30 is Not The New 20 (and why you need to freak out!)

“30 is the new 20. It’s all good.” — said by most people on social media.

You’re a few years removed from college. You haven’t found the perfect job yet nor do you really know your place in the world. You know that you want to travel and make lots of money (who doesn’t?). You just don’t know how to get there. So you spend your time posting motivational quotes on Instagram waiting for something to happen. You wonder why you aren’t traveling the world in a private jet while signing deals with CEOs yet.

I have breaking news for you: 30 is not the new 20. We all need to freak out a little and pick up the pace.

“We often assume that the world moves at our leisure. We delay when we should initiate. We jog when we should be running or better yet, sprinting. And then we’re shocked –shocked!—when nothing big ever happens, when opportunities never show up, when new obstacles begin to pile up, or the enemies finally get their act together.” — Ryan Holiday

I’ve put off too many things in my life. I took me forever to release Next Round’s On Me. Seriously, like forever. I wanted to release this in 2009. Luckily, I wasn’t ready for such a book as a college student. I was ready in 2014 but I was too busy posting motivational quotes on Twitter. I was too busy loitering and acting like I was busy.

I convinced myself that I was busy for years. When in reality I was wasting time and not doing any truly productive work.

In 2015 I snapped and self-published 4 books.

I’ve also seen too many friends put off VERY important tasks (courses, making a phone call, effort at work, relationships, joining a gym, etc.) and it’s sad to see.

Why would you not want to invest in a course that’s going to increase your income by 50%? Why would you not want to train to look better and feel confident for once?

Because we just put everything off. We think that 30 is the new 20. We think that we’re magically going to get more motivated one day.

How did this all start?

I found an older post from my friend Bridget on how 30 is not the new 20 (along with a link to an amazing TED talk by Meg Jay) and this really got me amped up. Thank you Bridget for posting this on Twitter.

How do we waste our 20s?

• Not saving money.
• Not increasing our income.
• Avoiding real life.
• Not pursuing goals.
• Forgetting to explore.
• Staying in school in useless programs.
• Hiding behind excuses.
• Waiting for someone to save us.
• Putting off important decisions.
• Waiting for the perfect moment.
• Blaming the economy for everything.
• Listening to the wrong people.
• Not surrounding ourselves with mentors.

I’m very guilty of most of these. Don’t be another heart breaking statistic. I don’t want myself or for you to turn 40 and feel dumb about the goals we never followed through on.

Where am I going with this?

There’s a huge difference between exploring and procrastinating. There’s a huge difference between growing and staying stagnant.

I don’t want you  to have an anxiety attack. This post is more of a reminder for myself and for us as a community to freak out a little about our goals.

Everything won’t be okay. Nobody’s coming to save you. You’re not a unique snowflake. You’re not getting screwed over by the system. You don’t need to share another conspiracy theory on Facebook.

I got serious about my money at 17 because I didn’t ever want to be broke. I started pro wrestling at 25 because I didn’t want to turn 40 and wonder why I never tried. I earned my degree because I never wanted to be out of options. I never ever got into debt because I didn’t want to feel limited.

30 is not the new 20.

I freak out every day about my age and my goals.

Some members of the community have also snapped to obtain real results.

Jacquelyn paid off $48k worth of debt and turned her life around.

Matt quit his job to create tables.

Will your story be next? I don’t know. I’d like to think so.

How can you not waste your 20s?

Stop waiting until you turn 30!

I’m 28 now. The goal of Studenomics at first was to help you with your money in college. Now it’s about financial freedom before 30. It’s about seizing opportunities so that you’re not a broke joke who can’t afford a round of drinks.

It’s easy to dismiss the tagline of financial freedom or to mock me. I’ve stayed true to this mantra the whole time though. I have some big moves in the works for the next two years. I’m not going to be a millionaire in the near future, but I’m proud with the money that I’ve been able to save up and invest.

I don’t want you to turn 30 and wonder where the time went. I don’t want you to blame anyone else for your problems. You have ten years in your 20s to get your act together. You certainly don’t have to be perfect. You just have to start and ruthlessly pursue your goals.

All of the answers are there available for you. All you have to do is a simple blog post and apply the tips.

I have a podcast out on four ways to make more money. You can start an online business in five minutes today.

Here’s a quick story…

I went to meet a friend the other night on a Tuesday. He showed me his new downtown condo and told me about how his job was going before we went out for a bit. I was so proud of his success. It made me smile. Then I remembered that this guy came to Canada as a teenager. He wasn’t even able to speak English ten years ago. Now he’s living a great life. On the flip side, I see friends with amazing potential squandering it by complaining on social media.

Stop putting off your goals.

30 is not the new 20. Start working on the following:

• Your debt.
• Lack of savings.
• Poor fitness.
• Lame job.
• Low income.
• Inability to take any action.

I’m not here to lecture you. I needed this post as much as you did. I had to write this so that I can hold myself accountable the next day I feel like going out on a Thursday when my work isn’t done yet.

“The day you graduate from childhood to adulthood is the day you take full responsibility for your life.” — Jim Rohn