You’re On The *Right* Track If You’re Feeling These 10 Things!
Image: Shutterstock
Entering the 20s feels like being jettisoned from a safe nest. While the freedom and views are beautiful, the aimless tumbling can be scary. Suddenly, you’re responsible for everything; even things you never signed up for. You have to make a career, make a mark, fall in love, settle down, eat right, sleep on time, watch the latest Netflix series, and travel the world! And it’s a challenge to go through even one day with all tasks checked off.
Nevertheless, fulfilling all the above criteria doesn’t necessary equate doing well at the game of life. So, if you’ve been caught up wondering if you’re doing alright, here are 10 signs exhibited by someone who’s in the right track of life!
1. You Embrace Each Day
You don’t let a bad day, week or month define you. You wake up each day with a renewed zeal, ready to take on the world. You track your habits and work towards improving your productivity each day. You treat every day as a blank canvas, a fresh beginning and another chance to make things right.
2. You Look For Challenges
The great Martin Luther King Jr. famously remarked, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” So, if you thrive in challenging atmospheres and don’t allow yourself to become complacent, you are on the right track. Whether the challenges are professional or personal, you deal with them head-on as you know that a smooth sea never made a skilful sailor.
3. Your Sense Of Self Is Strong
You don’t just look for validation from others, you acknowledge your journey and trust your pace and path. You don’t look for your worth in other’s eyes. Awareness of your flaws brings along peace, faith, and a gentle reassuring pride in what you do.
4. You Have An Optimistic Outlook
You understand that while you can’t choose your circumstances, you can choose your attitude. Happiness then becomes an active process, a state of mind you build over and over again. You’re not exceedingly cynical as you do believe there is some good in the world and it’s worth fighting for.
5. You Help People Around You
Your sense of self does not eclipse others’ misery. You often have one eye turned to others, empathizing with your family, friends, and colleagues, looking for ways to help them. You know that true happiness doesn’t come in solitude; it comes from compassion and shared smiles. You live your life in a way that lifts people up.
6. You Don’t Suffer From Frequent Bouts Of Insecurity
Self-doubt is healthy when moderated. But insecurity is debilitating; it spreads like wildfire when left unaddressed. You know you’re on the right track if you don’t let insecurities way you down. You have a vision for your life and remain unfazed by others’ paths and progress. This does not mean that you are conceited, it just means that you don’t see life as an endless race.
7. You’re Not Afraid Of Failing
Winston Churchill famously remarked, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no less of enthusiasm.” You know that failure is inevitable, and success lies in getting up and shaking the dust off. You learn from your failures and rewire yourself.
8. You Pick Yourself Up
You learn to walk through life with your chin up. You don’t let your past define you. You don’t evade emotions. You shelve them and reach closures, so that you can transition to a new phase.
9. You Don’t See An End To Your Learning And Growth
True success breeds humility and curiosity. The more you succeed at something, the farther the horizon seems to shift. You know there is no end to learning. You never feel like you’ve run out of things. In fact, you always feel that there’s a lot left to explore and the world is full of new experiences.
10. You’re Self-Driven
You have the reigns of your life. You decide when you want to trot, gallop or rest. You have your own ideas, morality, and value system.
20s can be exhilarating! While not having a harness might be nerve-racking, it opens you up to a whole array of experiences that you might not be able to revisit when strings get attached. These are your trial and error years, your chance to plant yourself in different gardens around the world. So, it’s okay to be overwhelmed, but don’t be discouraged by all that you encounter. It’s your gestation period, not the measure of your life!
Keep your core intact and you will build a career, settle down, have babies or pets (named after your favourite food) and re-runs of Netflix. So, simply trust your journey and take it one step at a time.
