What did you do in your 20s to set you on your way in life?

Hollister11

Did you do anything important/significant in your 20s that set you up/ changed the direction of your life. 
For example, did you start a business, or invest in some incredible stocks, or did you overpay on a small house in the boom and your stuck there, or do the wrong course and hate your job.
I would love to start a business a few years after college, but I'll what cards i'm dealt.

Allinall

Hollister11 wrote: »

Did you do anything important/significant in your 20s that set you up/ changed the direction of your life. 
For example, did you start a business, or invest in some incredible stocks, or did you overpay on a small house in the boom and your stuck there, or do the wrong course and hate your job.
I would love to start a business a few years after college, but I'll what cards i'm dealt.

I stopped drinking whiskey and smoking dope.

Set me right.

judeboy101

I had sex with with the wrong woman, She's now my wife.

PandaPoo

Got married, had kids and bought a house. I'm still in my 20s so maybe I'll do more in the next 4 years...

SuperSean11

Emigrated

piplip87

Partied until 25. Met a woman and quietened down....

9or10

Right from the first place we bought I always overpaid the mortgage. Even if it was at times just rounding up and at times at the expense of the credit card.

AhHaor

PhD, changed my direction alright. Straight to poverty

Biggest lickspittle on boardz

I made every damn mistake there is, and then some.

Unlike a lot of people however, I learned very careful lessons from those mistakes.
These 3 key areas are very important for anyone who might be willing to listen:

1. Manage your finances wisely. Do you NEED it, or want it? Ask yourself this every single time.

2. Choose the company you keep extremely carefully. I made the mistake of remaining friends for too long with people I grew up with who had simply become bums and wasters. I felt like I was being a traitor if I didn't stick with them. And I got sucked into their drama eventually.

3. Realise early that "everyone is doing it" isn't a good influence when making sound decisions (think property and lifestyle choices).

Get these three under control and your life will improve significantly. I know mine did.

eviltwin

Bought a house at 25 at exactly the right time just before prices went crazy.

Hector Bellend

Start taking **** breaks at work.

ArnoldJRimmer

I emigrated at a time when both my job and personal life were going nowhere, and I was extremely unhappy. In the years since, I've taken advantage of some great opportunities in work that would never have been available at home. And while I'm still a bit of a miserable fcuker, I feel that the decision to leave was the best one I ever made.

Absolutely nothing. My life was different in many ways and there were things that I was that I am no longer. I just lived it though. Now I'm in my thirties and am very aware of how much it can all change in the blink of an eye. Plans mean nothing to me.

Bought a load of bitcoin









I wish

dxhound2005

I stopped engaging in pointless discussions on the internet.

Donald Trump

judeboy101 wrote: »

I had sex with with the wrong woman, She's now my wife.

Mine is similar.

I had sex with the wrong woman. She is now your wife

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Fall_Guy

Hollister11 wrote: »

Did you do anything important/significant in your 20s

Ketamine. Copious amounts of ketamine

AndyBoBandy

Got a job where I got to travel the world for 7 years all expenses paid, then got another job with the same company where I’ve been home based for the last 5 years.

In the 7 years I was travelling I was able to save a fairly big deposit (roughly 45% of house value), but should have had a lot more if I didn’t spend a lot on crap I didn’t need!!

Mena

3 year military tour of service, left, put IT skills to work, bought my own company, sold it and entered corporate life. Turned out well.

judeboy101

Donald Trump wrote: »

Mine is similar.

I had sex with the wrong woman. She is now your wife

Is that you Mammy? I thought we were never going to bring that up again?

cantdecide

I wasted my 20s in terms of establishing my life. I played it way to safe and was too unconfident about my academic abilities to take on a course after making a pigs ear of my leaving cert. I absolutely should have taken a trade but I wouldn't have been supported at home for doing that. When I was working and it was paying me to work, I didn't want to give up anything stable.

TL;DR I had major comfort zone problems.

I've known only too well how shaky my foundations were seeing as I've done nothing but pay and pay for not taking on more risks/ challenges. All I hope is that when I'm in my 40s, I'll look back and thank myself for taking on the challenges I did when I was in my 30s.

Agent Coulson

Surfed the real kind as there was now internet when I was in my 20's and traveled the world.

Testament1

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Got a job where I got to travel the world for 7 years all expenses paid, then got another job with the same company where I’ve been home based for the last 5 years.

In the 7 years I was travelling I was able to save a fairly big deposit (roughly 45% of house value), but should have had a lot more if I didn’t spend a lot on crap I didn’t need!!

Sounds great! What kind of work was that?

G.G.Smiley

Learned how to cook.
Serious financial and health benefits gained.

HONKEY TONK

Moved to Germany before the Boom, Moved back after the Bust.

If I had been here during the boom im 100% sure I would still be financially ****ed today after making bad lifestyle choices.

All good so far

Badly Drunk Boy

eviltwin wrote: »

Bought a house at 25 at exactly the right time just before prices went crazy.

I bought a house when I was 24 (a 20 year mortgage) and have one more payment, due at the beginning of January. :cool:

elperello

Bought and paid for a house which gave me a head start.
By no means the full story though.

josip

100% of where I am now in my 40s (job, family, house) is as a result of a chain of random whimsical decisions I made in my 20s.

1. Got a 6 month IT contract after leaving college with a company because they needed bodies for the indoor soccer and it was on my CV.
2. Got offered a permanent position with the company because I bought one of the managers a couple of pints one night.
3. Worked abroad for 6 months because another lad who was going suggested I should ask because the girls there were hot.
4. Because of the stint abroad,

Ah fcuk it, this must be boring the sh1te out of ye.
I'm off to bed.

Oldtree

Left dead end Ireland for London in the eighties, on the bus.

cantdecide

josip wrote: »

Ah fcuk it, this must be boring the sh1te out of ye.
I'm off to bed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VgUZPR9v-o

Purple Mountain

Slept with as many men as possible which set me up nicely as the drought kicked in at 30.

LirW

Had different 20s (still am in my late) than most others. I had my son just before I turned 20. Raised him alone. Finished school, enrolled university, had a part time job. Couldn't maintain both, decided for the job because I needed the money and I really liked the job.
Met my Irish partner, he moved in with me just a few months after we met, we moved back to Ireland together, shortly afterwards our baby was on the way. Bought a house. Earning big money with online poker and cheap sleazy novels.

branie2

I got my Arts Degree

smurfjed

Learnt to fly...

Wanderer78

Realised 'the career' and buying a house were a scam, life's been good since

spurious

Stopped worrying about what other people thought of me.

AndyBoBandy

Testament1 wrote: »

Sounds great! What kind of work was that?

Working on Gas & Steam Turbines & generators in power stations.
Either installing them from new, or doing maintenance on existing ones.

NIMAN

Full time, permanent job.

Jacob13

I gave up cocaine, smoking and gambling.

ArtyC

Invested in shares. I'm 31, buying a house on my own with 40% deposit ... will be in there by march

hairyslug

The job that I had for a summer job turned into a 16 year long one and what I learnt from that has got me where I am now.

Foxhound38

I learned resilience, how to live within my means, how to hold down a job, found a nice girl and settled down. I'm 30 now and moving into a house with her at the end of this month.

Jobs OXO

Hollister11 wrote: »

Did you do anything important/significant in your 20s that set you up/ changed the direction of your life. 
For example, did you start a business, or invest in some incredible stocks, or did you overpay on a small house in the boom and your stuck there, or do the wrong course and hate your job.
I would love to start a business a few years after college, but I'll what cards i'm dealt.

Got good at eating vag

Chancer3001

Learned how to attract numerous women

Didn't learn to stick with one til recently

Invested in shares which has given me money now to reinvest in crypto currency.

I learned **** all in my 20s. Only started learning in my 30s. Hope it's not too late for the important things

HalloweenJack

Did a degree, did a masters, worked, travelled, made friends, drank, did drugs, had a lot of fun, met the person who I want to share my life with but, most importantly, got to understand myself better and know better what I want and what I don't want and that I'm the only one who can make that happen.

I'm not in much of a different position now as to when I was when I left college and started working. Still in the same sector, on the same level, but I feel like I've done enough in other fields to prepare myself for other opportunities.

The most important thing I've taken from my twenties (still have four months left) is to enjoy life and have fun. There'll be rainy days but who knows what'll happen in the future. Try to live as much as you can in the moment. Don't regret anything. Don't be afraid to go for something you want because you don't know what it could bring you.

razorblunt

Enjoyed my first year of college a bit too much luckily on a course I knew wasn't for me.
Got through first year, decided to pull the plug on it and go back and start the course I should have started first time around.

Kept the nights out to a much lower amount, hit the ground running in the course. Set me on my way to the career I'm in now.
Best decision I ever made, met my wife too, married by 29. Happy days all round, life is good.

splinter65

Just got in the way of
1. Going to work every day
2. Paying bills/not getting into too much debt.

beertons

The only difference between then and now is the amount spent on drugs.

danganabu

Opened an SISA account while unemployed and havent looked back since, they were the single greatest thing that ever happened in this country that had no barriers or exclusivety, anyone that was over 18 and didnt open one should take a long hard look at themselves.

I'm a recovered drug user, AMA

I put down the needle, the alcohol, the nicotine and the gambling .