Humans logo

The Urgency Behind Grinding in Your Twenties

It’s going to be over before you know it.

By Jordan MendiolaPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
Top Story - January 2022
12
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Why does it seem like many twenty-year-olds nowadays are spending more downtime than ever?

It honestly blows my mind. It’s as though kids are getting more comfortable living under their parents’ roof, staying at the jobs they hate, and failing to plan their next move.

At one point in time, I was a master procrastinator. I said I’d get to it later, but sometimes later never came.

My 24th birthday is next week, and it scares the absolute hell out of me.

You’re telling me that I’ve been out of high school for six years? These really are the roaring twenties, and time isn’t slowing down for anybody.

If you want to avoid being thirty and older with regret, more responsibilities on your plate, and slightly less energized, continue reading on.

These are your prime years for production and preparation for your future

As we age, we may feel a little weaker physically. Our bodies need to be cared for in the gym and by consuming healthy foods.

But that’s not the point.

As we get older, we may want to get married, start a family, and suddenly there are so many more responsibilities.

Time runs out to experiment any dreams you may have had — or too much time has past and that fire is no longer lit.

As someone nearly halfway through my twenties, I still feel lost. Not lost enough to stagnate and settle for what’s comfortable — just lost enough to feel excited about what’s to come without panicking.

On top of my full-time job, I work as a social media manager, and I am in the Army reserves. I used to feel like this was a lot already, but it wasn’t until speaking with my close friend from high school that I realized the ceiling is a lot higher.

Only 1% of people in their twenties are working their asses off in their off-time.

You’ve got a full-time job and are tired after work? So is everybody else.

  • Are you looking for a distraction like Netflix and Tik Tok?
  • Or are you looking for ways to excel beyond simply surviving your bills?

Money is the biggest thing that can set us back and cause us to stagnate. So we work. We must work in the off-hours. It could be a passion or side hustle that eventually becomes our main hustle. It could be a brand new career.

You could go out for drinks after work, pass out in your bed, or hunt some good entertainment.

But that’s too easy. Some of us are okay with that being our regular routine.

It’s ironic how you see more people who are unhappy or depressed about their situations, yet they do nothing about it.

I completely understand the importance of living life to the fullest and having experiences, but only in moderation.

There are only 24 hours in a day, and every day brings you one step closer to your thirties.

I’m afraid to hit thirty years old. I have this mental expectation for myself to be in a position where money is not an issue — at least in the survival aspect, such as rent and bills.

Let’s do some simple math to break down how much time we have:

  • Sleep accounts for roughly 8 hours
  • Work accounts for approximately 8 hours
  • The remaining time we have is about 6 hours.

Where are your six hours of “free time” going?

It might be going towards mindless scrolling. It could be spent working out and focusing on your physique. It could be anything.

The better question is, do the things you do in your free time set you up for the next decade of your life?

Some useful things you could do are journal your dreams, create a plan to get there, and execute them.

You don’t know how? The internet is free. There are tons of great resources, bloggers, YouTubers, and books available to us.

Ideally, you dedicate a handful of your free time to a skill that is eventually going to help fund your lifestyle.

As long as you’re working towards something that’s monetizable, you’ll be set up better than most.

I’m not trying to pedal the idea that we should all be entrepreneurs by any means. Entrepreneurship is hard as hell.

What I am trying to pedal is the idea that we all need to bring value in some sort of way. It can be marketing. It can be sharing our knowledge.

Your future money-maker could be cooking up in your twenties. Next thing you know, it’s funding your lifestyle in your thirties and beyond.

Final Thought

Urgency is something many of us have strayed away from ever since the Pandemic started. It took the backseat and many people got comfortable putting themselves first to the point where they became unmotivated to strive for more.

Without overworking and burning out, we should always strive for more.

If we let time continue to pass us by, we’re going to grow older and realize how much time we wasted.

Everyone outside of their twenties wishes they were in our position.

Let’s not be those people who regret not doing enough in our twenties, and instead, let’s continue shooting for the moon.

humanity
12

About the Creator

Jordan Mendiola

Jordan Mendiola is a horizontal construction engineer in the U.S. Army, Mendiola loves hands-on projects and writing inspirational blog posts about health, fitness, life, and investing.

linktr.ee/Jordanmendiola

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.