10 Tips for your Twenties

1. Wear Sunsreen

Wear sunscreen. Always. ALWAYS. Just do it. Wear sunscreen. You don’t have to go out of your way to be tan. It does feel great to absorb that vitamin D, but…wear sunscreen. Protect your skin. Sun exposure is known to cause visible signs of aging and skin cancer. I got a bunch of new freckles and random new moles. This totally might have happened either way, but just in case it’s from the sun….wear sunscreen. Make sure to get your face and the backs of your hands.

2. Eat Consciously

It’s really easy to binge eat and stuff your face when you’re eating drunk, when you’re eating high, when you’re mindlessly eating watching something or talking to someone…its just not a great way to eat if you are trying to be mindful about how much you are consuming, trying to be healthy, or trying to lose or maintain a healthy weight. Try to eat slowly, chew thoroughly, and apprciate the smell and flavor of your nutrients.

3. Avoid Casual Weed Use

If it's medical that's one thing, but even so, there are so many ways to treat ailments without the use of mind altering drugs. If I could go back I would encourage myself not to lean on smoking so heavily, not to smoke alone, not to be so comfortable and casual with it. I still haven’t figured this one out but, if you can help it, never become a regular weed smoker. Try not to let it or any other recreational drugs become a part of the daily lifestyle. Straight up, just don’t smoke weed. Don’t get me wrong, smoke it with friends and every once in a while, but doing it all the time 24/7 inhibits your judgement, your daily experience of reality, your thoughts, your emotions, and is straight up an addiction!

4. Skip the Gel Manicures

Ok so in my experience, almost every time I get my nails done, I am dissatisfied, grossed out by the nail tech hygiene, don’t end up liking the color I chose, or WHATEVER. Invest in your own really nice nail polish and top coat. Sure get a manicure every once in a while, like once a year orfor special occasions, I'd just advise against doing gel manicures too often. Gel manicures are actually damaging for your nails AND expose your hands to UV rays and can damage not only your nails but the skin on your hands! Plus getting the gel removed also damages your nails and leaves them feeling rough and brittle. Just don’t do it. Traiditonal nail polish or bust.

5. Never Cut Your Hair Because of Split Ends

The split ends will immediately come back and you’ll feel ripped off for paying for it.

6. Participate

We live in a participatory universe. Get out of your comfort zone, do the damn thing, join the club, meet people, go out and do things. Expand your world. Put yourself in the path of miracles.

7. Never Force Anything

Especially in romantic situations or close personal contact situations. You never know people’s reasons for hesitating, not wanting to do something, or not responding to you. When you’re young it’s easy to feel shy about saying something that’s hard to say or that you don’t feel good about, especially to someone who you have a crush on or who you’re trying to impress or who's opinion you really care about. Go with the flow unless your intuition is really telling you otherwise! And don't ever rush beause you feel pressured. Always stay true to your values and if you forget what they, are make value board.

8. Go Slow

Ask questions. Ask about the process that’s involved. People are not always trying to tell you openly what they’re gong to do because sometimes people have sneaky intentions, like trying to get you to pay money for something that isn’t good for you but it's their business and how they live. Or they have different values, concerns, or considerations that you do. This applies to EVERYTHING - DENTAL WORK, NEW JOBS, NEW APARTMENTS, AND ANY KIND OF MEDICAL PROCEDURE.

9. Never Place Another Person's Wants or Wellbeing Above Your Own

Your 20s can be a pivotal decade in your life. It feels long at the beginning until you're moths away from turning 30! You might thing you'll have time later, but if there are things you want to do, see, or accomplish, put the energy in or make those changes ASAP. You are the main character and the best friend you'll ever have in your life, so you might as well treat yourself like you are your best friend and look out for yourself. It can be hard to separate what's good for you vs what makes the people you care about happy or comfortable. At the end of the day, youur safety and happiness is always the most important thing, regardless how preserving those things may make other people feel. Not to be cliche but, yolo.

10. Stay True To Your Values

Make a value board. Listen to your intuition. Do the best you can to honor your values and make decisions in alignment with them. This is not always easy, or fun, and we are all on our own journeys to identify and hone in on what our values truly are - some discover and anchor in these values earlier in life than others, some discover the values early on but explore other things and ways of life before returning to them. There is no right or wrong timeline, but just know that the more you stay true to your values, the more respect and loyalty you build with your true self.