Last week, I was having a normal conversation with one of my closes friends. My friend told me how he hates it when people advise him to take his time because he’s in his 20s. After discussing the subject with him, I came up with different reasons why you should not take your time in your 20s.

We know that the people that advise other young adults to take their time don’t mean harm. They care about us, and they think that eventually, you will have it all figure out. 

However, when you tell someone to take their time, there’s a sense of slacking that can come in. We both know that you should never rush into things. But, you should also not take your 20s for granted.

You have the most energy in your twenties.

When you’re in your twenties, it’s probably the last moments you’ll have the most energy. While growing up, we had a lot of energy. Some of us had the opportunity to be part of a sports team in school. And if that’s not your case, I’m sure you participated in some physical activities in your neighbourhood.

When you grow up, college takes over, and our 9 to 5 changes our lifestyle. We start consuming different things, like coffee, alcohol etc. When you get into this system, it ruins the good health you accumulated all these years.

When you’re in your twenties, you get the last of your energy. You can either decide to get back into your best physical health. Or let your lifestyle consume you, and lose that energy.

To me, when I hear “take your time, you’re still young,” I hear, “enjoy this life now because it will get worse later.” Healthwise, yes, it does get worse if you let that happen.

Therefore, your priority in your 20s should be to get back in your best physical health. There’s no time to waste. It would be best to find the best workout or physical activity that will work for you.

Other than finding the best activity, it would help if you also watched what you consume. I see way too many people drinking, smoking, and eating unhealthy. Trust me, we all go through the “young, wild, and free” phase. However, the longer you go on like this, the more unhealthy you become. Therefore, watch what you eat, drink, and smoke, and avoid doing it regularly.

Your 20s are made to gain experience.

I believe that when you’re in your twenties, you have the chance to explore life. As a child, we all decided who we wanted to be. When you grow, reality hits and some of us get lost and are unsure of who we are.

Your twenties are made for you to explore yourself and your interest. We now live in an era where everyone wants to be or do the same thing, which removes our generation’s uniqueness. 

I say that because people are so attracted to their role models, they also want to do the same thing. People don’t look inside themselves enough to find out what their gifts are. Even when they go along with what their role model is doing, many give up on the way.

Therefore, I suggest that you explore your world. Look inside of you, find out what you like, what scares you (because the things that scare us the most are the things that we should be doing). 

Don’t wait until you turn 30 to start taking these actions. If you’re already 30, don’t worry, you can still explore and figure things out. Many who explore life in their 20s accumulate their experience and then focus on what they love in their 30s.

You have the chance to fail and get back up in your twenties.

As you explore life in your 20s, you get the chance to fail. You can fail as many times as you can, and you’ll be able to bounce back. If you’re in your twenties and haven’t gone through a real mental breakdown, then you’re not trying hard enough.

By a real mental breakdown, I mean that you’re trying so hard that you get frustrated that things aren’t going the way you want it to go. You try so hard to accomplish something, and it fails. As you explore life, what you really want to do and be, you will eventually hit a wall, and this is good.

It’s good to fail. It’s good to go through the stress, the mental breakdown. It’s good because you will learn how to get back up. The whole purpose of building yourself is to have as many failures as possible, so you know what to do next time.

This method gets you ready for future challenges. Once you figure out what you want to do or who you are, you will face many more challenges. I find it hard to stay motivated when things don’t work out, so failing helps you get through it.

It’s important to normalize failure. Expect that things aren’t always going to motivate you; however, once you know your why, you will be disciplined enough to get up and get going.

Your twenties are that for you to not live with regrets later.

In my blog post, Reasons Why You Should Never Settle Down, I explained how I’m not too fond of regrets. I don’t wish anyone to feel regretful, especially when you’re older, and you’re looking back at your life.

To not regret, to not turn into that bitter grandpa or grandma, you have to give it your all in your twenties. 

When you do everything that I mentioned above, you’re not taking your time. You are moving forward, and you’re moving towards a goal. It might not feel like it during the process, but your older self will thank you for it.

Living with regret is the worst feeling ever. It has its side effects on your health, so you should practice making the right decisions right now.

Your twenties are like a gift from God, and the system is also in your favour here. By this, I mean society gives you as many chances as you need to fail. You have to get those healthy habits. You have to explore life with trials and errors, fail as many times as you can. 

The result will be beneficial once you get older. As you stay healthy, find your purpose in life, try and fail. You get better at mastering yourself, and you get better in your field. Experience brings you further in life; experience without failure isn’t experience.