Top Ten Must Do Things @ 24!

February 21st has come and gone; our Tita Ayish birthday is over and we are still celebrating her birthday! WOOHOO!

I believe it was Steve Jobs who said it only makes sense connecting the dots looking backward. So, in celebration of my little sister's birthday, let me look back, ponder and probably nag a bit. After all, we are only 24 once.

If I could be 24 again, these are the things that I would definitely do. When you reach a certain age of early mid late 30s, you realize that as much as you are still capable of doing certain things, your priorities have shift geared from your personal need to family needs. And that you can't gain momentum or acceleration as much as you would want to. I'm not saying it's more fun being in your 20s, I'm simply saying that there are more things more appropriately done when one is in that stage of life.


Here's my MUST-DO-WHEN-YOU-ARE-24 (25 the latest!) List:

1. Learn how to cook! Seriously, learn and better, learn to love cooking. It will consume most of your time when you settle down as an adult - single or married!

Before I tend to hate all domestic event including cooking. But it will play an important factor  in settling down, especially if living in a foreign country. I can only imagine how much money I saved already if I know how to cook, or have the patience in cooking like my mother-in-law! I believe NOW (and oh my, oh my - lightning and thunder please for dramatic effect - I was known to say it would be end of the world before I turn domestic!) that Home Economics is a more important subject than Mathematics. It may be a little exaggeration but you get my drift, I hope. It's important to know a little chemistry and math proportions in the kitchen. After all, cliche, as it sounds, the key to a man's heart is through his stomach. Probably not the same as my case, but bribing food to husband helps a lot. AND when you turned like a mother of three like me in a flash - home cooked meals are the best for the children. For various reasons, mommies who cook can enumerate with much authority than I - less preservatives, more control of food safety, less cost and so on.


2. Travel. See the world. Life is too short not to explore! The world is too damn beautiful not be explored by young minds.  If you think you can't afford it 24,  the more you can NOT afford it when you are in your 30s! Everybody can travel at age 24! All you need is  planning, creativity and will.

3. Invest. It doesn't matter how much, start with 1USD or 1 peso! But start NOW! The important part is to practice the art of making your money work for you! It should  to be a habit latest at age 24. Old habits are hard to break and it will become a lifestyle. Investing is not hard. Start early and save your retirement funds early in your adult life.

I didn't make it a habit to invest when I was single. Same as my husband. To be honest, we are just warming up on making good use of our money and resources now and we are having fun. If we have started early in life, if someone consistently nag us to invest small amounts of money, we would not have been starting from scratch now. Wasted time, wasted money. Invest NOW!

4. Explore. Don't Settle. Your first job maybe good. Your second better. At 24, you still have to find the best job for you. Do not settle with your current job. Do not stay for more than 5 years MAXIMUM in a job, it's not a partnership, it's a job! And study shows that you learning curve for one job is four years. After that, you are not learning anymore or will not be effective for the job anymore.

I remember this conversation with  a former colleague. He resigned from the company I worked for because of a better opportunity. He was so ecstatic that he said to me  that he will definitely work "forever" for that company. It was that good for him at that time. That was five years ago. Now, he's working in a different company, traveling the world and earning five times as he was earning in that company. So probably earning more than ten times compared to the company where we both used to work. Awesome, right?

If you stay in the company for too long, they will suck out the best of you and you voluntarily got in the  self made prison of self deprivation!


5. Connect. Connect. Connect. If you have met your best friend right about now, lucky you! But it shouldn't stop you from meeting lots of other people with similar skills and interest at you. You can't have way too many friends at this age. In this day and age where it is very easy to connect through social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and so on, young ones can get introduced to a lot of people online. But don't stop there, hang out with them and get to know them better. During my time of being 24 (not so long ago!) hanging out is with cool and not so cool friends are the best way to spend time outside work. Nostalgia is much more nostalgic with all these memories with friends. Enjoy the moment, make memories with friends.



6. Stay out of the comfort zone. Take risks. Go crazy. There will be plenty of time for routine when you get older. NOW is the perfect time to take risks, when it is so easy to bounce back and start over. There's really nothing much to lose yet. When you get older, it will be tougher to take risks and make drastic changes in life - there are lots of considerations to make - kids, promotions, loan payments, health.

Bored of your relationship with your boyfriend? Dump him! There really are lots of fish in the sea and there are lots of seas and oceans in the world! Why settle with the guy you met early in your life?! Bored with your work? Resign and find a new job! Bored with your community? Change it! Bored with your hair? Cut it, curl it, color it!

Remember, you don't grow when you in the comfort zone. You won't learn and succeed if you don't take risks.

7. Take care of your body. Eat right. Do Yoga. Go to the gym. Well, I am NO expert. But adult life can be stressful so better be physically fit and prepare for it. Besides, if you want to get older than 24, then living a healthy life is the way to go. Health is indeed wealth.

8. Prepare for your husband or wife. I was honestly going to put here Get Laid.. A lot! But it wouldn't be right for your future lifetime partner in life, right? Without giving too much information, my husband and I have been with a lot of other people before we got married. It was fun, I wouldn't argue with that. It was too fun at that moment. But being with the right person now, made us realize how wrong it was to be unfaithful to each other even before we met each other. Mistakes that we made before meeting our partners make the relationship less special, be it sexual or not.

So hold on to your urges, and focus on being the perfect partner because your perfect partner is coming to join you in your perfect future with him.

9. Unload your baggage. Travel light. There are way too much "good stuff" in the future and there's really no room for hurt feelings, hang ups and bang ups!

Got dump? Forgive, forget and be thankful for whoever he/ she is lost a lot and gave me tremendous opportunity to be a better person.

Got cheated on? Smile, slap him hard once or twice and get over it.

Office bitch ruined your reputation in the office. Get over it. Who would believe a bitch. ]

The more you care about the bad things that happened in your life, the less time you'll spend being happy!

So, get over it. Get on with your happy and baggage-free life!

10. Make your 10, 15, 20 year plan. Visualize. It's never too early to imagine your life in the future. Be specific with details. You'll be amazed with the power of mind.

When I was 24 (or even before) I have this I'm Going to be Rich Card and have some dreams about my life in the future, most of these came true. Don't know about the going to be rich, though.

If you'll follow only 1 in this list, follow this. DREAM. IMAGINE. VISUALIZE. PLAN FOR IT. And while you are it, DREAM BIG. No dreams are big enough for a dreamer who has a plan!




Keep celebrating life!