7 Things I’ve Learned at 27

It’s hard to believe I’m almost at myth10-yearar high school reunion mark and even though I’m not where I thought I’d be at this point in my life, I’m extremely grateful for every stride I’ve made. I’ve had great experiences, met some amazing people, and at the same time have asked the Universe, ‘why me’ a dozen times. Do I have regrets? Absolutely. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, but I wouldn’t trade what I’ve learned from them for anything. So today I’m sharing the 7 things I’ve learned at 27 in hopes you can learn from my mistakes and maybe change your path for an even better future.

thou shalt hustle

Have you ever heard the saying, youth is wasted on the young? Well it took me 27 years to finally understand it. I wasted a lot of my early twenties focusing on stupid stuff, chasing boys, going out, being hungover, etc. expecting things to happen, when I should have been hustling making things happen.

Don’t get me wrong, 27 is still young, but I see so many younger people expecting way too much too early on. They want the #yahtlife at 22. Yeah… me too buddy, me too. When I was 22, I thought I’d land a job at Chanel once I graduated college with a teaching degree and be having tea with Karl Lagerfeld on the weekends. Well, I’m still waiting for that job and I have yet to sip tea with Karl.

In reality, your twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties are all your hustle years and just because you’re not having tea with Karl now, doesn’t mean you never will. Work hard and be patient.

There’s no better time to succeed than now. You have access to more tools and resources than ever before, so use them! You can create any life you want for yourself.

Don’t be lazy, I know you want to “chill” and party, but you can party harder once you hustle harder.

to thine own self be true

The biggest mistake you can make is by making someone else’s. Be you, do you, and make your own mistakes.

If someone tells you to be a doctor, only be a doctor if you want to be a doctor. I can’t tell you how many times people have tried to steer me away from blogging. Listen to your intuition. Pave your own road. And when all else fails, remember they told Marilyn Monroe she’d make a better secretary than an actress.

P.s. Read this post for more detail on how to trust yourself.

thou shalt not speak ill of another

Coming from an outspoken, strongly opinionated woman, do not ever say something about someone that you wouldn’t want to get back to them. My mom always says “loose lips sink ships” and she’s 100% right! In fact, eliminate any thought of verbalizing your negative opinions of someone.

When you gossip about someone it doesn’t make the other person look bad, it makes you look bad. There are more important things to be talking about than how ugly so-and-so’s wedding dress was. In the big scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the time you’re wasting talking about someone else!

quality supersedes quantity

This little piece of advice can be applied to anything really – followers, boyfriends, clothing, friends, cars, pictures, gadgets, etc. Quality is always better. I’ve begun to focus less on how much I have, or don’t have, and more on the quality of the things I have. For example, I much rather have 100 highly engaged followers than 2,000 ghost followers. You see what I’m saying?

I go the extra mile to ensure everything in my life is the best quality it can possibly be. I’ll even pay a premium for something of quality, rather than a quick fix of cheap things because I’ve learned, you end up paying more trying to be cheap. Don’t ever settle, trust me.

success cometh in 2 ways

There are really only 2 ways to be successful:

1. By adding massive value to other’s lives – find what is lacking in your niche market or your area of interest and capitalize on it. Do something no one else is doing. Tony Robbins and Gary Vee are the masters of this.
2. Strategizing how to do it – research marketing techniques as early on as possible. Creation is only 20% of the process, 80% comes from a killer strategy.

Once you nail those 2 things, you’ll be on your way.

less is best

Minimalism is a trend that I hope sticks around forever. The older I get the more of a minimalist I become. I used to love to collect things from pogs (who remembers those?) to Beanie Babies to clothing to vintage necklaces, you name it, I’ve collected it. I also used to overdo everything from my makeup to my nails to my outfits, it was exhausting. Now I’m the biggest purger and I couldn’t be happier.

I read once that it’s scientifically proven that physical clutter turns into psychological clutter and who needs that hanging around? Get rid of anything that doesn’t serve you or you don’t find beautiful so you can live a much healthier, easier life.

she who believes it will see it

“You’ll see it when you believe it” is one of Wayne Dyer’s many powerful lessons. Your subconscious is crazy strong, so if you don’t truly believe you’re worthy of something, you’ll never get it. It has taken me years of self-sabotage and negative thought patterns to figure this out. This can be anything from landing your dream job, to reaching a certain follower count on Instagram, or moving into your first apartment.

You have to feel the feeling of what it would be like for these things to happen. Visualize it (vision boards are great for this), feel it, and then you’ll see it. I always do this when I’m trying to get a parking spot somewhere. I visualize an open spot in the front row and I’ll feel how excited I am to get it and 9 times out of 10 it happens. It’s the coolest thing!

I don’t have everything I want but getting a bangin’ parking spot is a good start. Slowly but surely things are coming together, and they will for you too, as long as you believe it.

 

What would you add to my 7 things I’ve learned at 27 list? Tell me in the comments below!

xx