People in/were in your 20s, what would/did you do?

Drop the western view of fun - Clubbing,partying,getting high/laid anyone can do. You don’t need any hard skills for it. You have to change your perception of fun - I am a strong believer that 20s are for building your self. Get Up Early - Explore your religion/spirituality - Work Hard - Don’t burn yourself out but ya the seeds you sow with hard work will pay on later in life. Go Workout - Go for a Run- Go to the Gym it’s gonna help you live longer. Eat healthy - Quit Smoking Own Your life - Set Goals - Figure out your 2-5-10 Year Goals. And When you have started this journey feel free to out with your friends create movie worthy stories and find the love of your life.

In early 20s now. I don’t have much to do differently but would’ve been less arrogant in my past. I was insanely arrogant and cocky and lost some connections coz of it. Also 20s not for exploring didn’t climb corp ladder will never do that corp world is not for me.

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20s is about exploring but that doesn’t mean you hurt your chances of success In my case, I switched multiple company sizes (across early stage, large company, etc.) and domains (generalist, technical stuff) It has never hurt me. It’s helped me figure out what I like and what I don’t like. I’m doing better than I would have otherwise.

From the words of the great Daniel Fernandez "growing up we're always told, college will be the best time of your life, you should make the most out of college. Bullshit! Wait till 30 and you have money, that shit is Dope! And if you're 30 and you dont have money, you should have made the most of college."

20s is for heads down and make your own career. There are no shortcuts. Heads down and focus on work.

Chill out guys, I think at the end we all may end up living on Universal Basic Income 😂 No point in hustling unless you are hustling for disproportionate success.

20s is about exploring but while taking calculated risks, new job pays better but bad role, no, new job a bit less salary but great role, yes. Relocation to entire another state or country for same or a bit more pay, yes. These are the kinda things I'd term as exploring But if you were to say exploring mean literally diving into anything and everything, nope I don't agree. This is the prime time of your life where your brain is sharp, your body is fit and you have somewhat reached a mature mindset, this is the time to climb to success through calculated risks, if you have your foundation in itself strong, you can actually *explore* when you reach your early 30s

I'm in my early 20s right now. I was working in an analytics consulting firm, but I realised that I'm more into business roles and not into technical roles. I am currently looking for jobs in that domain. I still haven't landed a job. Although I'm scared I don't regret my decision to quit.

In 20 literally i don't know how to read people. But now thank God.

If you can try spending at least a couple of years in a non-English speaking European country as a student or a worker, please do it. I did this and it has completely changed me and for good.

After 2 years of working as a Product Manager in startups at the beginning of my career, I have become a full-time freelancer. It's only been a few months and the pay has been shit but I am enjoying all the free time, travelling across India and meeting new people. With proper planning and consistent work, I can easily earn around 2-3x of what I was earning when I was employed. That too with around 30 hours/week of work. I have never felt comfortable in the corporate world and enjoyed doing things at my own pace. So currently, I do not regret things at all. But who knows whether this freelance thing may still work or not after 5 years. Can't really think too much about that.

Almost out of my twenties. Got 2 degrees and shifted career twice. Starting CTC at 22 was 5lpa. Current CTC at 28 is 32lpa. Could be more but I’m happy considering I did a degree in humanities and now work in product. I think people overemphasise on ‘exploring’ and undermine strategy. You can’t explore without a goal because every action does have a reaction whether you like it or not. I decided I wanted to a) work in tech b) make money c) make products that are useful. I kept these three metrics in mind and made decisions around them. Explore, yes, but know what you want from life. Don’t make stupid decisions just because people have fed you ‘follow your passions’ as some mantra to life. It’s not. Follow things that give you stability AND you can learn to be passionate about.

Don't agree with being at the same level. You can grow, while shifting into different roles. You have to try to land such a job, and you have got to be fortunate. If you have good clear thinking, clear speech, good listening - your future boss might take a bet on you and hire you. You'll get your hike and your different role too.

I’m 30 now. My 2 cents - 1. What would you do or are currently doing about this? - I wouldn’t change much about my 20s. I traveled a lot. Explored most of India and stayed in europe for 2 years. Had two serious relationships(3+ years) that didn’t work out. Lots of lessons learned. 2. Do you agree that 20s is about exploring? - 20s is about exploring. There are few people in their 20s that know exactly what they want from life. Especially as an Indian, you need to remove society and it’s pressures to figure this out. 3. Did you explore in your 20s or did you try to climb the corporate ladder? - I don’t see why you can’t do both. 4. Would you do things differently if you had the chance? - The only thing I’d do differently is start my company earlier. Risk appetite decreases as you age. So if you want to take risks, start a company, join a seed/pre-seed startup NOW is the time.

Find a mentor/coach in your 20s. You don't need to make mistakes to learn from them. A mentor will help you navigate the uncertainty of 20s. I am in my 30s and am still looking for a mentor. I want to absolutely avoid repeatable mistakes.