Why should you form good habits in your 20s?

Your 20s are an essential time in your life for developing good habits.

It’s the stage in most people’s lives with the highest number of opportunities and the least amount of responsibility.

You have significant control over how you spend your time and where you spend your money.

The 20s are crucial for creating good habits that will produce all kinds of benefits in the coming years.

It’s harder to make lasting changes later in life, and the way you spend your 20s will have a massive impact on your future success as an individual. 

I’ve broken down these habits into four primary areas of life: health, wealth, mindset, and productivity.

Investing in these core pillars of success will set you up for prosperity in the coming years.

You can head into your 30s and 40s with a stable savings account, a healthy and energized body, an organized home, and an abundant mindset. 

Health

1. Organize your medical needs. 

Get a regular general practitioner and a dentist. Make sure you are on track for your gynecology and dentist appointments as well.

See your health providers for routine checkups as often as recommended, and be sure to file all your medical paperwork. 

2. Get your body moving. 

Invest some time in finding a physical activity you genuinely enjoy. It could be yoga, or hiking, or aqua aerobics!

As long as you routinely set aside time in your day to get your heart pumping and your muscles moving, you are on the right track.

No good ever came from a sedentary lifestyle!  

3. Learn to eat right. 

We all know that yo-yo dieting is a dead-end road that only leads to heartache and increased weight gain.

Instead of going all or nothing on fad diets, take time to develop a balanced diet that incorporates foods beneficial to your long-term health.

If you need help identifying what diet is best for you, consider visiting a natural medicine doctor for their professional opinion.

RELATED: How Eating Paleo Changed My Life. 

4. Drink more water. 

We all know that drinking plenty of water is probably the single most beneficial habit we can develop for our health.

Yet so many of us (myself included) choose a cup of coffee or a glass of wine over a glass of water.

Being well-hydrated is essential for your body’s preservation of elasticity and shine as it ages. Don’t forget to drink your two liters! 

5. Care for your skin.

 Skincare has become something of a fad in recent years.

Still, there’s no denying its importance in maintaining a youthful, glowing complexion.

If you’re not sure where to start with skincare, check out my guide to developing a skincare routine. 

Wealth

6. Start saving money. 

As my late grandmother is famous for saying, “It’s not what you make. It’s what you save.”

Though it might seem impossible to save on what you currently earn, there are always creative ways to put away a few dollars every week.

Your future self will thank you!

RELATED: 12 Ways to Save Money Today. 

7. Track your spending.

 If you hate budgets as much as I have, an excellent place to start is with tracking your spending.

It’s an easy way to get some real numbers to work with as you start your journey to financial success.

I wrote a whole post about ways to organize your finances that can help you get started. Find it here. 

8. Create financial goals.

 I’m a huge fan of goal setting.

There’s something so exciting about dreaming up big things for the future!

I’m learning to get excited about financial goals as well.

It can be something practical, like creating an emergency fund or saving for a down payment on a house.

The sky is the limit!

9. Buy things that matter. 

Whether it’s a backpacking trip through Peru or investing in a real set of furniture, make sure you’re spending your money where it counts!

I love buying quality pieces and making my house a home (now that I’ve mostly dealt with my travel bug!).

Whatever it is to you, prioritize those essential investments. 

10. Get a financial planner. 

No, I don’t mean a notebook – I mean an actual financial advisor!

It’s never too early to start planning for retirement, and the sooner you get the ball rolling, the better!

It’s a great idea to get a third-party, non-biased professional to counsel you through the process of making a financial plan. 

Mindset

11. Start now. 

Learn to develop a mentality of immediate action.

Do you want to start eating healthier?

Don’t make an elaborate menu for next week; instead, focus on choosing healthier options TODAY.

You’ll be amazed at how natural changing your lifestyle can be when you begin focusing on the present rather than the future. 

Developing good habits now is more valuable than planning for them tomorrow!

12. Practice affirmations. 

I’m a huge believer in the power of meditating on powerful, meaningful truths – often referred to as affirmations.

You can find affirmations to meditate on from several places, from eBooks to Pinterest.

Get in the habit of reflecting on one or two affirmations each day, and you’ll be surprised at the positive impact on your daily life!

RELATED: How to Practice Affirmations

13. Get grateful. 

Substantial proof exists that gratitude can chemically affect your brain to improve your outlook, attitude, and energy!

Grab a notebook and start listing the things for which you are thankful. To begin, aim to fill a page a day.

Keep pushing yourself to be very specific with your gratitude list!

When we recognize all our blessings, it’s easy to see the vast number of opportunities at our doorsteps. 

RELATED: 50 Mindset Journaling Prompts for Your Daily Practice

14. Be done with damaging forms of self-care.

Self-care has become a bit of a buzzword lately.

We incorrectly use it to convey anything that makes us temporarily happy – whether it’s suitable for our long-term wellness or not.

Unhealthy self-care is a mistake!

Eating a whole pizza and a tub of ice cream and lying on the couch for 36 hours might make you feel better for a while.

However, it is overall damaging to your physical and mental health.

Learn to choose forms of self-care that truly nourish your soul and body. 

15. Invest in people. 

If you are like me and have social anxiety, it might help you know that most people have similar feelings when making friends.

That’s okay! Start small by maintaining the friendships you already have. Text or call a few friends a week.

Set up a coffee or lunch date.

Try connecting with a coworker or attend an event that interests you.

Having meaningful relationships as an adult is important for creating memories, enduring hard times, and growing as people. 

You’ll be glad you developed the good habit of connecting with others.

Productivity

16. Stop craving motivation. 

It’s a freeing revelation when you understand that NOBODY is ALWAYS motivated to meet their goals.

Whether it’s building the habit of exercise or waking up early or budgeting your money, it’s helpful to recognize that you’re not always motivated. 

And that’s okay. Stop training yourself to rely on motivation to get things done.

Learn to say to yourself, “I’m not motivated to _______ at all, but I’m doing it anyway.”

The achievement you will feel after completing a task you didn’t want to do will build discipline, a far more powerful tool than fickle motivation. 

RELATED: How to Become Self-Disciplined

17. Audit your time. 

As the saying goes, time is money, and time is probably the most valuable resource.

How funny that we are so often careless with our most precious asset!

I never realized how much time I wasted until I started tracking my use of time from the moment I got up to the moment I went to bed.

I was able to see patterns in my day when I was the least energized and make changes in my health and diet to improve those “tired times.”

Another lifesaver is the screen time feature on your iPhone, which will provide you with an itemized report on your phone usage each week.

My initial screen time reports were staggering, but looking at the numbers allowed me to develop good habits with social media. 

18. Level up your down time

We all need downtime, but why not relax and learn something at the same time?

Instead of watching FRIENDS for the 50th time, make a list of the best TV shows of all time and start working your way through it!

Do you watch every soapy chick-flick that Netflix throws on your homepage?

Check out this list of 100 Best Movies of All Time instead. Consuming high-quality media will stimulate your brain and make you more a more cultured individual – not to mention a valuable player on trivia night! 

19. Master time blocking.

Of all the good habits we can develop, mastering the art of focus might be the most powerful.

Instead of making a to-do list and hopping between tasks all day, try creating blocks of time in your schedule for similar tasks.

Grouping tasks together and working on them for a set amount of time allows you to focus without interruption for longer periods.

20. Plan Ahead.

Those who plan more get more done!

Develop the good habit of using a few hours on the weekend to plan your upcoming week.

Batch your tasks, schedule your menu, and pencil in your appointments.

Anything is possible when you’re well-prepared!

Good Habits, Great Future

Think of good habits as an investment in a happy, healthy future. The time to take advantage of your numerous skills and resources is now. Happy habit-ing!

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