Three Valuable Pieces of Advice for My 20-Year-Old Self

Almost everyone of us has at one point or another wished we could go back in time to right some wrong in the past, do things differently, or have knowledge about particular things, and hopefully that would have made things turn out differently. Just like everyone else, I've been in that situation before, and if I were to have the privilege to go back in time, there are some significant things I'll do, and today I'll love to share them with you.

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Like we all know, everyone of us wishes for a better life and wants things to work out well for us, but unfortunately, due to some mistake from the past or something we didn't do right, things seem to have taken a new turn that is to our own detriment. For me, this article will touch on three aspects of such a situation, so without further ado, let's dive into them.

So to start with, in accordance with the focal point of the prompt, the first decision to make is which age I would be going back in time to?. I'm presenting driving towards my mid-30s, so I don't really have many years behind me, but looking at my experience down the years, I guess I'll love to go back to when I was in my twenties, probably 20 years old me and inspire my younger self at that age with some key points, which are stated below.

• Be skeptical with trust: Looking at my life over the years, I've come to realize that overtrusting people has led to my downfall in many aspects, and these literally hinder my progress in life. After critical thinking, I realized most of this began when I was 20 years old, so if I were to have an opportunity to interact with my younger self at that age, then I'd advise myself to be skeptical with people and always have a benefit of doubt towards anything people say to me, because over trusting without a benefit of doubt can be dangerous and lead to one's downfall.

• Embrace growth and learning: at my 20 years, I was focused on coming out in flying colors in my academics, but I was putting in great effort like I should have, and learning isn't always all about academics, so I'll advise my younger self at 20 to be open to learning because knowledge is power and the more one knows, the further they can go. Had I had the driving force I have now at my younger age, then I would have been more successful than I'm presenting, and gunning for growth too can't be overemphasized because growth is a result of hard work, consistency, and a resilient lifestyle aimed at getting to the peak.

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• Take calculated risk: If there's one thing I've learned as I grow, it's the ideology that risk takers are the goal-getters; if you ain't willing to take risk, then you're most likely not ready to improve, excel, or attain greater heights, so in a nutshell, I'll be advising my younger self to indulge in calculated risk because it's the pathway to progress. I did take some risks back then, but because they weren't calculated, most of them failed, but had I vet and verified before diving into taking a risk, then I'd probably be a billionaire in Naira by now, because bitcoin was literally selling for less at that time, but due to my unwillingness to take a risk, that opportunity passed me by. Now imagine what my life would have been like had I done that back then.

That's about all for now. I hope you enjoyed the read. Thanks so much for your time. The writeup was inspired by the thoughtful Daily Post community prompt, and you can get more information about it in this post.

Have a wonderful day ahead.