The older I get the more I think about the things I wish I would have taken more seriously in high school and college. Of course, some of these things are really “I wish I would have listened to my mom or taken her advice…”. It may not seem like it at the time, but just trust me, really listen to your mom and hear what she has to say.

Now that I am 24 and slowly starting to feel like an adult there are a few things I wish I would have figured out much earlier in life. I wouldn’t say that these are necessarily regrets, because I learned my way eventually, but these are simply things I wish I would have figured out just a little bit sooner.  I’m not sharing these to complain or talk about regret, but in hopes that it can help other people figure it out a little sooner and not start late like I did myself.

(Photo from this post)

4 Things I Wish I Took Seriously Before My 20s

Health

Being completely honest here, I was SO lazy in high school. I did not care about healthy eating and exercise AT ALL until late in my senior year. I played tennis for 2 years in high school, but other than that my physical activity was minimal. Not only that but I didn’t pay any attention to what I was eating. When I finally decided to take my health seriously it was really hard to do. I don’t think I truly got serious about my health until my Sophomore year in college and it took me a long time to be happy with it. Because it took me so long I still struggle with living a healthy lifestyle, but I definitely try to make it a priority now. While I am thankful that I eventually adapted to make health a priority, I wish I would have started a little sooner.

Skin & Hair Care

Here I am in my mid-twenties and I am just starting to get his under control. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been walking around with out of control skin and hair all of this time. I just never really made it a priority. I wasn’t putting in the effort that I should have but now I finally am. I try my best to use (or avoid) the right products for my hair and skin types. Before I always saw this as an inconvenience, but now it seems like more of an investment. I have to live in this body after all, so I should do what I can to take care of it in every aspect.

Family Time

I was absolutely a homebody in high school (and a bit in college too). I spent most of my weekend evenings at home if I wasn’t babysitting. I’m sure to friends it seemed like I spent all of my time with my family, but really if I was home I was usually down in my bedroom reading, watching TV or just spending time alone. As a typical high school student I often tried to get out of family functions and begrudgingly participated in family time. Now that I am a few hours a way from my family and I have 2 other siblings out of the house I truly miss being there to participate. It makes me wish that I had been more involved in my family while I was still at home.

Saving

My parents encouraged me to get a job as soon as I was able to start working and even before that I would babysit for family friends. While working in high school was a great opportunity I wish I would have taken saving more seriously. Looking back I don’t even remember what I spent my money on so it clearly wasn’t anything important. I did put money in a mutual fund each month that I used to help pay for college expenses but other than that, I never really saved. It wasn’t until my senior year of college that I started saving when I realized I would soon be out in the real world in need of an apartment that I tried to save as much as I could. Luckily I was able to get by and my parents were very helpful when necessary, but I wish I would have saved to help myself be more independent much earlier.

Like I said, I am not sharing these as regrets. Simply hoping to shed some light on why I think these are 4 important lessons and why I wish I would have figured them out a little bit sooner in life. It can be rough getting a late start in some of these areas. The important thing though is that we learn eventually, its never too late.

What do you wish you would have taken seriously a little earlier in life?