Life they say throw back at you what you throw to it. There is also this old adage that goes
' when you throw a ball against a wall, it bounces back to you. So is life.
Life is a very complex issue, but one thing is clear , to be successful at it, one must follow certain principles or rules. Those who identify themselves and follow through their personal principles succeed and those who just live it anyhow unfortunately faces the consequences. Remember, the world itself is govern by rules. Without your own rules and that of the world's , you just perish.
Here are 5 mistakes people in their 20 do that can guarantee them a hard life or future.
1. Peer Pressure.
Most teens in their 20s are under pressure to explore new things. They want to experience the “feeling”, they want to “feel” the emotion.
This is the age of curiosity.
Marketing companies and the media primarily target this age group with much hype because they’re the biggest consumer groups of over-hyped information.
People in their 20s want to feel what their peers are feeling. They want to experience sex. They want to smoke weed. It’s not enough just to tell them “don’t do this” or “don’t do that” without telling them why.
Most teens at this age group are either in college or just beginning life.
Peer pressure is high and no one wants to be left behind in this hailstorm of fast-paced world of new trends, technology and new ideas. Everybody wants an iPhone without knowing exactly why they want it.
As a result, priorities are wrong, and as such focus is fueled by the need for instant gratification rather than the need to think about the future.
2. Wrong Company
Humans are social animals. They crave for a sense of belonging, otherwise they’re considered “abnormal”. However, sometimes this sense of belonging goes too far, and they find themselves in the wrong company.
People in their 20s are the most vulnerable group, because at this age, the hormones are raging. At this age, temptations are high, and teenagers are under pressure to explore new things. Most teens can't control themselves at this age group.
And before they know it, they’re doing all sorts of bad things like drugs, illicit sex, and alcohol. Sex is the most over-hyped. It’s available for sale, at the red light district and on the Internet.
Then they find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of addiction, substance abuse, fake love, and hopelessness.
3. Wrong Choices.
With too many shiny objects fighting to control your mind, it’s difficult to make the right choices. People in their twenties are distracted by a myriad things, most of which are not helpful.
People in general, not just young adults, are lost in this labyrinth of choices, and therefore tend to compromise themselves – their self-worth, values, and needs.
And without knowing it, they get themselves into anxiety, stress, shame, guilt, and self-hate at the expense of precious wasted time, life, talents, abilities, and potential.
At this age group, people in their 20s are the prime target of credit card companies and banks who don’t care that you’re still reeling in unpaid student loan debts. They bombard you with enticing offers so that you can finance your consumption, your car, a mortgage, and a host of other “luxuries”.
Many of them fall into so much debt from which it can be impossible for them to ever get out of. Basically, they’ve been driven into a vicious rat race cycle from which they’ll probably never recover.
Moreover, after graduating from college, most people in their 20s are still having much difficulty in obtaining a job in their chosen field of studies. So, now they’re faced with the uphill task of paying off student loans and thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
And before they know it, they’ve entered a vicious rat race cycle into their 40s and 50s without any kind of savings to take them into retirement in their 60s and70s.
4. Distraction
First, it was the television, in the 20th century that controlled our lives. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re living in the 21st century—the age of unreasoning.
Our lives are basically being controlled by gadgets, and before we know it, robots will control our lives.
We check our phones every 12 minutes, usually as soon as we wake up. We need to learn to push the pause button because “always-on” behavior is damaging to our long-term mental health.
Not that we have any choice of control over our gadgets, because they’ve now taken complete control and made our lives easier, but at what cost?
For real, where do we draw the line between convenience and mobile phone addiction?
If you ask young adults in their 20s they’ll tell you to “go to hell”. They’ll also tell you they use their phone to work, call the cab, plan the day, play video games, and talk to their girlfriends. Actually, some of them will tell you that playing video games is also work. Without the phone, they’re lost.
The truth is that they’ve compromised their freedom to a mere gadget, and now can’t live without it.
5. Procrastination
Finally, it had to come to this. Procrastination is the disease of the 21st century.
Although much procrastination is attributed to plain old laziness, most of it comes from distraction.
In its most basic form, procrastination is the process of habitually postponing more profitable and urgent activities in place of less profitable and useless ones.
This comes slowly and subtly, as an innocent habit of taking rest and doing pleasurable or “less boring” things in place of those that are less pleasurable and boring, while delaying impending productive tasks for a later time, “last minute’’, or even indefinitely.
If left unchecked, procrastination can ruin your future, especially if you’re a young adult trying to chase your dream while at the same time chasing pleasure.
Young people should strike a study-work-career-pleasure-life balance and avoid the pitfalls associated with too much procrastination in light of success and progress, vis-à-vis, failure.
Sports and outdoor physical activity is an effective way to kill procrastination for people of all ages, and should be encouraged, especially in this day and age where most people are opting for a self-imposed lock-down and the laptop lifestyle.
Credit : Flavian Mwasi Personal Development Life Coach at Life Advice &
Gabriel Mwini