0:02 Your 20s are probably the most critical
0:03 time of your life. The decisions you
0:05 make in your 20s can either put you on
0:07 the path to success or set you up for
0:08 failure and make your life much more
0:10 difficult. So today, I've got the full
0:12 guide for you. How to destroy your life
0:14 in your 20s. If you follow all these
0:15 steps, you'll be on a path to be broke
0:17 and unhappy as you enter your 30s and
0:19 beyond. I have 10 fatal mistakes.
0:21 Everything from financial decisions to
0:22 dating decisions and and the
0:24 consequences of each of these bad
0:25 decisions. And I do want to say, even if
0:27 you've made some of these mistakes, you
0:29 can always come back. But it's probably
0:31 best to just avoid these altogether if
0:32 possible. So if you find yourself doing
0:34 these, get your [ __ ] together. And
0:36 before we get into it, leave a piece of
0:38 advice for someone who just turned 20
0:39 below. Maybe even your younger self who
0:41 just turned 20. What's your best advice
0:43 for them as they enter this defining
0:45 decade of their lives? So if you want to
0:47 be broke, alone, and miserable by 30,
0:48 follow this blueprint. Let's get into
0:50 it. Okay. The first way to destroy your
0:52 life in your 20s is getting a bad
0:54 college degree. So this is what I would
0:56 call kind of the first trap of uh
0:57 growing up in adulthood because
0:59 unfortunately society pushes on us that
1:01 you have to go to college, you have to
1:03 go get a job and follow this path to be
1:04 successful. And while a college degree
1:06 can help, I mean I have one and
1:08 definitely benefited me, it's not always
1:10 the best decision. It's very dependent
1:11 on what you study. So I'm going to just
1:13 show a list of the highest earning
1:15 college majors versus the worst ones.
1:17 Please make sure you can make money and
1:19 not overspend on the degree. If you do
1:20 this wrong, it can leave you with lots
1:22 of debt, little skill, and little income
1:24 earning prospects. I mean, getting a
1:26 degree in underwater basket weaving
1:27 isn't going to get you there. So, don't
1:29 confuse college with education,
1:31 gentlemen. Mistake number two, and this
1:32 is one big one that can haunt you for
1:34 the rest of your life if you don't
1:36 figure it out soon, is not taking your
1:38 finances seriously. Many people get
1:41 their first real job around 22, 23. They
1:42 immediately scale their lifestyle. They
1:44 get a nicer car. They get a nicer
1:46 apartment. They leave very little room
1:47 to save and invest money at the end of
1:49 the month. They say things like, "I'm
1:51 young. I'm single. I don't need to worry
1:52 about this investing thing. I'll figure
1:54 it out later in my 30s." And that's a
1:56 devastating mistake because time is your
1:58 best friend in investing. And delaying
2:00 investing just gives away the biggest
2:02 advantage 20-year-olds have, and that's
2:04 time. When I got my first full-time job
2:06 at 22, where I had extra money coming
2:08 in, I picked up a few books. I reached
2:10 out to people who knew finances, and I
2:12 just tried to learn about how money
2:13 works and how investing works, what
2:15 types of accounts there are, what are
2:17 historical returns, and more. And I wish
2:19 I did it sooner. I put in a good four to
2:21 five years of solid investing and cheap
2:23 living and it set me up for the rest of
2:25 my life. Compounding works the best when
2:27 you start early. And eventually you want
2:28 your money to work for you, not the
2:30 other way around. Now, if I didn't make
2:32 this decision in my early 20s, I'd have
2:34 much less freedom. I'd have nowhere near
2:36 as much money as I do now. I probably
2:37 couldn't have quit my job. And if you're
2:39 lucky enough to be watching this in your
2:41 20s, especially your early 20s, just
2:43 start taking finances seriously. If you
2:45 delay this to your 30s or just don't
2:46 take money very seriously, you're going
2:48 to be playing catch-up for life and and
2:50 maybe even living paycheck to paycheck
2:52 in a situation where you can't escape.
2:53 So, the next trap, and this is somewhat
2:56 related, is falling for consumerism. So,
2:57 buying all the things, you know, the new
2:59 cars, the new clothes, the stuff you
3:01 don't need, the Amazon shopping sprees,
3:03 all the crazy subscriptions. If it
3:05 doesn't make you money, give you more
3:07 time, or make you happy, don't buy it.
3:09 So, don't scale up your lifestyle when
3:11 you get a race. In your 20s, you kind of
3:13 have a past to be a total cheapo. Like I
3:14 lived with roommates in kind of bad
3:16 neighborhoods. I lived with my parents.
3:18 I never spent more than 5k on a used
3:20 car. And I never got in debt. I mean, if
3:22 you're a single 22-year-old living with
3:24 three roommates in a beaten down rented
3:27 apartment driving a 2002 Corolla with
3:29 150,000 m on it while eating nothing but
3:32 ramen, that's accepted by society. Now,
3:34 if you're a single 37year-old living the
3:35 same lifestyle, people are going to
3:36 question you and look at you
3:38 differently. Don't be a consumer. Be a
3:40 saver and investor instead. Like if you
3:42 buy too many things, chances are you
3:44 just won't have much freedom later in
3:45 life to do what you want. So I mean if I
3:47 was a consumer, I wouldn't have been
3:48 able to leave my job and and accumulate
3:50 the kind of net worth that I was able
3:52 to. So the next mistake you can make is
3:54 chasing comfort and not taking risks
3:57 when you can. So your 20s are really all
3:58 about trying a bunch of different things
4:00 to learn about who you are and what you
4:02 want to do. And for many of us in our
4:04 20s, this is the rare time window we get
4:06 in our lives to take risks, where you're
4:08 old enough to work, but too young to
4:11 have any crazy responsibilities. This is
4:13 the time to go after your dreams and the
4:14 life you want. I had this window of
4:17 opportunity from about 22 to 28 where I
4:19 had basically zero responsibilities and
4:21 could do whatever I wanted to do without
4:23 any huge consequences. Now, for me, I'm
4:26 28. I'm engaged and in 2 years I'll
4:28 likely have kids, I hope, and that will
4:30 severely limit the risks that I can
4:31 take. So, I'm happy that I took the risk
4:33 to leave my job when I did. Many people
4:35 I'm good friends with in their late 20s,
4:36 they have families, which is beautiful
4:38 thing. But now, they don't have time to
4:39 go start that business or quit their
4:41 jobs. They got to be the provider now.
4:43 And for you young guys, I want you to
4:44 find that balance. I don't want you to
4:46 confuse this with being irresponsible.
4:48 Like, every action you take should be
4:50 calculated, should have a goal, should
4:51 teach you something. Maybe you get that
4:53 safe job when you're 22 and then you
4:55 learn from it. You meet people and then
4:57 maybe you can take that big risk at 25.
4:58 you can start that business, that
5:00 YouTube, do what you want because once
5:02 you settle down into a life with, you
5:04 know, more responsibilities, a mortgage
5:05 and wife and kids, you can't be
5:07 irresponsible anymore. You know, this
5:08 lifestyle getting married and having
5:10 kids isn't for everyone. But, you know,
5:11 it's a great goal. It's one of mine.
5:13 And, uh, if you go down that path, your
5:15 risk appetite will shrink drastically.
5:16 So, bottom line, take risks when you
5:18 can. And if you don't, you might get
5:20 locked into just that boring, repetitive
5:21 life wondering what could have been if
5:23 you took those risks and went after your
5:25 dreams. So the next mistake, mistake
5:26 number five and kind of related to being
5:29 comfortable is wasting too much time. I
5:30 mean, how many of you guys waste away
5:32 day after day procrastinating on what
5:34 you should be doing? You you get home
5:36 from work, you spend 2 hours, you know,
5:38 scrolling on Instagram, on TikTok when
5:39 you could be building. You're delaying
5:40 your dreams. You're you're not starting
5:42 that new thing, that that business, that
5:44 channel. Many of us are fine, you know,
5:45 just relaxing and not building dreams.
5:47 And if you're happy doing that, more
5:48 power to you. But if you're unhappy and
5:50 you want to live an extraordinary life,
5:52 you have to make sacrifices. You have to
5:54 do extraordinary things. So you got to
5:56 stop wasting time and go do things. If
5:58 you waste too much time, your dreams
5:59 will never come to life. And if I
6:01 continue to choose scrolling instead of,
6:03 you know, diving into YouTube in my free
6:05 time, I wouldn't be here right now. The
6:07 next mistake, and this is a very, very
6:08 big one. It's going to be a bigger
6:10 section. We're just going to put women.
6:12 Women in general. Now, now this could be
6:14 its own video. And I say women just cuz
6:17 my audience is 99% male. For the few
6:19 ladies out there watching this, simply
6:21 just replace women with men. For many
6:22 men, this is a huge part of our 20s
6:24 that's just riddled with mistakes. I
6:25 mean, people approach dating the
6:27 complete wrong way. I think a common
6:29 mistake people make is chasing women too
6:31 much. And and I mean this in the shallow
6:32 way where many men just allow the
6:34 pursuit of women to dominate their
6:36 lives. You know, I've made this mistake.
6:37 You know, people participate in
6:39 meaningless hookup culture. They date
6:41 the wrong people just cuz they're hot.
6:42 They go after the attractive chicks who
6:43 just have nothing going on in their
6:45 brains. And they do this instead of
6:47 building themselves and and allowing,
6:49 you know, women to be attracted to you.
6:50 Instead, you you spend your energy
6:52 pursuing them, and this delays you from
6:54 finding your mission. So, many men spend
6:55 forever trying to date these types of
6:57 women. And meanwhile, I think the sooner
6:58 you can date with intention, the better.
7:00 I've dated a lot of people in my 20s and
7:02 and learn so much from the process, and
7:03 you can learn about what you want. You
7:05 get better at dating, just get better at
7:06 being like kind of funny and
7:08 entertaining in a relationship, and you
7:10 have a chance to meet many great people
7:11 along the way. And dating is just like
7:13 anything else. It's a skill you have to
7:14 build and something you have to put time
7:16 to in order to get better if you want to
7:18 find the right person. And once you do
7:20 find that right person, it will make
7:22 your life better in every way. I mean, I
7:24 finally found my partner. My fiance is
7:25 someone who helps me build and supports
7:27 me. She makes my life easier. Without
7:29 her, I I wouldn't be in the mind space
7:31 and have the kind of time to pursue the
7:32 things that I can pursue. You know, just
7:34 to illustrate the difference, uh, one of
7:36 my previous ex-girlfriends scolded me
7:38 for not making more money, even though I
7:39 was doing great at the time. And the
7:41 other person I'm with now just supported
7:43 me as I quit my job to follow my dream.
7:45 So, you got to date the supporter, not
7:47 the energy drain. If you make mistakes
7:48 here, there's just so much that can go
7:50 wrong. You know, you can hook up too
7:52 much and you get get a disease. You
7:53 could get someone pregnant. You could
7:55 end up with a shallow person that's not
7:56 a good match. You could marry the wrong
7:58 person. Or on the flip side, if you
8:00 never talk to anyone, you'll be alone
8:01 with no dating skills and no
8:03 relationship history into your 30s,
8:05 which doesn't help for dating either.
8:06 So, definitely find a balance with the
8:08 ladies and date with intention. So,
8:11 mistake number seven is not going out of
8:13 your way to meet more people and meet
8:15 the right people. Your network can be
8:16 your biggest asset in life. You know,
8:18 the people you know, your acquaintances,
8:20 your friends, and they I I firmly
8:21 believe in this statement that you're
8:23 the average of the five people that you
8:24 spend the most time with. I mean, if
8:26 your friends are healthy and they they
8:27 care for themselves, they want what's
8:29 best for you, they encourage you to be
8:30 better, and they're doing cool things,
8:32 that'll make a huge difference. And if
8:33 you're friends with a bunch of people
8:35 who complain about their jobs all day
8:36 and they go out and drink and smoke on
8:38 weekends to escape, even outside of
8:39 friends, like you'd be shocked at the
8:41 amount of opportunities that can come
8:43 your way, even just by weekly knowing
8:44 someone. I mean, my biggest software
8:46 client right now was referred to me by
8:48 one of my friends and and I hardly knew
8:49 them going into it. Business
8:51 opportunities happen, but you have to
8:53 get to know people. So, put in an effort
8:55 to go get to know people and put in an
8:57 effort to make the right friends. If you
8:59 don't, you'll be less happy. You might
9:00 have toxic people in your life and
9:02 you'll just have less opportunities. So,
9:03 make sure that this is a priority. All
9:05 right, mistake number eight and now
9:06 we'll be shifting into some more shallow
9:08 things that guys waste their time with.
9:10 And this is partying too much. So, for
9:12 my late teens, early 20s, I was
9:14 definitely into the party lifestyle. I
9:15 was going out on weekends, getting
9:17 drunk, making bad decisions. And it was
9:19 a lot. It wasn't necessarily good for me
9:21 because so much can go wrong. And I've
9:23 seen people, including myself, right,
9:25 get injured, get in trouble, make bad
9:27 decisions. And I'm thankful that by 23
9:29 24 I just had the realization that
9:31 parting will not get you anywhere. It's
9:33 not meaningful and I definitely got it
9:34 out of my system as they'd say. And now
9:36 I have no interest in it. As you go
9:38 through your 20s, this is kind of what
9:39 happens. I mean early on you could, you
9:41 know, treat your body terribly. You can
9:43 go out late morning 1 2 in the morning,
9:45 drink, wake up the next day and nothing
9:46 really mattered. Now it's different. I
9:48 have more responsibilities. The the
9:50 hangovers are way worse. You know, if I
9:51 go out Saturday night, I'm worthless on
9:54 Sunday and Monday. Now, it's also bad
9:55 like not only from a health perspective,
9:57 but from a financial perspective cuz
9:59 alcohol can double your bill with
10:01 dinner. And you know, if it add it all
10:02 up, you're probably spending thousands
10:04 on drinking per year. So, the the sooner
10:06 you can shift into something meaningful,
10:07 the better because partying is often
10:09 used and is an escape from your life and
10:11 your responsibilities. Now, don't get me
10:12 wrong, you still need to have fun, but
10:14 just do it in moderation. You know, to
10:16 celebrate something in real life or to
10:17 reunite with friends. If you party too
10:19 much throughout your 20s and into your
10:21 30s, it's going to be hard to get ahead.
10:23 It'll be harder to maintain good health.
10:24 You might have questionable friends with
10:26 less money and you'll just overall be in
10:28 a worse situation. All right, mistake
10:30 number nine is chasing the vices, the
10:33 easy dopamine. This includes drinking,
10:35 smoking, adult content, gambling. And
10:36 these things, they give you the quick
10:38 hit, the temporary escape. In terms of
10:40 gambling, smoking and drinking. Look, I
10:42 have a few drinks a week. I smoke cigars
10:44 when I celebrate something on occasion.
10:46 I hit the casino a few times a year, but
10:47 it's all in moderation. I don't have a
10:49 reliance on this stuff. When I gamble, I
10:51 don't gamble what I can't lose. And lots
10:52 of guys get caught up in this and it
10:54 kills their health or their finances.
10:56 Like they develop a reliance on smoking
10:57 or vaping or gambling. They're gambling
10:59 money they can't lose. And then adult
11:01 content's kind of its own game. It's
11:02 it's really a slippery drug that is best
11:04 to avoid altogether, which is
11:05 unfortunately harder and harder in
11:07 today's world. If you struggle with
11:09 this, the best advice would be to remove
11:10 triggers. You know, Instagram online
11:13 access, be on your phone less, and stay
11:15 busy because idle hands are the devil's
11:17 playground. and screen time limits and
11:18 some of these apps can be great as well.
11:20 If you fall for these traps, you'll be
11:22 deeply unfulfilled, stuck in a pattern
11:24 of destructive habits that rewire your
11:25 brain to chase cheap things and not
11:27 meaning. This will demotivate you and
11:29 be, you know, invisible chains that are
11:31 hard to break. Mistake number 10 in the
11:33 final one here, it's not taking your
11:34 physical health seriously. I'm not going
11:36 to spend too much time here, but uh
11:38 build healthy habits for both, you know,
11:39 fitness and eating because in your early
11:42 20s, your body can take a beating and be
11:44 fine. But when you get to my age, gone
11:45 are the days where you can live on no
11:47 sleep, ramen, noodles, and beer. Hello,
11:49 beer belly. And hello, pear-shaped dad
11:51 bodies. If you neglect this, you'll be
11:53 unhealthy and weird looking too soon.
11:54 So, there you have it. How to screw up
11:56 your 20s step by step. Let me know what
11:58 you think of this list, what you'd add,
