This is not a drill. I REPEAT- this is not a freaking drill!
Guys, I've been writing content like this since I was twenty. Back then I thought I had it all figured out: party hard/work hard, hold your friends close but enemies closer, eat a pizza, even it out with the gym. You know, stuff like that. Had only I known back then what I know now. But listen, maybe we aren't supposed to know all of the tricks about growing up; we just have to live them first hand. Or maybe we do know and don't give a shit anyways! Okay, so, here we go...
1. Your future is looming over your head now more than ever
Do you finally have your dream job? Nope!
Are you at least making the money you need to survive the week? Also nope!
Don't panic. This is way more common than you think. 99.9% of you aren't working your dream job yet, and that's okay! What isn't okay is not having your tangible goals in front of you, or even in motion a tad bit. It's not the beginning of college anymore where you can switch majors ten times and still receive a pat on the back.
If you can't sit down and map out a path towards what the next 5 years will look like maybe you should take a step back. Our creative juices and energy aren't getting any younger. Step it up.
2. Friends? New phone who dis?
I've always been someone to think of it as "once a friend always a friend". Especially towards the long time friendships I've held near and dear to my heart. After a few years of learning the tough way, I am now certain about the fact that a person can't go on holding others to the same standards when the results have changed. Honestly though, would you keep a mattress for 10+ years just because it used to be kickass? No, you wouldn't. So don't hold on to friends just because they used to be awesome, either. My Mom used to always tell me that as you get older you'll see who your real friends are, and it's true! Keep the negative energy out, and good energy in. Don't be afraid to cut someone out because they've been there for a while.
Snip snip, bitch.
3. Bad habits never die
This one probably hits home for most of you. By this point you've either tried to break the vicious cycles you've ensued on yourself for the past 25 years or you've just accepted it for what it is. This could really be anything.
Perhaps you bite your nails, smoke cigarettes, cheat on your significant other, order McDonald's twice a week, store hot sauce in your purse (wait, is that even a bad habit?) For literally years you had different and painful learning experiences that should have hit that switch in your head telling yourself to knock it off. But you just can't do it. My dudes, you are getting older and supposedly wiser- kick the bad habit once and for all. You won't regret it.
*Notes my own advice and never uses it*
4. You are what you eat
Like...literally. Now this isn't about skinny or fat. This isn't about your friend that has been a size 0 since as long as she can remember or even your buddy who's always been a hefty size 12. 25 is FAIR GAME. This is when I noticed my metabolism going ballistic. Did that fry you ate yesterday already go to your thigh? Probably. Did that beer you just chugged already make its way to your gut? Certainly! Did that 3 week crash diet really change anything about your weight? Hell to the no! Start making genuinely good choices for your body. No such thing as diet, just a good lifestyle. (side note: eat as many tacos as you want- that's always a good choice).
5. You can't party like a rock star anymore
...and you don't look like one anymore, either. Okay, when I was 17 I was like damn, I really don't want this to stop. Staying up late, experimenting with friends, letting the fun completely rule my life. Then I got to college... an entire new reason to binge without guilt. It was great while it lasted. By the time I got out, I tried to keep as much normalcy in my life as possible: drink right after work, go out every day of every weekend, blah blah blah. Welp, as the story goes I realized my body could still do it, it just really, really, REALLY didn't want to. The hangovers now hung over me, the dark circles never got lighter, and the hype of the bar just vanished (like everyone told me it would). Do you want to look like Lindsay Lohan in 2012? No. So sit your ass down and drink a water every once and a while.
image 1
image 2
image 3
