Things a Young Adult Should Do to Improve Their Quality of Life

Things a young adult should do to improve their quality of life
It’s important to balance your long-term and short-term adventures and expectations:

Ø  The decisions you make as a young adult will impact the rest of your life. Consider the long-term impact of your decisions. You have the unique opportunity to be as spontaneous and wild as you like in the short-term. But as you grow and mature, your responsibilities to others around you will increase. There will also be other external factors that change over time. Therefore use your youth as a chance to have some wild experiences so you don’t regret missing out later in life.

Time and youth are your most precious resources. Currently you have an abundance of them but time is fleeting.As any older person will tell you, money is no substitute for youth. Money can be earned, spent, given, or saved. Time is not replenishable and can’t be saved. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

Currently time is on your side:

Ø  Take big risksbecause you're young and can afford to do so due to the relatively few commitments you have.

Ø  Travel as much as possiblewhile you’re young. Don't wait till you're retired. You may not live that long or may not be in physical shape to travel.

Ø  Always re-invest in yourself: learn as much as possible, keep developing new skills and educate yourself.

Ø  Don't be ashamed to seek professional help when life's got you down. Confide in a counselor, an older friend or parental figure. He/She has probably already been through the same things you’re currently dealing with.

Your 20’s are the absolute best time to follow your dreams. Travel the world, act, sing, dance, design something, create art, compose music, write, or start a new business. Whatever it is, don’t let anyone stop you, just do it!If you don't do it now, you may never fulfill your dreams (and with that, comes regrets).

Envision your older self reflecting back and thinking:

"I wish I had done ____" or "I wish I hadn't _____." or "I'm so glad I ____" or “I remember how great I felt when I ____.”

Ø  Try to fill in the blank space NOW and then seek it out! Reach for the STARS and don’t let anyone or anything stop you! Our ancestors have worked hard to set the foundation for your success. They have modernized our planet for you. Their lives were spent making this world a better place for you to live. The rest of humanity and our future generations are counting on your success. Make them proud!

A young adult should focus on the following main components:

Ø  Social Behavior and outward appearance

Ø  Habits and physical appearance

Ø  Dreams, Ambitions and Goals

Ø  Economics

Ø  Mind and mental skills

Social Behavior and Outward Appearance

Become a master of your social dimension including relationships, friendships and dating. Understand your emotions and learn to like yourself and yes, love yourself (but don’t be conceited or self centered).

Ø  Try toalways be friendlyand optimistic

Ø  Smile and laugh often and others will smile back. Smile as much as possible! It’s contagious.

Ø  Date often; for you need to build a relationship with someone you care about and a person that cares about you. Understand what you want and what a potential life mate should be like in order to deal with you. Your mate needs to compliment your weaknesses without criticizing them.

Ø  Don't be afraid of long-term relationships and eventually marriage. Other people have embraced these since the dawn of time for a reason.

Ø  Help others as much as you can. Volunteering makes you feel great!

Ø  Don't burn your bridges. Resentment and grudges will achieve very little.

Ø  Analyze your friends and seek out interesting, active and useful people. Remember each friend will be a future asset. Soavoid people heading in the wrong direction (e.g. with drugs, excessive drinking, unexplained irresponsible behavior, laziness, constant negativity, lack of ambition, odd cults, or extreme politics). Typically, you don't want these people around. They will suck the life out of you.

Ø  Break through the age barrier. Be friends with those older than you are. Seek out people 10, 20 or even 30 years older. Make them your mentors and seek out their guidance. Remember they’ve already been where you are and have probably gone through the same things you’re dealing with now. They will be thrilled that you’ve asked them for help and guidance and most will freely offer assistance.

Ø  Remember to hustle but not to an extreme. You don’t want to appear disoriented, confused or one who lacks proper planning. No one likes a lazy passive individual.

Ø  Don't make friends purely for self-gain or to elevate your friend count on facebook. Always keep in mind who can be a good ally for a future venture.

Ø  If you like pets, get one. It will teach you responsibility for another living thing. But don’t unduly burden yourself with too many pets or the wrong type of pet. For example, if you’re a college student who’s working a full time job, think about a reptile or fish. Being that your time is limited, they require a lot less maintenance. Whereas a dog or cat will consume a lot more of your time but in return will supply you with much needed love and affection.

Ø  Learn another language: It will allow youto make more friends, help you with traveling around the world and may even help land you a new job.

Habits and Physical Appearance

At this early stage in your life it’s important to develop good habits. You also need toavoid or stop the bad ones. This will become a huge part of your lifetime success and happiness.

Ø  Exercise regularly

Ø  Think before you eat. Make proper nutritiona key component of your lifestyle. Your health and life depends on it.

Ø  Learn to cook and prepare meals since you will do this every day of your entire life. Therefore, it’s important to learn it NOW.

Ø  Bathe daily and wash your hands regularly.

Ø  Brush your teeth and floss daily.

Ø  Groom yourself and dress appropriately. Remember you have to uphold an image of greatness so that you will be respected by your peers and your elders. In other words, don’t try to blend in with ripped jeans, a tie dye T-shirt and flip-flops. On the contrary, make yourself stand out as the best looking. Wear nicer clothes and wear nice sneakers or shoes when appropriate. Portray yourself as a notch above your peers and you will build your own self-esteem and self-confidence. This will help greatly throughout your entire life.

Ø  Drink plenty ofplain water. An adult needs 64 to 128 ounces (2 to 4 liters) of water per day and this does not include other drinks. The water is in addition to other drinks one may consume.

Ø  Takevitaminsor minerals, as needed. Though be careful and don’t over do it. You can take too much of a good thing and injure your urinary tract, bladder, liver and kidneys.

Ø  Limit your sun exposure and avoid tanning. Sun is necessary to produce vitamin D but too much sun exposure is carcinogenic.

Ø  Don’t smoke and don’t vape. Quit now while you’re young. It will seem nearly impossible to quit later and after all, you’re obviously hurting YOURSELF!

Ø  Don't drink alcohol excessively. Though DO have a little fun once in a while. You’re young and you deserve it. Just be careful and keep friends or family close by for a ride or moral support.

Ø  Avoid illegal drugs. That chemical may have serious unwanted effects and you may become addicted to it. The quick high is simply not worth destroying your entire life. You’ll find hundreds of other ways to have fun and have no regrets in the future. In addition, the money saved can be used for many other wants in your life.

Ø  Try to avoid tattoos and multiple body piercings. Most people frown on these and it could cost you greatly if you miss out on that once in a lifetime job opportunity.

Ø  Practice safe sex. Use condoms and birth control. Think family planning!

Ø  Don’t procrastinate and make sure you finish things you start.

Ø  “Try not to over analyze everything or you’ll waste too much time. You may find yourself suffering from paralysis by over analysis.” < earlier quote by Daniel Kochmanski

Ø  Be on time. You’ll avoid feeling stressed if you arrive a little early.

Building good habits early in your life will make them easy to maintain later.

Dreams, Ambitions and Goals

Create a list of your dreams and goals

Live your life for yourself, not for anyone else.Do what YOU want to do and need to do. Use parents, mentors and significant others as general guides, not as rules etched in stone. They are NOT you and you are NOT them. Lead your own life. You’ll be much happier in the long run.

Ø  Follow your individual goalsand dreams.

Ø  Be open-minded about your goals, ambitions and dreams. They will constantly evolve over your entire life.

Ø  There will be periods ofuncertainty and / or setbacks. Accept them and learn from them. Remember; you’re only human, you’re not perfect and we learn from our mistakes.

Be ambitious; work toward your goals and follow your dreams

Ø  Get educated and get credentials:college degrees, vocational certificates, trade skills and crafts, licenses, awards, etc. It’s good to rack these up. Go for advanced degrees in the subjects you're passionate about. It will develop your self-esteem and probably get you a better job in the future.

Ø  Get worldly experience:teach, tutor, and lecture in auditoriums. Share your knowledge as much as possible. Travel to new places, meet new people, discover new things and increase your knowledge.

Ø  Keep learning and make yourself smart. Try to be recognized for your successes in sports, hobbies, high technology or any other way you spend your time. Awards, medals and certificates will build your self-esteem. Hang them on a wall instead of placing them in a drawer. Be proud, feel your greatness, but don’t over do it. No one likes a person who’s self-centered or conceited. Modesty will earn you more respect.

Ø  Be patient. Your elders and mentors will have great stories, have worked for large companies, done intense research, created numerous relationships, and amassed great wealth but all these take years to build. Your time will come if you work toward your goals.

Economics

Be a Master at economics, finances and investing:

Ø  Start learning how tomake money work for you(not the other way around).

Ø  Get a core understanding ofpersonal finance. Realize that you don't need to be a pro right off the bat. Just strive to have a basic understanding. Your knowledge will grow over time.

Ø  Live within your means by obtaining cars, apartments and houses that are 20% less than you feel you can afford.

Ø  Establish credit cards to build your credit score but NEVER leave revolving balances on them so you STAY OUT OF DEBT.

Ø  Start saving NOW.

Ø  Money is not the most important thing in the world, butfinancial security will give you a lot of choices in the future, and choice is veryimportant. It can allow that transition to a new job in a distant place. Remember only 1 out of 4 individuals like their job. Be the 1 out of 4. You’ll have a much happier life and love yourself.

Mind and Mental Skills

Maximize your mind and expand your mental skill-sets:

Ø  Readas much as you possibly can.

Ø  Learn to think using multiple mental models in your reasoning. Use psychology, language, math, sciences, etc. and develop skills where you utilize all these tools on a daily basis.

Ø  Writeas often as you can. It helps organize your thoughts and makes you a better communicator. This will help your written and your verbal communication skills.

Ø  Avoid acronyms, initialisms and abbreviations when speaking or writing. If your audience doesn’t understand even one abbreviation, they may miss the meaning of an entire conversation or discussion. Henceforth, your time was completely wasted.

Ø  Master your attention and focus. These items are necessary for your future and will lead you to greater self-improvement.

Ø  Work within guidelines and learn to be disciplined. Be on time, and understand deadlines. Your 20’s are a time to be free and spontaneous, but remember you must have a happy medium between the long-term and the short-term.

Ø  Learn how totouch-type. My biggest regret in life was not learning how to type. Henceforth, typing this document with two fingers was extremely difficult. { Many thanks to those who’s thoughts and words I’ve used in the creation of this document. ~ Daniel Kochmanski }

Ø  Learn tothink logically and critically. Anything you do or design should have logical and intuitive aspects.

Ø  Keep learning new technology. Learn how touse internet search engines and how to do research at the library.

Ø  Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.

Ø  Read Maslow's hierarchy of needs and The Theory of Self-Actualization. Set this as your ultimate long-term goal. You can do it and you will do it! I know you can.

Ø  Keep learning the rest of your life. I repeat, NEVER STOP LEARNING!

Good Luck and share this with your friends!

Daniel D. Kochmanski

DDK (rev. 05-2017)

Please note: Much of the information above can be found on the internet. Do you own searches for concepts that will improve your quality of life. Don’t just sit on the couch. Get up and do something with your life.