15 Things Highly Successful People Do In Their 20s
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You always come across people who make it big at a young age.
The success they accomplish, the IPOs, their overnight success but what you don’t see is the struggle they went through to achieve their success. Overnight success is a cliche term used a lot but really what is overnight success?
According to me, “overnight success is achieved by putting in 2 – 5 years of hard work, discipline, and determination towards your goals, aspirations, and financial success”.
Why Your 20s Is An Important Time In Your Life?
Your 20s is the perfect time for you to shape your career. To make real-life decisions and nurture your future, To create a blueprint for your life.
If something doesn’t work out, you can shift and try something new, it’s okay cause you’re just starting. This is difficult once you’re in your 30s and 40s.
“What you do today will determine who you will be Tomorrow”
Don’t waste your 20s on parties, alcohol, and drugs. Have some fun with friends but also work hard to achieve your goals. Invest in your growth in your 20s and you will be able to reap the benefits forever.
15 Things Successful People Do
1. Highly Determined to succeed
Success is your only priority at the moment, your focus on your dreams should be so big that you should devote all your time towards achieving goals others never dream of.
Without determination, dedication, and devotion you will be sidetracked, you won’t know which direction to go, and make a lot of mistakes (don’t get me wrong – making mistakes is a great way to learn, but making the same mistakes, again and again, isn’t the approach successful people take).
A determined man has high willpower and it helps him to beat all odds and strike when others lay back defeated.
If you think you can’t make it, you probably won’t because, in your mind, you’ve already lost. Remember the only way you can achieve is if only you believe deeply in your dreams. Only YOU can bring the change you long to see.
Related: 14 Expert Tips To Make 2024 Your Best Year EVER
2. Sacrifice today for a Better Tomorrow
Everything in life has a price and success is quite expensive. You cannot just assume that by putting in a few hours and enjoying the rest you will guarantee success.
In your 20s you need to put in all the hours, work day and night if you need to, maybe skip hanging out with your friends completely if that’s what it takes to get you to the elite league.
Mark Cuban used to code for 24 hours or more for his clients when he was a kid. That shows real sacrifice and real determination towards his work.
You need to start living below your means, you need to cut back on entertainment, relationships, and money in hopes for your greater goal.
3. You can either give Excuses or Results
When I was doing an internship under a company Alter Ego, the CEO of the company Abhay sir had a saying “You can either give Excuses or you can give Results, the choice is yours” I remember that quote every day and it helps me to work efficiently without giving excuses.
Don’t say you couldn’t do it, it’s a lie. Showing the results instead of excuses is a trait, successful people possess.
4. Learn to take responsibility for your actions
On a day when I don’t complete my tasks, instead of blaming it on the WiFi not working or having college projects to submit, I learned to take complete responsibility for my actions and get the work done even though it might mean cutting out some sleep.
Successful people know that taking responsibility is tough but needs to be taken.
That’s what separates successful people from others. Again this is determination at its best.
5. Save every penny
For the first 3 years, you need to go all in or all out. Trying to make room in between never works. Every step you take and every penny you save gets invested in your project and helps you have a better chance at accomplishing it.
Then you start seeing momentum in your projects, this is where most people buy luxurious things like a fancy car or a fancy house, and think they have made it but in reality, this is just the beginning of their financial disaster.
In your 20s when you don’t have massive family pressures, your goal should be to strictly save all the money, every last penny, and invest it in someplace you understand to grow more money over time.
6. Learn to Manage Time
In your 20s, you’re probably going to have a lot of things to focus your attention on, learning to manage your time is going to help you massively increase your productivity.
Remember “Money is Indefinite but Time is not”. Time once lost isn’t going to come back.
I suggest you start maintaining a timetable or a to-do list for all your daily tasks. Once each task is completed scratch them off your list.
Check out my in-depth article on the 17 Best Todoist Alternatives (To-do List Apps), pick one that you’re most comfortable with, and start managing your time effectively!
This way you get motivated to complete your other tasks you are aware of your tasks and you also learn to properly manage your time.
7. Read, Read, Read
Harry Truman puts it very well
” Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers “
Successful people know the value of reading books.
Books provide you with so much knowledge. Just imagine a book containing all the journeys an entrepreneur goes through in his career, all the mistakes they made along with how they tackled them, and their entire professional and personal life for a few bucks.
Sure you’ll never have Robert Kiyosaki as your mentor but you can learn all about his successful journey by reading his book ” Rich Dad Poor Dad”.
The value of reading books is immense so keep in mind, the more you read, the more you learn and the more you earn.
8. Master a skill
Your 20s are the best time for you to learn a new skill. Your brain is most active and productive in your 20s. Learn a skill that the market requires and which you find interesting.
You can do online courses from places like Coursera and Edx. Skills are an investment in yourself that gives interest and appreciation over time. Imagine learning a skill and using that skill to generate money for the rest of your life! Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
That’s exactly what successful people do early on in their careers. They learn a lot of skills from different sectors and focus on a few that they can monetize smartly.
9. Get rid of debt right away
If you have debt on your right now, you have a big problem coming your way. Some say debt is good, but it is only good if you have more than enough to pay off that debt anything soon.
Debt limits your ability to take risks, it creates a financial burden on your shoulders.
So if you have debt, try to pay it in full as soon as you can, and if you don’t have debt be glad and don’t take new debt. Many successful people start small to not take new
10. Try out different industries
I get it, most of us haven’t figured out a way to accomplish our financial needs and goals. In your 20s don’t just stick to one specific industry, jump from industry to industry, learn how each industry works, and then find your space.
Greek Philosopher Socrates says it best “ You don’t know what you don’t know”
If you just focus your energy on a single industry, you won’t learn any other skill. Each industry is unique and operates differently. You need to understand everything and use those skills in the industry you like.
Related: 19 Early Morning Jobs You’re Going To Love
For example – An engineer uses reverse engineering to solve a problem i.e breaking down the machine to figure out what’s wrong and then restoring it to working conditions. Skills like these can be used to solve problems more effectively.
11. Start a Business
Want to achieve financial freedom? Tired of having a boss over your head?
Starting a business or a side hustle doesn’t pay in the short term but in the long run, a business might take your finances to the next level.
Yes, you might fail in your first business but that doesn’t mean you should quit. Learn from your mistakes and start another business.
Losers quit, Leaders only Learn. There is a small chance for you to hit massive success in your venture but if you don’t start your chances are 0.
One of the biggest advantages is that you learn to think strategically, If you don’t work according to someone’s order, you make your own decision and figure out your way out of the problem. This is an invaluable skill you should start practicing right away.
12. Learn to grow your money
Putting in as little as $100 a month and investing it till retirement can result in more money than you might ever expect.
Let’s say you invest in a SIP where your monthly investment is Rs 5000 at 14.00% for 40 years, your total investment should be Rs 11.33 Crores.
That is a lot of dough, isn’t it? This is one way to grow your money. There are many more ways to invest your money and see even better returns.
Learning about how your money makes more money is a key skill you should start polishing right away.
13. Get a Sales Job
Sales are one of the most difficult industries to be in. Getting a client to buy a product or service isn’t easy, if they don’t buy your product, you need to come up with an alternate strategy to convince them and that is great thinking.
The skills a salesperson possesses are essential for all, if you want to crack a job interview – you need to sell yourself.
If you want to get a promotion – you need to sell the boss on why he should give you a promotion.
As an entrepreneur, you need to sell your product and its benefits to your customers. Even if you have a great product, if people don’t know about it because of your poor communication to sell the product, your business is likely to fail.
14. Find a Mentor
Successful people know that they don’t know everything.
You already have a few mentors in your life like your parents, your teachers, and me (your digital mentor), find another mentor for your financial life, one who will guide you to be an expert in your niche, who gives you business advice, tells you the mistakes they made and how to tackle it like a pro.
A mentor can surely fast-track your journey to financial freedom.
15. Network
Networking is an art successful people have mastered. It can easily open opportunities for you. Strategic networking can lead to promotions, increased salary, and new business opportunities.
Your 20s are the perfect time to go out there and build strong relationships with people within your injury and even people from other industries.
Ask yourself with whom you want to meet. Who can help you reach your career dreams?
And most importantly Why should they help you? What do you bring to the table for networking?
The Success Mirage You’re Stuck In
One of the greatest things about successful people is that they don’t lie to themselves.
They know that even if they put in the crazy hours of sincere hard work their product can be rejected by the market.
On Shark Tank, we often see that entrepreneurs who invest a lot of money and a lot of time in their products often live in a mirage. They get blinded and think that even if nobody is buying their product, it’s a win.
You have to be brutally honest and ask yourself, “If I am a customer looking at the company can I see the real merits of the company enough to let me buy its product or service instantly?”
Or maybe you don’t have company, you can ask yourself “What am I doing wrong?” And only if you think deeply you will figure out the solution.
Success demands great minds to think. At every step, you need to learn from your mistakes and pivot if necessary.
Don’t only focus on what you’re good at, focus on the “BAD” in your product or service, and start working for a solution.
So how old are you? And what are your goals in life? Share it in the comments below and we’ll surely help you if you comment!
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