What I Would Tell My 20 Year-Old Self

What would you tell your 20 year-old self? We posed the question to the very successful Heather Reier, founder of Cake Beauty to learn about her best life lessons from her 20s.

1. Travel.  There will be plenty of time to work at building your career. Believe me, as the years rush on there is less time and opportunity to see the world. Get some travelling in once or twice a year.

2. You’re great. At 20 you are still hanging on to the teenage pangs of ‘am I pretty enough?’, ‘am I smart enough?’. The best part of leaving your 20’s is a giant exhale around 30 when you are finally super-comfortable in your own skin. Rather than lamenting your quirks, you are embracing and appreciating them.

Heather at 20

3. Trust me, he’s not the ‘one’. Ok fine, I will admit that there are one or two people that met their love of their life at 20, but it is very unlikely. You will change more in your 20’s than any other time if your life. What you value, like and want at 20 will look different at 30.  So, don’t cry too hard over that breakup 20-year-old-self! As my dad use to say, “men are like buses, another one will always come along.”. 

4. Live alone. Roommates are a blast, but live on your own for at least a year at some point.  This is valuable time to be on your own, learn about yourself and get comfortable in your own skin. It is very important to love having time by yourself. This will be one of the only times in your life where it will be all about ‘you’. You won’t become selfish, in fact you will become introspective, thoughtful and more social.

5. Work your tail off! Make a commitment to learn as much as possible about your chosen industry and career. Put in the hours, ask for more work and responsibility. Your 20’s are the ideal time to position yourself on a steep, upwards trajectory. By the time you hit your late 20’s / early 30’s employers are looking for someone that is a big contributor. If you slacked early on it will be difficult to catch up and impossible to shine and get the dream job, recognition and income you want. Believe me, you have more time on your hands than you know.  (Just wait until you have kids!  You’ll wonder what you did with all your time!)

What would you tell your 20 year-old self?