In Your Twenties and Beyond? You Should Learn These Skills

So you are entering the real world huh? Feeling lost and don’t know what to do with your life. Been there, still going through that years later. Graduating college is a great feeling but what comes after is daunting. I want you to feel as prepared as possible, even though you cannot always prepare for the unknown. We are going to talk about skills you should know in your twenties.

With so much about to be poured onto your plate, I want to give you some skills that will come in handy for your life ahead. These skills are not necessarily learned in the classroom, they are learned in the real world through experiences and practice. If you can refine and perfect these skills, you will go far in both your professional and personal post-grad life.

Cooking

Why is cooking necessary to know in post-grad life? Well, because even if you are okay with plain chicken with a side of bagged salad (speaking from experience here) usually that habit cannot last forever. Learning how to cook has a lot more benefits than you might think.

The first is saving money. Of course, we all love to be wined and dined as much as we can. But in post-grad life, there isn’t always room in the budget for that. Don’t get me wrong, I still am an advocate for trying local food any chance you can, but you should focus on cooking a majority of your meals at home. You will save hundreds a month just by grocery shopping. When you take the time to shop the deals, you will be amazed at how much extra money you have in your pocket.

It is easier to begin your cooking journey when you have people to cook for. I believe you should cook yourself nice meals and treat yourself because you deserve it, but sometimes it is so much work just for one person, that you often think “Why should I put in all this effort just for myself?” That I understand. However, it is good practice to invite friends or family to over for meals and show off your chef skills. When you cook for others, you often feel like you are giving in some sort of way. When someone compliments the meals or smiles when they take a bite, it gives the validating feeling you didn’t know you needed. Cooking for others also is a great way to get to know people if you are just starting out your friendship journey with someone. Food has a great way of bringing people together.

When you actively choose to cook, you are making a choice for your health. There will be days when you cook something not so good for you, but we have to do that or else we would go insane. But if you take ownership and decide to cook healthy meals the majority of the time, you are choosing a better life for yourself. You are what you eat. Choose the freshest food you can, even if that means using coupons and buying clearance because your body will thank you now and in 40 years. 

Cooking your own food helps you diversify your pallet. This is coming from someone that only ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for about 15 years of her life every day. Diversifying your pallet helps break you out of your comfort zone. You are more willing to try different cuisines, spices, and textures. These make you a more well-rounded individual giving you access to cultures you didn’t have before. I am not saying try everything that has always grossed you out at once, but slowly be open to trying new things. If you don’t like it, then you don’t like it. That’s that. Don’t force yourself to eat something that makes you grossed out when thinking about it. Take the journey slow and find different things you think you might like.

The last skill cooking helps you perfect is following directions. I think this skill has slowly been pulled out of us due to the technology society we live in. With AI and other tools, we don’t always have to follow directions or think. But following recipes allows a different part of the brain to be worked that normally isn’t. You learn what ingredients go together and begin to understand how important exact measurements can be. Directions are key to success when cooking, but also other parts of post-grad life as well.

Traveling

Traveling has become the new drug for people in their twenties. The hit individuals get when they book a flight, see a new place, or post a picture in front of some incredible view around the world is incomparable. I get it. I have done it. But why is traveling a skill to develop?

Travel requires some sort of planning (even if you book a last-minute trip) and time management to make it happen. You learn to do research on where you are staying, and what you are doing, and utilizing the resources you have to make it what you want. By the time you have reached your destination, you have already orchestrated a bunch of skill sets to work together. As you go about navigating a different culture, even if it is a few states away, you learn to lean on your common sense. You listen to your gut and sense on what feels right and wrong. Traveling makes us just a bit more hyperaware, even if you don’t notice it. You are watching your surroundings, looking at all there is to see, and observing the characteristics of others. Those who travel often usually have good common sense and can problem-solve quickly. There is a lot that can go wrong when you are away from home. You can make a conscious effort to gain some independence and self-awareness as you travel. As you become more familiar with eating at foreign places, getting to know roadmaps, and talking to strangers, all of those skills develop as well.

And of course, let’s not forget about the culture. Putting yourself completely out of your comfort zone and traveling to an abroad culture that is different than yours really opens up your eyes to the world. I remember in Rome, Italy, my sister, cousin, and I were just trying to find our way to our tour meeting spot but I could not help but stop and stare at the people around me. They were just going about their day as usual. Jumping on and off the train. Lighting a cigarette and drinking café. It was just so insane to me that this is someone’s everyday life but I am just a tourist to them. Anywhere you go abroad, the sounds, sights, smells, and tastes get you more familiar with what really goes on there. Embrace it and indulge in the different cultures. You never know when you will be back, if ever, so learn all that you can, do everything you want, and live in the moment.

Make it a point to travel once a year. It doesn’t have to be anything big, just something to get you away from your everyday life. You develop a lot as a person as you see new places and meet new people. The memories you make will be irreplaceable. You deserve to get away, even if that means going just a few hours to live like a local in a town you have had your eye on.

Maintaining Physical and Mental Health 

This is a biggie. In post-grad life, there are so many opportunities to let our bodies go. I think the biggest excuse and the most common word for adults doing life is “busy.” “I am so busy.” “I am just so busy.” “I just have so much I am so busy.” I am guilty of using the excuse. But I also don’t like it because, news flash, we are all busy. We all have lives we are living. We all have obligations and commitments. We all got THINGS.

But these things cannot be the reason you don’t care of yourself. We don’t always prioritize ourselves when we really should. We only get one body and one mind. That is it. If you don’t nurture it, you don’t get a second chance. Treat our bodies like we would want someone to treat us, with care and respect. You have a gift with the abilities your body has and the power your mind holds.

Now that you are out of college, there usually isn’t anyone holding you accountable. You are the only person that can make your life the way you want. You hold the power to transform and take ownership of your physical and mental health.

Take your physical health seriously. Make a conscious effort to do physical activity to keep muscles and bones strong. No matter what that looks like to you. Move your body because your 70-year-old self will thank you. Work hard to keep yourself in shape. You will never be as young as you are today again.

Once I saw a video talking about those who keep themselves in shape are often respected more by others. This is all too true because when you see someone who is in shape you immediately know they are disciplined, they work hard, they prioritize themselves, and they continue to strive to be better. When you feel that you look your best, your confidence soars, and you open doors you didn’t know were there.

Your mind is the same way. If our mind is struggling with no help and we are drowning in our deep, negative thoughts, that is a hole that gets harder and harder to get out of. Do things that put the mind at ease. Whether that is an activity, therapy, exposure to sunlight daily, or watching uplifting videos, it makes all the difference when taking care of your mind.

Your mind is so powerful. So powerful it can turn on itself. We have to nurse and redirect our minds to think positively, be filled with gratitude, and have perseverance so we can get through anything. This all takes conscious thinking and exercises to strengthen what and how we think.

The mind is often a forgotten part of the body, yet it controls us. Without it, we aren’t who we would be. Everything starts in the mind. If you commit to taking care of your body by writing what you will do, then your body follows. It all starts in our head. Don’t be afraid to invest in the one brain you get. 

Fresh fruit in Italy

Open To Learning

I truly believed learning was just a classroom term. But that was my ignorance speaking. We learn every day. Even if you aren’t thinking so, yes we do. Today, let’s say, you took a different route home from work and LEARNED it was much slower than the other. So now, based on your learnings, you will go back to driving the original route. You learned something.

We also learn how to deal with hard life events. There will be some. Unfortunately, we cannot escape them. So we need to learn how to deal with loss, disappointment, rejection, and so on. When we go through it the first time, we learn how it feels and what we need to do moving forward. Every day there is an opportunity to learn. Even if it is the smallest thing, learn something, and apply it to your life no matter how that looks for you.

Now that is just being a life learner. What about trackable skills? No matter what job field you will go into, you will need to develop skills. Learn what kind of skills would make your job easier, and invest in understanding that knowledge. Make it a priority to learn one new thing a year to help in your career. Whether that is taking a class, certification, researching something, find ways to get yourself ahead of the competition. These skills will be applied time and time again as you advance and you will never regret learning to do something that will help you grow.

Planning 

I already touched on planning, but this is important in post-grad life. Planning shows that you care enough about the future, no matter the distance, you respect your and others' time, and that you can take the initiative to make something happen. Our whole lives are plans. Yes, they are. You have to plan to go to work from 9-5 Mondays-Fridays. Then you make plans to see family and friends during the holidays. Then you plan your future by sorting through your finances. Planning touches every situation, even if it is last minute. 

Exercising planning skills will open your eyes to more efficient ways to do things. You will have more of your life aligned if you plan just a little bit ahead. For a small example, let’s say you plan to meet a friend but need to grab a birthday card first. You plan what time to leave the house so you can get the card and make it to dinner on time. That is the planning skill working. That skill has been developed over your lifetime to where you don’t even think about something so insignificant being a “plan.” Let’s talk big now. You want a house before the age of 30 and you are 25. Great! What is your plan to get there? How much do you need to save? Do you need to pick up extra jobs? If so, how will you plan your day? And so on.

When we plan, we invest in our lives. We care enough not to put ourselves in bad situations, big and small. Take some time to make a few plans, no matter what that looks like to you. Have you been procrastinating or starting some sort of hobby? Make a plan to start now! Do you want to be better about being on time? Figure out a plan of how you can ensure you are not late to social events.

Planning goes a long way. Life gets easier when you figure out a roadmap of some sort.

But don’t forget, plans can change:)

Public Speaking

When you think of public speaking, you probably recall the dreadful days of standing in front of the classroom and doing a presentation or reading a paper. Pure torture. Now fast forward to your twenties, and you kinda still do that.

I will say I have had to do more presentations than I thought I would in post-grad life. I am constantly doing webinars, in-person presentations, online presentations, and running meetings for my company. Hell, I help business owners run their marketing campaigns so I do a lot of talking to people that are much older and have more experience than I do. I would get really bad stage fright and still do when I know there are more than 10 pairs of eyes staring at me. 

But your twenties is about making yourself uncomfortable. You will have to learn how to take the pressure and piercing vision of those watching you present. You will have to accept the fact that you have to talk to people in small and large groups. So practicing this as much as you can gives you the necessary confidence to make yourself a better speaker.

When you are constantly speaking to people you don’t know, you work harder to speak better. Less stutters, fewer “um’s” “uh’s” and “like’s” in your vocabulary. If you want to see how you speak to someone, record yourself striking up a conversation and analyze how proficient you spoke. The more comfortable you get to speaking to people, the better your speaking skills will be.

You will have to talk to strangers every day of your life. Even though our parents said don’t talk to strangers….weird right? Now we have to in order to make it in the post-grad world. Every job interview is with strangers. Every order at a restaurant is placed with strangers. Every interaction outside of your home is with strangers. Breathe, smile, and say something positive to those around you. Sometimes, you never know if someone needs to have a casual conversation with a stranger to make their day a bit brighter. We are all in the same position, so why not make it easier on ourselves? 

Writing

You are going to write a lot. Not necessarily handwriting, but emails, notes, plans, etc. Of course, we have tools that will perfect our grammar but there is something to be said about practicing putting words down. Words have a way of speaking louder than our voices sometimes. This is an ancient skill that is quickly getting left behind with the technology we have. We have to learn how to relay our lives into words.

Write or type a journal entry a day, or even 3 thoughts you had today. Strive to put a bit more detail in your emails or texts that you wouldn’t normally. Making this a habit improves your writing skills and before you know it, you’ll be writing your own book too.

Using Technology To Your Advantage

There are so many tools out there, that it’s almost too much to even handle. When you learn to utilize the resources that you have at your fingertips at any second of the day, life gets a lot easier. This doesn’t mean cutting corners in any way, but somehow making more efficient processes of things you already do.

Find new tools that can help you in any part of the daily grind. Work tools, life tools, life hacks even! Use it to help you, not make life more complicated. Most of us now in our twenties and thirties grew up in the “digital age” and have matured with it. So we might know a thing or two about what's out there but don’t be afraid to find more!

I could go on forever about the necessary skills you need to handle post-grad life. But even with these skills listed, you will find that the most important skills come from experience. We all have our own journey where we need different skills. I hope that whatever comes your way, you are able to develop and mature your skills to be an expert in all that you do.

If you want more on what to expect in post-grad life, order your copy of What College Didn't Teach Me!

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