The Worst Advice You Could Get In Your 20's

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my Disclaimer for more info.

25 Shares

You are scraping for all the advice you can get in your 20s, let’s be honest.

You don’t know what you’re doing and you’re hoping others can help you not make any life-altering mistakes. But you’re going to some of the worst advice you could get in your 20s.

What’s the reason? You’re listening to the wrong people.

A lot of people are going to act like they have the best advice you could get in your 20s are just going to say their opinion as advice – yikes. However, if they haven’t successfully accomplished the advice they have given to you then you shouldn’t listen to them.

the worst advice you could get in you 20's

What qualifies me to give you advice in your 20s? I only give advice I have successfully seen, researched, and/or accomplished myself.

I give health advice, money advice, faith advice, and more on how to set up your life for success in your 20s because I have either seen the successful steps taken over and over again without fail, I have spent my time researching the pros and cons of the advice I am giving, and/or I have been able to do exactly the advice I am passing on.

The worst advice you could get in your 20s comes from listening to those who haven’t done any of these things.

For example, you’re eating lunch with a co-worker who you know does not have a good financial system in place. You’ve seen them throw away money and heard them talk about their student debt sitting in the background of their life, with no concern to pay it off at all.

One day at lunch they say to you, “You know you can just use your credit card to pay for that trip to Europe you’ve been wanting to go on…and make it twice as expensive because you have a small bonus coming soon and YOLO!”

You, sitting there contemplating this for a split second, know that you do not have the finances to pay for a trip to Europe and that putting yourself in more credit card debt is probably not the best idea.

If you want solid advice in your 20s, then don’t listen to someone that isn’t credible enough to give the advice. You have to choose to only listen to reliable sources.

Instead, you should find a friend, a family member, or a different co-worker who has their finances in order and cares about their money, perhaps even too much, and then ask their advice.

Check out my favorite book on adulting here!

See it on Amazon here!

The worst advice you could get in your 20s comes from listening to those that don’t have the credibility to be giving the advice. Don’t settle for average advice.

It’s so important that you get advice from the person living the standard you want. You find the best advice by asking the people living their own advice.

If you want to live healthier, then listen to the person that eats healthy and is active in communities. My sister knows so much about healthy foods, even more than I do, so when I have a question on how to add a healthy superfood to my diet, I go to her. I do not go to someone that I know finds comfort in food a little too much.

In the winter, I tend to avoid working out. So, I go listen to the person that I have seen overcome ruts before. I know they value working out so I talk to them about the strategies they use to hit the gym again.

I also want to make sure I am using my money in the best possible ways so I find influencers online that have been handling money for years and compare their answers to my questions. I see what has worked for their clients, I read their book reviews, and then I might try to trial-run some of their action steps to see if they do give good money advice.

Once trust has been established I will follow them closely to get the rest of my money advice. Gain trust from the source before believing their advice and taking it to heart.

Don’t forget to Pin this image!

So how can you avoid getting the worst advice you could get in your 20s?

This is what it comes down to: get advice from those living the life you want successfully.

And going off of that, don’t take vague advice. Take the advice that gives you actionable steps.

“Be yourself” is not tangible advice. While you’re trying to figure out who you are in your 20s you don’t know how to act just “be yourself.”

I honestly believe the worst advice you could get in your 20s is to “follow your heart.” Like, what does that even mean?

First off, I know my heart is not smart. It’s stupid, and dumb, and goes after whimsical things. My heart wants things now and doesn’t think about the future. If anything, I need to act on my head, but even sometimes that isn’t smart enough.

Because your head and your heart might fail, you do need to take advice. Just be sure you take the most researched and thought-out advice out there.

I could tell you right now to “don’t make stupid decisions” but see, that’s bad advice because I am not giving you tangible, actionable steps. Don’t just follow your heart, do whatever you want, and be whoever you want. Take steps towards goals – that’s the key here.

The internet is full of stupid advice. Don’t listen to someone’s advice, including my own, unless you trust them, see that they have successfully done or are doing the thing the advice is on, or have researched the information to a great extent.

A successful life takes a lot of time to build. Don’t make a mistake and ruin it all by following advice that isn’t credible or tangible.

Check out my favorite book on adulting here!

See it on Amazon here!

Here are some examples of the worst advice I got in my 20s, some specific and some general:

1. Use your credit card as much as you can to build credit.

Don’t just use your credit card because you can. You have to have a plan. Credit card debt is horrible and could take you years and years to get out of so use your credit card correctly.

Your credit follows you for the rest of your life. You’ll see that credit report often as long as are still on this earth and you want it to look good.

2. Live it up, your student loans will always be there anyway.

This is a lie. Your student loans do not have to be there for the rest of your life, no matter how big they are.

Paying off debt is one of the first steps to a successful life. That means, understanding why debt is bad, why paying it off is so important (and so liberating!), and why you should focus on paying off student loans before you take a trip to Hawaii in your 20s.

And also on that note, never pull money out of your retirement account to fund your Hawaii trip either. That is money that shouldn’t be touched.

3. Get the house, the clothes, and the trip you want because YOLO!

YOLO is right. So make wise decisions, not stupid ones. The key to living a successful life is living within your means. Only purchase what you can afford, and only do the things you have saved up and worked for.

Now, in your 20s, is not the time to do all the fun things and own all the things. Sorry, I know you want to but you just can’t. Focus on important things first like getting your health, money, spiritual life, and daily habits in order so that later you can experience so much more.

4. Figure out what you want to do with your life before doing something, you don’t want to mess up.

The truth of the matter is that you have to take opportunities and risks.

I went into college undecided and left undecided in life but with a business degree in hand. See, I thought I would know everything I wanted after college. I assumed life would get easier with a degree because I would know exactly what I wanted to be.

Nope. I left even more lost than entering. But, here’s the thing: if I had waited to do anything I would be nowhere closer five years after graduation.

You may not be sure what steps to take but you still have to take them. Keep opening doors and jumping at opportunities.

Learn what you want to do, where you want to live, who you want to hang around, and more by testing the waters. By doing these things, making mistakes, falling down, and getting back up again. That’s the only way I have been able to find what advice is successful and what isn’t.

Don’t forget to Pin this image!

5. Getting a job after college isn’t that important.

Going off the last point, some people told me to just wait to get a job since I didn’t know what I want to do yet. They said to just wait and see what happens.

Well, waiting and seeing wouldn’t have paid the bills and it wouldn’t have given me any sort of clear direction. I know it can be hard to get a job after college sometimes but do something. Don’t go back to sitting at home pondering it.

6. Find happiness in your career. Don’t settle for a job you don’t love.

Yes, you need to find a job you love. Eventually.

That’s right, you are not entitled to a job you love right out of college. Sorry.

You’re going to be at the bottom of the food chain, whether you like it or not. The entry-level job you get is probably going to have monotonous tasks to do, boring assignments to complete, and maybe involve a lot of dirty work.

Whatever boring spreadsheet you’re assigned, you have to do it before you can move up.

7. You need to find a Christian husband at a Christian college and if you don’t you’re basically a failure.

Because of my faith background, I believed the lie that the partner in your life should be found in college and that they should experience those years with you or they might not truly know you.

I dated someone when I was in a Christian college for a year and thought he was the one. I thought I could check this box off in my life. He ended up not being the one.

This made me believe I was a failure. While at least half of my friends found their soul-mate in a Christian college, I was not one of them. And that was ok.

God used this to teach me a valuable lesson: true fulfillment is found in Him and Christian college is not the only way to find a husband that shares the same faith as me.

8. The best way to stay in shape and eat healthily is to learn more about it.

Being a natural-born researcher, I love to learn. But the problem was I kept learning and never applying. The truth is that one of the best ways to stay in shape and eat healthily is by creating daily habits.

Now I have a perfectly well-rounded smoothie each morning and set workout goals to stay active. Here’s something you can do right now: sign up for the half-marathon or a race length that would be challenging but not impossible for you to complete.

When you pay for it, mark it on the calendar and create a plan to accomplish that goal. Staying healthy means taking steps with accountability, not just scrolling Pinterest for recipe ideas.

Conclusion on The Worst Advice You Could Get in Your 20’s

Ok, so I could go on and on about the worst advice I received in my 20s. But it’s more important for you now to take this to heart and learn who you can trust to not give you the worst advice you could get in your 20s.

My blog is called GoodPointGrandma because we are learning to be wise in our 20s. Take the time to make wise decisions today by only listening to wise advice. Encourage other 20-something grandmas in the comments below!

The Ultimate Guide To #Adulting

Because #ADULTING.

Do you feel in the dark? I know I did after I graduated college! Here's everything you need to know to start your SUCCESSFUL adult life!

Bio
Latest Posts

Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma

Hey there, I'm Kelsey! I'm so glad you are here. I'm a 20-something helping you live your most fulfilling life. I hope you'll join me in this old-fashioned & simple lifestyle!