6 Valuable life lessons I learned in my twenties

By Palak

I grew up in India and I come from a not-so-typical Punjabi family. Having grown up in a family of working-class parents with Government jobs, I’ve had a very disciplined life for the most part. My parents always stressed on the importance of education so all the extra-curricular activities took a back seat until I finished school. I was an introverted kid and had only a handful of friends because most of my time used to go in studying and finishing my homework. I was always a dedicated student and never let any distractions come in the way.

Until I was about 20 years old, I was doing things the way I was conditioned to do them. Which basically meant, following the traditional path everyone follows of going to college, getting a job, getting married, having kids and living happily ever after. Not once did I realize taking a back step and discovering my true passion. I finished college and worked in India for about 4 years in the IT sector before moving to the States.

My life took a drastic turn after I moved to the States. From never having lived on my own to moving into a completely different country so far away from my own was a big move in my life. Like many other immigrants, I also went through culture shocks and adapting to the different ways of life in this country. I moved here for a Masters degree and it was nothing short of a roller coaster for me. Many changes happened in life such as going through a minor depression, gaining weight due to stress and unhealthy eating, experiencing a fast paced student life, making new friends, managing my own finances, running my own errands, maintaining a great GPA and working hard towards finding a job.

While all of this took a toll on my mental, emotional and physical health, it did give me some great experiences and valuable lessons for life. After finishing my MBA, I moved to Atlanta for a job, which is where I am currently based. Today, I work for a luxury fashion retail company as a Senior Manager of Data Analytics. I love my job and have worked really hard to get where I am today. I feel blessed to have gone through all these unique experiences in my life, which is what shaped the person I am today.

Thus, I wanted to use these life experiences to share a few lessons I’ve learned along the way with you all,

1. Be good – I am not a religious person but I am a strong believer in Karma. Life is a full circle and what goes around comes around. So always be kind to everyone around you and do good. Everyone is going through a journey in life and it means a lot to be kind and humble to each other. So the next time you think you’re being mean or judgmental, just take a step back and make a conscious effort to give all the love, kindness and humility that you can.
2. Be confident – Perhaps the most valuable and important skill to have but also the most difficult to inculcate. I truly believe that we all have our own unique talents and personalities but they’re often not reflected enough because we lack confidence. Being confident is being powerful and owning your life. It helps celebrate your strengths and use them fully. 
3. Be authentic – For me, this has always been the essence of my personality. I absolutely do not believe in fakeness and have always been my authentic self, no matter what the situation. In this screen-obsessed world, people are often just trying to fake so that they can fit in and be likable. But my life experiences have taught me that being my true self has helped me gain more trust and respect in my relationships.
4. Be passionate – I think life would be too boring if we didn’t have a fire within us. And as I mentioned earlier, growing up in a society where we’re conditioned to follow the traditional path to a successful life made me realize the importance of finding my own passions. I’d rather be less successful pursuing my passions than be unhappy doing something I don’t like.
5. Be open to learning –  Some of my most valuable lessons in life have come from people I have always regarded as my mentors. In my personal and professional life, I have come across some strong and successful individuals that I have always looked up to and it is their constant feedback that has helped me course correct my own journey. It has helped me self-reflect, look through my flaws and work on them. So I believe it’s very important to accept constructive feedback, be open to learning and improving oneself.
6. Be strong – Living on my own in a completely new and different country made me realize how fragile I was emotionally. I went through a lot of stress during my first semester of MBA because everything around me was so new, different and unwelcoming. But these experiences taught me the importance of being mentally, emotionally and physically strong. Our mind can be our biggest enemy sometimes and being able to control and reason with it is what I call mental strength. Being able to think rationally, conquer your feelings and control negative thoughts is very important and I am still learning this skill.

While this is definitely not the complete list of important life lessons, this is what has worked for me so far. Hope you enjoyed the post! I would love to know what has been your most valuable life lesson in the comments below.