn, I’ve started my own consulting agency and secured $70,000 worth of projects before leaving my full-time job.
Invest in your public speaking.
You’ll get nowhere in life if you can’t speak to an audience of more than one. This could be in person or on the internet. Being able to communicate and sell ideas is the most portable skill you can take to any domain of your life.
Invest in your emotional intelligence.
Most hard skills can be learned or automated. Emotional skills are more difficult to teach, but you can improve with effort. Your attitude towards life will determine the altitude you reach in life.
Invest in reading books.
Any success I’ve experienced in life has come because of the books I read. It’s the worst-kept secret for success, yet so few people read books. Gain an unfair advantage by reading 2–3 books in your field to make you an expert.
Invest in travel.
This doesn’t mean staying in a hotel that mimics your life at home. Travel means immersion in different social, political and cultural contexts. I am fortunate to be able to live with family in Singapore when I visit. I get to understand what my life would have been like if my parents never left. To put it shortly, I don’t waste my opportunities in Melbourne.
Invest in doing uncomfortable things.
This could be taking a dance class, singing lessons or learning martial arts. Doing uncomfortable things makes you grow, builds your empathy and humbles you to become a student again.
Invest in your creativity.
Did you like to paint as a kid? Or draw? Or make up silly stories? We are all born creative. The challenge is staying creative while society tries to beat it out of us. Connect back with your creative roots.
Invest in your skill stack.
Stacking unique skills creates unique opportunities. You can be the best at something in the world. You just need to keep redefining what you do until you are the best at it. Keep adding new skills so that you’re competing in a world of your own. Each skill you add roughly doubles your odds of success.
Invest in your professional network.
Again, this feels gross. But success in your career is all about who you know and not what you know. People want to work with people they trust and who they know can do the job. Investment in your network will yield high dividends.
Invest in your hobbies.
Variety is the spice of life. Don’t be defined by your career or job title. Forge other hobbies that make you a more well-rounded person and build an identity outside of what you do for a 9–5.
Invest in your goals.
The saddest thing I see is my friends abandoning their goals. Goals give you purpose. Goals give your life meaning. Don’t be one of those people who die at 30 but aren’t buried until 80.
Invest in your sleep.
If I gave you a pill that made you happier, healthier and more productive with no downsides, would you take it? Good. The pill is called 7–8 hours of sleep every night. Take it regularly.
Invest in understanding risk.
You will need to take risks in your 20s. But not all risks are created equally. Understand the law of convexity. Some risks have limited downside but unbounded upside. Others have an unbounded downside and limited upside. Choose your risks carefully.
Invest in your values.
What do you stand for? What will you not compromise about yourself? If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.
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