The Psychology of your 20s - 340. The 10 regrets I have about my 20s (so far)

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Today I'm reflecting on some of the lessons I've been taking from my early 20s. We all have regrets about things we wish we'd done differently or not done at all, and I'm hoping you can learn from min...e.  We talk about everything from bad financial decisions, ghosting friends, staying in relationships farrr too long, to impulse buying, ignoring gut feelings and fighting with family. Listen now to hear all ten!  ORDER MY BOOK Follow Jemma on Instagram: @jemmasbeg Follow the podcast on Instagram: @thatpsychologypodcast For business: psychologyofyour20s@gmail.com  The Psychology of your 20s is not a substitute for professional mental health help. If you are struggling, distressed or require personalised advice, please reach out to your doctor or a licensed psychologist.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 2%. That's the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%. I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world.
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Starting point is 00:02:15 Hello everybody and welcome back to the psychology of your 20s, the podcast where we talk through some of the big life changes and transitions of our 20s and what they mean for our psychology. Hello everybody. Welcome back to the show. welcome back to the podcast, new listeners, old listeners, wherever you are in the world. It is so great to have you here back for another episode as we, of course, break down the psychology of our 20s. Okay, if the audio sounds a little bit different on this episode, it's because Sydney Airport today decided that it would be really fun to divert all of the airport traffic over my house.
Starting point is 00:03:02 So I was like trying to record this. I have tried to do like this episode four or five times. And every time I'm about to get into it, like a DHL mega cargo plane is like a kilometer away from like my windows. So we kind of change things up today. And I'm recording in my like hallway cupboard situation. So breaking the fourth wall there to address if this sounds like a little bit different from my other episodes. But today, guys, we're going to do a little bit more of a personal episode.
Starting point is 00:03:38 Obviously, I like to talk about our 20s in general and I like to have like psychological conversations around why we experience what we do, when we do in this decade, why it's so chaotic. But every now and again, I do like to do a little bit more of a personal episode, more so for me. I feel like this podcast is many things to many people. But for me, it's also kind of like a personal diary or a little bit of like a kind of like one of those things called a time capsule where I want to do certain episodes specifically for future me to listen to and to reflect on. And this today is one of those episodes. A couple of months ago I released one of my favorite episodes ever, which was the 20 biggest mistakes people make in their 20s. That was like
Starting point is 00:04:26 so many months of work went into that episode. And it basically, it basically, just, you know, we talked to over 5,000 people about what they regretted and why. And since that, I've really started to think about, hey, like, do I regret about my 20s so far? What are the things that I might point to later on in life and say, oh, I wish I'd done that differently. And so since that episode has come out, I've kind of started compiling my own list and like writing things down here and there, both like from recent memory and from like my much earlier 20s. And today I thought that I would share that list. Now, especially as I'm kind of definitely entering my later 20s, I have found that I've become more reflective. I'm definitely waiting for my Saturn return to like come and kick me in the
Starting point is 00:05:13 butt. And before that happens, I want to make sure that like I have been taking as many lessons as I can from my experiences and that the stuff that I'm going through, whether good or bad, will actually stay with me. So this is kind of the combination of all of that thinking. And all of that reflecting on what I regret, what I would change, how I want to kind of go into the last few years of my 20s really prioritizing and thinking about. And I thought maybe just maybe someone else could benefit from this as well. So without further ado, we're going to talk about my 10 biggest regrets from my 20s so far, spanning from dating to friendship to money, my health, how I've made use of my time and certain chapters of my life, and so many other things.
Starting point is 00:06:06 I hope you enjoy. I hope you learn something. Let's get into it. Okay, so when I was thinking about one of my biggest regrets, the first one was so painstakingly, like, obvious to me. Like, there is no question that the biggest regret I have so far is, doing things for others that I really didn't want to do. That's my biggest regret. Number one is all the times when I have felt deep in my stomach and deep in my body, I don't want to do this. I don't want to be here. Why did I say yes to this? Why do I continue to say yes to these things? And yet,
Starting point is 00:06:54 I'm still in that situation time and time again. This is probably the biggest thing that I am currently trying to sort out within myself and trying to make better. I think at least once a week, I have like a conversation with myself where I'm like, what are we doing? Why did we agree to go to this event? Why do we agree to say yes to this thing, even though like it's incredibly like time heavy and you're not getting paid anything and you don't even like these people? Like, that was a recent one where I was like, what am I, why did I say yes to that?
Starting point is 00:07:34 Why did I agree to help with this person's, I don't know, baby shower when they've never actually ever been very nice to me? Why did I do this favor for someone? Like, it's a repeat pattern that I honestly find myself in more often than I want to be. And I regret it. I regret it every single time. I think when I really like break down why this is happening, like it's historical. It's deeply historical and it's deeply like related to the worth I felt as a child.
Starting point is 00:08:12 And I've spoken about this on the podcast before. But when I was a kid, when I was in primary school and even when I was in high school, I was bullied really, really badly. And I had all these experiences where I really wanted a friend and I really wanted people to like me and like I just couldn't figure it out. Like all these other kids seem to just like have this quality about them that made other people like them and I didn't have that quality. In fact, I had the quality that made people find me irritating or not like me or kind of
Starting point is 00:08:43 victimized me in a bit of a way. And so as I got older, I think one of the strategies I learnt is that if you just constantly do things for other people, then they'll like you more. if you are constantly like the yes person and the pushover, you get invited. You get to see behind the scenes. People include you, and they include you, maybe not because they consciously know this, but unconsciously because they know that you will help them and you will bend over backwards for them and you will sacrifice for them and you won't stand up for yourself.
Starting point is 00:09:21 this obviously was like very helpful to me and I have to acknowledge it was helpful for me when I was younger and when I just really wanted to be liked and I really just needed a friend. Nowadays like I have friends and I have a really great life and I feel a lot more confident. I have a much greater sense of self-esteem. This is no longer helpful for me and it's no longer useful and in fact it's like really starting to cost me. And I'm trying not to go into specifics because, like, I'm sure there are people who I've said yes to when I really didn't want to do things in the past who I'm listening to this podcast. And the thing is, is that it's not their fault, right? It's, this is another lesson.
Starting point is 00:10:05 Like, it's not someone's fault if I continue to say yes when I want to say no. Yes, there is certainly, like, perhaps layers of recognition that this is a weakness of mine and maybe a desire to manipulate. that without them knowing it. But at the end of the day, these things that I'm saying yes to are relatively like low stakes. They're just irritating to continually do. I kind of have to, I don't know, I need to like warm up and say no to these things. That's a summary of my biggest regret. And obviously you can tell that it's something that I'm still trying to undo and hopefully in five years time when I'm making like the final complete list of my regrets of my 20s all up. This does not make the list and it is something that I have recovered from. But yeah, I'm
Starting point is 00:10:55 sure a lot of people can relate to it. My second biggest regret, like I feel like the first one is very existential and very much about like self-concept and self-respect and childhood wounds. This next one is not so much. It is impulse buying clothes that weren't comfortable or didn't fit or I knew I would never wear. Big tone shift there, a big one. 80, but I'm obviously like preparing to move countries at the end of the year. Like visas are approved, flights are booked, plans and preparations are in process. And I am like looking through my wardrobe and realizing that I may have like an impulse spending problem and that I buy a lot of stuff that I never wear.
Starting point is 00:11:45 And it is a huge money pit for me. I genuinely think I wear the same six outfits. Like, I, yeah, I really, like, I've been doing the math and I've been asking myself the question and getting rid of things. Like, have I worn this in the last six months? And there are probably, like, 12 items of clothing that I genuinely wear. And the rest is just stuff that, like, sits there and is filled with the potential of, like, maybe one day I'll wear this. maybe one day I'll be confident enough to wear that. Maybe one day I'll suddenly be this different person who wears these things.
Starting point is 00:12:22 And I just kind of know that I'm not. Like, I know that these things don't make me comfortable. And I just really regret how much money I have put into clothes or items that I thought were going to be the final thing that made me feel good. Or like, the final thing that was going to fill the void or like the final item that I needed to have the most perfect wardrobe and feel confident every. every single time I put something on. It is honestly just a waste of space. And I am seriously considering doing a little bit of a capsule wardrobe, just selling everything except for like the clothes I know I wear on a daily.
Starting point is 00:13:00 And starting from scratch or just like not buying anything else and seeing how long I can last, I feel like my move to London is going to be a great opportunity for me to try out the minimalist lifestyle. I don't know how successful I will be. but yeah, the second biggest regret is the money that I have put into clothes and items that were really just like representing my desire to be someone that I was not. And I haven't like really recognized that until now. My third biggest regret now it kind of turns more towards relationships.
Starting point is 00:13:35 And I honestly think it's one that I wasn't like I know this was one I wasn't going to include because of how it may make me look like a bad person or may make me look inconsiderate, but it is ghosting friends, even people who weren't not good friends to me. There is like one person in particular that I think about who our friendship was deeply problematic for many reasons, emotional but also financial reasons,
Starting point is 00:14:07 like at the end of the day, the reason it didn't last was because of how this person treated money and how they kind of took advantage of me for money in a way that felt like really awful. And I know that we weren't meant to be friends and that there were things that couldn't be repaired. But I really regret not having that final conversation with this person and not just clearing the air. I don't think it would have done anything. I don't think that they would have changed, but sometimes I, yeah, I just, maybe they wouldn't have seen that it was an issue, but I really regret not giving them that and not giving myself that as well. And my freaking phone has been doing this thing where they have, where it's been like showing me photos of this person.
Starting point is 00:15:04 like every single day I get a photo of this previous friend and I can't stop thinking about them and yeah like wanting to reach out but also knowing it's not for the best and I just think that that is a lesson that the only thing left in that is the lesson to not do that in the future and to have hard conversations. I've definitely done it in the past as well but I do think that my default is to just like not hurt people's feelings and to not want to let people down. not realizing that sometimes that's kind of selfish. Like, it's kind of selfish to not want to experience the discomfort of upsetting people, but therefore maybe actually making it a more upsetting experience for them.
Starting point is 00:15:52 Big lessons in that, but it has been a regret of mine, and I wish that I could go back and finish certain friendships and finish certain relationships better. maybe not relationships. I will say, I feel like I'm someone who's pretty good to break up with and I'm good at doing the breaking up, but definitely friendships. Like, I just feel like the way that you really love someone is reflected in how the relationship ends.
Starting point is 00:16:23 And I definitely could have honored other friendships and friendships of mine better in the goodbye. That's regret number three. Let's talk about regret number four before we take a second. short break. And this is one that I think, I wish, I wish someone had told me at 19 and I had listened to them, although I don't think I would have. I regret focusing too much on dating in my early 20s. If you are 19 or younger, or if you are 20 or 21, listen to me closely right now. If you do not have a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a partner right now and you are thinking that you need one to kind of fulfill other people's expectations or to make you happier, you do not. Please, please, be single right now, have a lot of fun, make a lot of amazing friendships.
Starting point is 00:17:22 Make the first five years of your 20s be about building stable community and a support network. you do not need to start focusing on dating until you are at least 25. And I know that that brings up complicated feelings. I know that a lot of people may have met the love of their life in their early 20s, and it's worked out incidentally, like really amazing. And I know a lot of people have a lot of fears around being a late bloomer or never finding anybody or not having experience. But I am telling you from my perspective and looking back at my life,
Starting point is 00:17:56 I regret so deeply how much time and energy I put into trying to make men like me, trying to fall in love, trying to force relationships that did not work, when I could have spent all of that energy on so much else. Like there was a particular relationship I had in my early 20s. Like when I was 21, I went through two breakups in one year. And in that same period of time, like being in those relationships, like decimated half of my friendships. And oh my God, for what? Like genuinely for what? I take like full accountability for the fact that, you know, being in that relationship was a terrible
Starting point is 00:18:40 decision and made me act terribly as a person. And I just wish I could, like, I didn't really learn anything from it. I can like fully say that now. Like I don't think I learned much from it other than that I shouldn't do that again. And, you know, I can never get back, like, that time, and I can never get back the friendships that, like, my selfishness in that relationship ruined. And I just wish, like, I have younger sisters. And I was talking to them because they were staying with me this weekend. And I was, like, probably, like, scaring them a little bit.
Starting point is 00:19:16 But I was like, are you guys dating anyone? And they were like, none of your business. And I was like, well, you shouldn't be. Tell me. But also, like, break up. with them. Like, you need to be single. Like, move to London with me. Like, move to Sydney. Like, just do something wild and adventurous and crazy whilst you can, because you will meet someone eventually. And if you don't, you will still benefit more from spending that time
Starting point is 00:19:39 building self-confidence and self-love and a really rich ecosystem of friendships and relationships rather than just, like, kind of martying yourself for people who don't respect you. this kind of brings me, sorry, I know I said I take a break, but this fifth regret is actually really relevant to this. And that is tolerating bad behavior from people I was dating because I wanted validation. And that really kind of comes back to that relationship I was talking about. Like the disrespect that I let happen, and I'm not like blaming myself, but like the disrespect that I overlooked because I wanted this mediocre person to like me is wild in hindsight. Like the way this person would make me feel, the way he would like talk down to me in front of
Starting point is 00:20:37 others, the way he would discredit my passions, the way he would never like meet my emotional needs and yet I continue to like come back to him and like worship him is a huge regret for me. It's a massive one. The question that I wish I'd ask myself in which I now tell people to ask themselves in these similar situations is, if this was your soulmate, would your soulmate treat you this way? Is this how you want to be loved for the rest of your life? Because I think in our 20s, sometimes the stakes don't feel that high, right? It doesn't really feel like this person is going to be forever. But, like, it doesn't matter every moment that you stay in those situations where your confidence and your sense of self and your sense of self-esteem is like degraded is a moment
Starting point is 00:21:31 you don't get back and is important. So I wish I hadn't, I wish I'd put my foot down. I wish that I'd just cut my losses a bit sooner. And you know what? I wish in kind of a cruel way, that I'd had like that final moment to like look this person in the eye and be like, you really have lost out. Like there's a cell, like this like little like cheeky kind of mean part of me that's like God, I wish I could have just like given them a piece of my mind. Maybe not immediately when we broke up because like the way I broke up with this person was like a whisper rather than a shout.
Starting point is 00:22:11 But I wish that like six months later I'd run into him. and I could have just been like, yeah, like, I don't know. Maybe it's like a reclaiming of the confidence I wish I had during that period. But okay, I promised us a break. I promised some time for you guys to go get some tea to enjoy my ads. So stay with us. We will be right back. 2%.
Starting point is 00:22:40 That is the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%, I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world. I'll be speaking with writers, researchers, and other health and fitness experts, and more, to look past the impractical and way too complex pseudoscience that dominates the wellness industry. We really believe that seed oils were inherently inflammatory. We got it wrong. Many of the problems that we are freaked out about in the world are the result of stress. Put yourself through some hardships and you will come out on the other side a happier, more
Starting point is 00:23:24 fulfilled, healthier person. Listen to 2%. That's TWO percent on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.
Starting point is 00:23:59 Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.
Starting point is 00:24:26 Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine,
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Starting point is 00:25:40 In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistency, in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular
Starting point is 00:25:57 test twice in so-ins, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a disturbing pattern.
Starting point is 00:26:12 Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian, Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud
Starting point is 00:26:34 charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. As a reminder, we are talking about the 10 biggest regrettable. that I have about my 20s so far. We have talked about relationships.
Starting point is 00:26:55 We've talked about shopping randomly. We've talked about ghosting friends. I want to talk now more about how I chose to use my time and my energy. And this, what are we up to? Sixth regret has to do with journaling, actually, and how I processed emotions or took notes of pivotal points in my life. I wish that I had journaled more, especially in my early 20s, rather than relying on my memory to accurately describe things. When I was a teenager, I have these incredibly intricate journals and reflections on my life.
Starting point is 00:27:41 And there are all these characters and there are all these like plot twists that actually happened to me. And it's honestly really delightful, like reading them back. back. I feel as if people journal for two reasons. They journal for emotional processing and as a form of coping. And they also journal as a form of memory keeping and as a way to see a coherent, so to kind of be able to see the story of their life. Right. And there is this big chunk of my story that is missing if you were only to read my journals because I just, I would, was so distracted that I didn't do it and I didn't think it was important. And I just really regret that because I wish I had a more, I was going to say objective, but like objective as in of the time
Starting point is 00:28:33 recount of what I was going through and what I was learning at that time. I guess this episode is like a way to do that for me right now. And I guess maybe it really like aligned with when I started doing the podcast and I kind of felt like I didn't have to do it as much. But I did and I still do and now I'm kind of getting back into it. But I really wish that I'd done that more. It's such an important practice for me, and I don't know necessarily why I neglected it, but I know I regret it.
Starting point is 00:29:03 My seventh regret is overthinking things rather than just doing them. And yet again, this is another kind of routine way that I operate, that I'm trying to not necessarily unlearned, but just acknowledge and be friends with. You know, I might, and probably will never change my brain's tendency to overthink, but I think I can overcome the instinct to just ruminate forever and ever and ever. My tendency to overthink rather than just do is both like innocuous and deeply like influential. It happens every single day.
Starting point is 00:29:45 It's like from small things like not being able to. but to choose an ice cream flavor and then like getting to the counter and having something in mind that I want and then choosing something completely different and being disappointed to overthinking my future to the point where I don't ever act on certain things or don't ever act on opportunities because I've just been so obsessed over whether they're going to be right and whether they're going to set me on a path that I can't come back from. That's just like so ridiculous, right? Like, We have no idea how a decision is going to work out. I always give people advice to just do, to just make the decision,
Starting point is 00:30:28 to just go with one choice rather than going with no choice. And yet it's something that I still struggle with. I definitely do act and I definitely do make the decision eventually. But I just wonder how much time and opportunity I've wasted thinking about it, especially like to break the fourth wall yet again. when I think like in like year two of the podcast when like people were listening right really listening and it felt like I was doing something important rather than just a hobby I would obsessively think about which episodes to release next and it meant that I like had all
Starting point is 00:31:04 these really good ideas and I had all these stories that I think would have been really important to share and I didn't because I kept questioning and overthinking whether people would find them valuable rather than you know whether I would find. them valuable. And I feel like that was a big mistake and it's something that I, again, I regret. I've also done it with job opportunities in the past where I've overthought something to the point where they've basically been like, well, we're going to give it to someone else. And I totally respect that decision, but I wish that I wasn't in that situation. So something that I want to do in the next three years of my 20s is to just listen to.
Starting point is 00:31:47 into my gut a little bit more and to just trust the first thought that comes into my brain, even if it's wrong. And this is what I think about this. I think that there is so much to be said about trial and error in further honing and fine-tuning your gut instinct and your intuition. The only way you can know what is intuition and what is anxiety is to just act on whatever comes up first and figure it out and then kind of reverse engineer or kind of understand in hindsight or distinguish in hindsight which was which right and what they why they like might suddenly feel differently so this is something that I want to be better at not trusting my gut instinct has also like gotten me in a lot of trouble in the past that kind of brings me to my eighth regret which is
Starting point is 00:32:41 the times that I didn't trust my gut instinct when it came to large. financial decisions and letting people pressure me into things that I knew were not right and that I had a bad gut feeling about. I don't really talk about money on the show very much. Just because, to be real, I'm not particularly very good with money. Like, I'm definitely been more dedicated to learning about it and to investing in things and to using my money wisely. But like, I have an economics degree doesn't mean I really understand everyday financial decisions very well. But last year, I didn't necessarily lose, but I invested what was a very significant sum of money for me because of advice from someone else who I didn't want to disagree with.
Starting point is 00:33:38 It's not that I wanted to impress them, but I felt like I couldn't say no. And I felt like pressured into making this decision. And every part of me was like, don't do that. Like, don't spend this money. You don't want to do this. This actually isn't going. This isn't the right decision for you. This isn't going to lead to a better outcome for you.
Starting point is 00:34:00 And yet I did it. And I really deeply regret it. I really deeply regret that I didn't listen to my intuition. And you know what? It wasn't a total loss. and in the grand scheme of things, like, yeah, it was a lot of money at the time. Like, I'm sure future me is not going, it is not, like, it wasn't like the amount that you would need to buy a house or even a car or anything like that big.
Starting point is 00:34:26 But I just, I just wish that I had listened to myself a little bit better and that I had been more trusting in my own research and the information I had to make a better decision. And again, less peer pressured. I will also say this is a bonus regret that I talked about in the main episode that I did on this, the 20 Biggest Regrets episode. Not Investing Sooner was a big one for a lot of people in that episode, and it's a big one for me. Once you realize how many people are just like making money from their money,
Starting point is 00:35:06 like it's shocking and you never look back. And we're kind of at a point now where you don't necessarily need to be like a unicorn investor or a multi-millionaire to have access to these opportunities. I think like even $20 to $50, like you can put into shares or bonds or stocks and you can get returns. And I wish like, it's not free money. I will say it's not free money. I need to stop saying this. I said this to my friend the other day who was an accountant and she was like, you can't say that it's free money. but it is like your money working for you.
Starting point is 00:35:40 And so as a bonus, regret slash the thing I wish I'd done sooner, that is definitely one of them. I've kind of lost track of where I'm up to now. I think we are at number nine, our second last one. And that is not making the most of my time off when I was at university. Let me explain. I should have taken advantage of how, how little I had on when I was a university student.
Starting point is 00:36:12 I felt so much pressure to, like, have the internships to be applying for, like, as many jobs as possible and, like, boosting my resume and, like, making it look more important. Obviously, I also had to work because I needed to, like, pay my bills. But I also spent a great deal of time just, like, messing about and just, like, kind of hanging around my college and, like, not really. really doing anything. And I wish I hadn't done that. Like, you get to the stage and like adulthood and all the responsibilities just like kind of take over. And you realize how rare that time in your life was where you could just like have a little bit of freedom. Often like every seven weeks you would have like a
Starting point is 00:36:57 break. Every 12 weeks or so, you would have a break. And I wish I'd just done a few more day trips. I wish I'd done a bit more exploring. I wish I'd done a bit more of the stuff that excited me rather than what I thought I should have done. I remember one winter especially where I did this internship that everyone told me was important. I have never been asked about that internship. I even think that I got a job without that internship on my resume because it was an old resume that I handed in. Like, and it was so many hours of unpaid work that I thought was expected of me to get ahead in like the previous career that I was in and I just won't get that time back and I really think that my character and my sense of self and my like life enjoyment
Starting point is 00:37:46 would have been improved so much better by just having some fun. I took my I took everything so seriously when I was finishing up uni and when I was in my final few years and months of university and I didn't appreciate how much freedom and how much fun like that time is and how you should really take advantage of it. Nowadays, it's like so much harder. I don't think I've had like a full week off without working in like two years. I wish that I realized what a gift that was back then and that there is so much time to get ahead and to do the shoulds and to do the things that you feel like obligated to do to get ahead later on. And yeah, someone else might be doing those things now, and you might feel like you're in this secret competition with all of these people. You're not.
Starting point is 00:38:43 People also want well-rounded individuals, and you can't be well-rounded if you just continuously do things that are expected of you or that you don't even care about just because of how they look. That's my ninth regret, and this is my final one. delaying medical appointments. Sounds like a weird one to make number 10 on this list. It is not. You guys know I had that really, well, maybe you don't know if you didn't listen to that episode, but at the start of the year I had this really intense health scare where I went to the optometrist and literally within days I was getting MRIs to see if I had a brain tumor and they were testing to see if I had MS or I had all of these different diseases.
Starting point is 00:39:35 Essentially, my optic nerve in my eye was like really, really swollen. And yeah, I, oh my God, I should know what it's called. Optic neurosis, I think, is what the symptom is. And I just, I'd miss that. I'd been having all of these like weird things. And I hadn't obviously like paid attention to them. And then suddenly it was like, oh my God, my life is. flipped upside down in like a matter of seconds. Literally just last week I went and I did all of my
Starting point is 00:40:06 appointments for the next year. I went and got my bloods done. I went and got like all of my like screenings done. I went and got a bunch of like ultrasounds and a bunch of other stuff just to like look at things that I have been annoying me and that obviously like causing pain or discomfort in my body that I would ordinarily just like ignore but I know I need to. I need to. to pay attention to now before they get worse. I always have to give this caveat. I live in Australia, right? God bless universal healthcare because all of those appointments cost me $50. And I really did take advantage of those perks. Like I really did get the whole, I got the whole like bodily review, the whole like I did everything. And so I know every time I give this piece of advice or I talk about this
Starting point is 00:40:57 regret. I always get people who are not in countries that are as blessed as Australia being like, that's not, that's not, like, obtainable for everybody. That's okay. You should still do it. If you have the means, if you have any form of means or any way of doing this, even if it's through, like, free programs, through your university, like, especially when you're young and it may be discounted, or you may still be underneath your parents' health insurance, go and do it. I also just got my skin checked for skin cancer, I spent a lot of time like baking my body in the sun when I was in my late teens and early 20s and I was like, I have to do this. I kept getting it put off. The peace of mind that I felt afterwards was so relieving. Please do it for me. Do it. Do it for us.
Starting point is 00:41:49 Go and do your medical appointments. It's worth it. And that also counts for your mental health as well. I haven't always been the best at that. I feel like I let things get to a crisis point sometimes before I take action and after everything I went through last year with my mental health, I'm definitely trying to be aware that that is a pattern for me and I'm trying to unlearn it. I think that's all of them.
Starting point is 00:42:12 I think we have done my 10 regrets. I do have one more on this list that I must have added number 11, letting people who I don't respect make me feel bad about myself. that's kind of a big one to end on but this is especially like to do with people online I talk so much about like how I'm so easy to rage bait I know this about myself I get so frustrated at people who like criticize other people online behind behind like a troll account or like a faceless profile or people who are like you you did that wrong and like they've never actually attempted to make anything in their life or like put themselves out there
Starting point is 00:42:49 and so this is one that I'm just like, I regret all the emotional time and energy. I invested into people that I would never meet who had opinions about me that were completely unfounded. That's like a little bonus one. If you are someone, and to be honest, I still don't know how to not do it. So it's an ongoing regret. Maybe that's why it didn't make the full list. But if you were someone who feels the same and who has easily been rage baited recently
Starting point is 00:43:15 or is easily getting frustrated by people's opinions, You are not alone. But that's everything. That's everything on my list. And I feel like that list is going to change in the next couple, several years as like I get older and I feel like I'm going to learn more. So I think I might come back in the last season of the psychology of your 20s, the last season before I turn 30 and redo this list and see like where I've kind of, what ones I've overcome, which things I've learned from, which things I regret a little bit less. But for now, that's really what I'm taking away from my early and mid-20s. And I hope that if, you know, you're at a similar point in your life or if you're in
Starting point is 00:43:56 your early 20s, you can learn something from those regrets and maybe not make the same mistakes. Or maybe it's just the case that everyone has to go through some of this stuff and figure it out on their own. So whatever it is, I don't know. Hopefully it was helpful. And feel free to share your regrets below. I know we have that full episode, but I genuinely think that. that the easiest way to learn is obviously to make the mistake yourself.
Starting point is 00:44:21 The second easiest way is to hear from others and reflect on their takeaways and their learnings from those moments. So if you feel the need to share, please do leave a comment below. What is your biggest regret in your 20s so far? Also make sure that you are following us on Instagram or you are following us wherever you are listening right now on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts. We also have a YouTube and we have a substantiubes. So if you want transcripts, I know a lot of people want that. If you want some of the studies, references to the studies that we cite in some of our episodes, that is now available.
Starting point is 00:44:59 There will be links in the description. There's links everywhere. Everyone's got a link to something, but it will be clear where it is. Follow that to find what you're looking for. But until next time, stay safe. Be kind. Be gentle to yourself. Learn from your regrets.
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Starting point is 00:46:42 Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist
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