What is something you regret not doing in your 20's?

I am 26 years old and embarking on the latter half of my 20's. I am at a bit of a stand still right now with what I want to do with these last four years of my 20's.

Help me out ladies and gents, what is something you wish you did when you were in your 20's?

And if you are in your 20's let me know what you have done that you recommend.

Thank you in advance for your help!

What is something you regret not doing in your 20's?

Not worrying about what I wasn't doing in my 20's.

What are you worried about not being able to do when you're 30 that you couldn't at 29?

Maybe not having children in my 20's.

I actively try and live without regrets. I do what I want, or try to, as I want to. I constantly challenge myself to try new things. Have you done that?

I should have moved out sooner -for independence reasons - than in my late 20s. Also I wish I had traveled more and not been so desperate to get married (desperation, ironically enough, subsided in my mid-30s).

I turned 30 last month. Never thought about regrets of my 20s.

If I happened to have some regret of what I should have done in my 20s I would just do it now...

I never had regrets in my 20s either . But as I get older I wish I done somethings differently . ( I will be 51 soon)

I dont regret anything but wish I'd travelled more and done more of the things I wanted to do rather than what others thought I should do.

Yes, I agree with some of the others, I really wished I had travelled more. That's the biggest regret that sticks out in my mind.

I'm 27. I've traveled a lot, have a 4 year old daughter, got married...I wish I would've dabbled in a few different areas of work. I wanted to become financially sound in my 20s, build my wealth in my 30s, and start really enjoying the finer things in my 40s. But I jumped into a very specific field (nursing) and the pay where I live is not what I expected. And now I'm stuck. So I have to push all my goals back by about ten years. I'm just now starting to look into other avenues, and I'm hoping a few of these other options pan out. We'll see. I'm glad I went and experienced some of the world though. Staying in one place is like only reading one page of a book.

I've obv still in my 20s now, but the one thing I regret is how I focused too much on my s/o, and making them priority in my late teens, early 20s. I wish I just focused on studying and my career. Those other things aren't super important, but getting further in life is. Right now I'm doing pretty well, but I would have gotten further if I focused on me, versus external factors.

I wish I had focused on my career and paying off my debt.

Traveling more and dating longer (instead of a rush to settle down).

Also changing my major in school.

What is something you regret not doing in your 20's?

Not worrying about what I wasn't doing in my 20's.

 

What are you worried about not being able to do when you're 30 that you couldn't at 29?

I agree that we can do the same things when you are 29 and 30 years of age. I guess what I am trying to ask is what are some things you wish you could have done when you were a young adult with no mortgage, kids, significant other, etc... "Most" people have all these in place by the time they are 30 in my eyes. I am freshly out of a break up and am looking let go and try some new things.

Disclaimer: I apologize if I made it seem like 30 years olds and beyond are incapable of doing anything else with there lives, because they surely are, I just got a tattoo with my Grandma and she is 76!

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah I totally agree! We surely need to focus on ourselves before we can try and pair up with someone. If you don't know yourself then how do you know what you want in somebody else? I am glad you are doing well and you learned that in time to do something about it, I guess it seems like some time lost but you could have also realized that when you were 36 opposed to 26 so good job

Thank you for the reply!

Yeah that is something I have thought deeply about, even though I am recently single and am not in the position to have children I was in a three year relationship and that talk came up once in a while and we agreed to use our 20's to explore ourselves and our relationship by traveling to central America for a month, something that could be much more difficult with children. I feel it also benefits our children more when parents have a bit more life experience but sometimes that just isn't the way it is and we are forced to grow up. However if that is your only regret then you are well off

Thank you for your reply I appreciate you

Yeah I agree and am in a situation right now where I had to do some serious introspective thinking. I love traveling the world and quickly found out that the way I like to travel, which is long periods at a time, is not ideal for a relationship back in the homeland. I am recently single and have planned a six month trip to New Zealand, Australia, and South East Asia

Thank you for replying and taking your time I appreciate you!

I also just changed from Biochemistry to Kinesiology because it suits me more and I am very happy I did that before I dove head first into daunting and time consuming Biochemistry. What major did you obtain and what major do you wish you would have studied?

I certainly have and am living a very happy life. I just figured there is never too much advice out there.

Some thoughts,

I think it is so important to do new things and to challenge ourselves to get out of our comfort zones only to find that we are more comfortable in these situations than we previously thought. We have to understand that we re going to take the wrong turn at some points in our lives which will lead us to undesired outcomes. However, it is these undesired outcomes that help us to realize what we really want in life and to understand better what we don't want.

Thank you for the reply and view I appreciate it!

Well I will take this and hope to ease my desperation in my mid-20's I feel like that is what is expected of us these days: go to school, start your career, get married, and have kids. Then all the sudden you wake up and realize that you can't go travel like you said you would after you settle down. I personally am still at home but am itching to move out, although my living situation at home is excellent it is time to be completely independent. I am thinking about moving to a different country on a work visa for a year, what are your thoughts about that?

That is very true and I don't mean to say your time is gone and you can't accomplish anything at 30 or ever 40-50 and beyond. I am in a position where I am single with no kids or mortgage. I am not tied down to anything right now and am looking for something new and exciting to get into. If you have any suggestions let me know!

Thank you for the reply!

I definitely agree, we need to focus on what makes us as individuals happy not what our peers expect of us. I am currently planning an extensive travel coming up next year, where do you wish you would have traveled to, I may add it on the list!

Thank you for the reply have a great day

Yeah that seems to be the theme and I don't know if you are American or not but that seems to be the biggest regret here in America from what I have been researching. What are your thoughts on why that is and where do you wish you traveled to?

Thank you for your time to reply!

I totally agree, we need to get out there and experience all the world has to offer whether it be cultures or geographical sites. Nursing is a great career that is unfortunate that it isn't paying you what you thought. Have you ever considered moving to a different state? Also where have you traveled to I am curious?

Thank you for your time!