Ten Things I Learned In My 20's

When I was 20, my future was right in front of me - a vast ocean with an unending horizon. So many possibilities, so many roads to take. My whole life until then has been so systematic, so predictable. In my 20’s, I wanted to “go off the beaten path” and take time to explore. Now that that time is coming to an end, this is what I have learned:

1.      4 Years happens faster than you think. Stay in school! The idea of junior college as a sort of “purgatory” always compelled me. I was seduced by the idea of exploring different avenues, trying different things, taking different classes. I took the idea of staying in junior college for 10 years too literally, that it actually happened. 10 years later, and I’m finally transferring.

2.       15/15/70. Give 15% of your income to God (if you don’t believe in God, give it to charity), 15% to yourself, and pay your bills with the remaining 70%. It’s very uncomfortable at first, and I still haven’t mastered it, but applying it has already made a tremendous difference in my life. I have more money now (as little as it is) than when I did before I started applying this principle.

3.       Start eating right, and keep eating right. I’m 31 years old, and I woke up the other day with a bad foot =/. My eating habits could be a lot better.

4.       Start working out, and keep working out. The last time I was consistent in my workouts was in 2003-2004. I worked out 2 hours a day, 5 days a week from 9-11am. I went to school from 1-4pm, then work from 5-9pm. I remembered going up in weight almost every week! I had a rhythm going, and I was consistent. One day I got sick and didn’t come in. I missed one workout. Then one workout turned into two. Then three, then four. Before I knew it, I was back to my old ways. =/

5.       It’s not about “get rich quick,” – it’s about stewarding what you already have. Man. I’ve spent a good amount of my 20’s chasing money in these “get rich quick” schemes. I’ll save more of the details about this in a later post, but in short, one of the many lessons I’ve learned during this period was not about money, but about stewardship. This ties into the 15/15/70 plan mentioned in #2 above. You could have the best product, service, compensation, etc, but if the money is not properly stewarded at the end of the day, what good did it serve in the first place?

6.       The value of leadership camps. I went to my first leadership camp when I was voted Student Body President in elementary school. I loved it. Since then, I have been to several camps, and each one taught me more and more about people, motivation, aspiration, but more importantly, about myself.  In fact, the better you are at leading people, the more money you can potentially make.

7.       Don’t stay in the “friend-zone” too long, or it’s too late. Yeah. Better to make the move sooner. More on this later. =)

8.       It’s not about your accomplishments, it’s about how you treated other people. Many people build their lives on how many awards they can achieve, or how many trophies they can rack up, in their quest for significance. Awards and trophies are nice, but eventually someone else will come along and challenge that recognition. Sometimes people even lie, cheat, and steal to get recognized. Something that lasts longer than a title is the way you treat other people. That is the most lasting impact you will ever leave on earth.

9.       It’s not about you. This lesson ties into #8. I am definitely going to expound on this in a later entry, because there is a lot of unveiling required here.

10.   Jesus is Lord. Once this is revelation becomes reality, life makes perfect sense.