In book Defining Decade, author Meg Jay talks about how important it is to establish a strong foundation for the rest of you life in your 20’s. This couldn’t be more true. As much as society would like us to believe that our 20’s is all fun and games, and that we’ve got plenty of time to spend figuring out life, it really isn’t. This decade is a crucial time in your life and will likely determine what your 30’s and beyond will be like.

Of course this sounds terrifying, but not to worry! Here are a few tips that will be extremely beneficial to you as you navigate these interesting years. Some were taken straight from Snapchat from men and women under 25 years old. Here’s what you need to master before your 30’s:

1.  Travel, start a business and fail, move to another city, get as many degrees as you want, try a new hobby or even switch careers multiple times. It’s important to do this under 25 years old not only because you learn a lot, but you’re still cute and young and nobody will severely judge you for the mistakes that you’ll make. Not to mention, trying to live out your woulda, coulda, shouldas past said age probably isn’t what you really have in mind for your life path. Also, this is the perfect time to take risks cheaply, and again, no one will judge you.
2. Just think about failing at 25 versus failing at 45. Must more be said? You really just want to get it out the way now when you still have time to get your life together afterwards.
3. So about that future you’ve been planning for and dreaming about … that’s actually happening right now. Everything you’ve done before 20 doesn’t really matter and everything you do after is a result of what you’re doing right now.
4. Being 35 and still afraid of commitment just isn’t attractive or OK in the real world. Unless you’re one of those people who don’t want to get married and have kids (by the way, there’s nothing wrong with that), you probably don’t want to be dating at 40. Additionally, there’s just some things you won’t learn about yourself without being in some sort of a relationship with another human being that’s not one of your friends or your mom. It’s important to learn those things early on, instead of trying to figure out who you are in a relationship at 40.
5. For example, you should have the money to get your favorite Starbucks coffee twice a week, but feel bad about it later because you of course could’ve used that money for something else more important. This probably sounds like an awful way to live, but it’s really useful in the long run. It forces you to think about your money in an adult way and ultimately manage it more effectively. (Hopefully, anyway.)
6. It’s important to start taking care of yourself now so you can live the longest, healthiest, happiest life possible. Pretty simple, right?
7. By the time you’re 25, you should know how to fully take care of yourself in the most basic form. You should have mastered chores such as washing your own clothes, cooking and feeding yourself, cleaning a house, changing a tire. Why? Because it’s the adult thing to do and anything less will just make you look like you have absolutely no home training. Don’t shame your mother.
8. This one is a doozy. Credit is the holy grail in the real world. You can’t really do anything meaningful without decent credit, like buy a house, buy a car or get a loan for a business venture. So many young adults ruin their credit in college before even starting their lives, only to have it thrown in their face at every turn when trying to cross major life milestones. Don’t be one of those people. Challenge yourself to learn about good credit management now!
9. This goes for boyfriends and friendships alike. Some people really are only destined to be in your life for a season and that’s completely fine. More often than not, you’ll thank the universe for that later.
10. Sometimes it’s a hard balance between having fun and living carefree while making good decisions for your future, but it’s such an imperative balance to conquer. Life is strictly about being happy and giving something back to the world that makes it better.

Now, get out there and conquer this scary, yet exciting and fascinating time in your life!

Written By: Chey Parker
Lifestyle & Career Contributor, The Bobby Pen
Editor-in-Chief, Everything Girls Love, LLC.