26 LIFE LESSONS I LEARNED IN 26 YEARS OF MY LIFE

Hello Beautiful people! I am so excited to share this post with you. It’s my birthday today and I have turned 26. If you know me even a little, You’ll know how much I love reflections. So, this year I have decided to reflect on my Life lessons learned in all these years. I believe, living in your 20s is quite an interesting part of your life because It’s a phase where You’re saying goodbye to one identity and starting to create the next. Your life literally takes so many twists and turns, from being a young adult to becoming an actual adult, entering into the real world which our teachers have been always talking about. Although, I am just halfway through it but so much has changed since I entered my 20s. I have grown so much and I can’t wait to share my what all has led to my growth. So, here are my 26 Life Lessons for you:

1. Learn to surrender yourself to the universe. 

This is the most recent one as this pandemic had put everything in uncertainty and one thing that I learned here is SURRENDERING. I’ve noticed that things go much more smoothly when I give up control—when I allow life to happen instead of making life happen. One of my biggest lesson that I learned in my life to let go & surrender,  release the desires and wishes and see the magic happening.

2. Persistence makes all the difference. 

The key to success is persistence. Whenever I have faced adversity and challenges, it’s my resilience and persistence that kept me moving towards success. So, keep working on your photography, blogging, fitness journey or whatever it is you’re pursuing- be persistent!

3. Always take Health as No.1 priority. 

  It is the foundation upon which we build our life.  Looking after ourselves inside and out is a fundamental part of living a happy, fulfilled life. Our physical, mental and emotional health should always come first before anyone else. So, keep your happiness above everyone else and give priority to sleep & good eating habits.

4. Honest and Open Communication. 

Communicating with someone is such a simple yet can seem like a daunting task in certain situations, but I have seen whenever I took the courage to talk about something which is awkward or hard quite open and with full honesty, I have made my life so much easier and simpler. So, really, Open and Honest Communication is the key to any healthy relationship, be it with your parents, partner, friends or colleagues.

5. 20 Minutes Meditation can change your life. 

 The early you understand this, the better it is. Even, my whole family is into meditation, I learned this quite late but Daily 20 minutes meditation can open up a different world for you which you are not even aware of. It has helped me bring Mindfulness into my life and make me learn to appreciate things around me more which has brought overall peace & satisfaction in my life. 

6. Water can solve most of our health and body issues.

We all know this fact, yet we don’t drink enough. We really tend to overlook small things in life, at least I did. I have seen difference in my overall health by consciously drinking adequate amount of water every day. So, don’t take water for granted and DRINK MORE EVERY DAY!! 

7. Everything happen for a reason.

My dad always used to say this, “Everything happens for a reason” I never believed it until I lived enough to see that yes, everything is connected and there is logic and reason behind everything that happens in our life.  People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

8. Make mistakes. 

One of the most important life lesson for me is making mistakes. I have associated making mistakes with scolding all my life, only to realize later, that it’s the only way you grow and learn valuable life lessons. So, please make mistakes, learn and then make more mistakes and learn more and that’s how you will grow.

9. Be mindful of the people you follow. 

You are the average of 5 people you spend the most time with and in this digital age, it’s more like you are the average of 5 people you follow most. So, always surround yourself with people who uplift you, motivates & inspires you.

10. Self-belief.

If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect anyone else to? This is one of the hardest things I have learned in my life. I am a confident person but I always lacked self-belief. Lack of Self belief that I can’t write, that I can’t make YouTube videos, that I can’t teach online, that I can’t travel alone, that I can’t earn money, I can’t be an entrepreneur, but somewhere deep down I always knew, I have to try. I believed in myself enough to give it a shot and every time, I believed in myself, it came back to me in10 folds. Today I have turned all my “CAN’T” into “CANS”. So, believe in your dreams and vision and most importantly, believe in yourself and take that plunge and do whatever that is you want to do.

11. Find lessons in Heartbreak & Hardships.

Always try to find lessons in your heartbreaks & hardships. Everything that happens to you is because your soul needs to evolve. Anything that happens negatively in your life puts you in a position of self-doubt, but nothing teaches you more about getting through your self-doubts than forcing yourself to get through it.

12. It’s very important to be financially independent in life to have freedom in life and not to depend on anyone, but it’s more important to be emotionally independent in life.  It means building your sense of self on your own, without depending on others to make you happy or tell you who you should be.  Being emotionally independent has empowered me to declare independence from circumstances that might once have dictated my moods, behaviors, and ideas about myself.  This kind of independence is accomplished by building who you are from the inside out, not the outside in.

13. Home is where the heart is. 

No matter where you go in life, your home will always be there for when you get back. This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my life. Home is a feeling no other place can give you; appreciate it while you are still able to and while I am at my home since last 5 months, the realization is just growing more and more.

14. Seek a balanced life. 

There are 10 areas in your life — Family & Friends, Personal Development, Spirituality, Finances, Career, Romance, Fun and Recreational, Giving & Contribution, Physical Environment and Health & Fitness. Don’t drown yourself into just 2 or 3 areas, GIVE ATTENTION TO EACH AREA IN ORDER TO LIVE A BALANCED LIFE.

15. Get Comfortable Being Alone with Yourself. 

Being alone with yourself is not the same as being lonely and it is important to be alone with our thoughts and goals. Alone time becomes more and more important as we mature, because it allows us to re-group and renew ourselves. You will come to cherish your alone time.

16. Everybody has their own unique journey in this planet, so never compare or think someone else is doing better than you. NO. You don’t know other people’s struggles.

17. Get out of your comfort zone. 

When in your comfort zone, your brain doesn’t want anything to change. Getting out of your comfort zone from time to time creates just enough good stress to ramp up your focus, creativity, pace, and drive, and it helps you respond to life stress when unexpected things happen. You won’t believe but, I have started to embrace being uncomfortable so much more now.

18. We all are connected to one another. 

Every person who enters in your life has a purpose to serve, when that purpose gets over, the person also gracefully goes out from your life. So, be always grateful to people around you, rather than being resentful because they left you.

19. Never get into societal or family pressure to do something your heart say NO to. Talk it out, do anything, but don’t give in. Don’t say YES to anything to makes others happy. At the end, You have to live with yourself, not anyone else, so be very careful with your YES and NO.

20. Never Never be judgmental about a new person you meet, instead, create an emotion of curiosity to know their story and be excited to see what can you learn from them.

21. Make reflections part of your life.

Reflect on your day, week, month, year, in order to gain more focus and clarity about your purpose in this world. Journaling has become a core habit of mine and it has helped me bring so much clarity and focus in my life.

22. Focus on conquering 2 kinds of careers:

“Professional Career” to gain material wealth and comfort and “Career of Spirituality” where you gain self-awareness, going deep within yourself and free yourself from all the pains and scars.

23. Don’t run after money, run after your passion, your creativity, money will start coming once you put your passion and creativity together and create something unique for people. Remember  your talents can create things that the world would otherwise not have. That’s why you are here, because you can do something that no one else can.

24. Live in present. 

Living in present and be being present has helped me calm myself so much. Every time I find myself thinking in the past or future, I always ask myself “What do I have to do TODAY?” and then focus on the very day or the moment. It’s good to have future goals/planning, but always take ‘one day at a time’ and live in the present day.

25. Document your own journey

It’s beautiful to see how you have evolved over the years through your journals, pictures and videos. In this digital era, I also learned it’s very important to document your journey on a digital platform as well. You never know who can get inspired, change their perspective or change their lives because of seeing your journey on Social media. 

26. The last one is the most important one-NEVER FALL INTO THE TRAP OF AGE & TIME. I am 26 and by standard norms, I should have a stable career by now, married and may be had a kid as per some people, but where I am today? —  Single, starting my own online language business (not really stable yet), definitely not having kids anytime soon. So, Don’t do things when the TIME is right, do things when you FEEL, it is right time.  

 After writing and reflecting on these lessons, I’m happy to say that, compared with the younger me, I’m much more at peace with myself, content with my life, confident of what I want, and sure of how to get there. Every word I wrote above defines me who I am today, and I am super proud of myself. 

If any of these life lessons stick out to you in particular — be sure to find me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter or just comment below, so we can chat! And if you want to add on to any of these life lessons, feel free to do so. Take care! ❤