Dear young adult,

You’ve left high school, perhaps you’ve gone off to University, perhaps not? No matter, this advice for young adults is for you.

It’s weird isn’t it? Being called a young adult – you’re not a teenager anymore but you’re not quite an adult. Friends are getting married, some are having children, some are travelling the world and some of them… some of them you’re not quite sure what they’re doing. Heck, you might not even know what you’re doing and you know what? That’s OK.

In my short time being a “young adult” I’ve got 3 pieces of advice for you:

1. Choose your tribe & be wise

Many of us feel like we have to be friends with someone simply because we’ve known the person for ages or because they were your best friend in high school. Let me tell you now, you don’t.

I had a best friend who would lie to me, hurt me and bring me down, but because she was my best friend I allowed it. Don’t get me wrong, she was also there for a lot of low points in my life and supported me through those but eventually the bad in our relationship outweighed the good. I got tired of accepting apologies and accepted that our friendship was no longer healthy for me. It hurt, more than any break up I had ever had. But now, I look back on our friendship and laugh at the memories we made, I’m grateful for the friendship we shared and the lessons it taught me.

As a young adult, you are going to create massive milestones and are essentially shaping your adult years. Think about who you would want to have around you when you graduate uni, get a promotion at your new job, get engaged, get divorced, have kids. You want people around you who are going to uplift you, support you, value you, not gossip and bring you down. Choose wisely.

2. Cherish time with your family

The older we get the more you will realise how important family is. Family can be whoever you define your family to be.

Every year you get older so do they. Your grandparents aren’t going to be around forever, not your parents, nor your siblings. As we get older it is easy to forget to spend a weekend going home or calling to check in. We get so caught up with ourselves, work, life, that we forget others we love exist.

Nine years ago I tragically lost my father while we were visiting my grandparents and having a weekend away for my brother’s 10th birthday. We had not long got back from a father-daughter outing to a local artist’s concert and it was late. I sat on Bebo and my Dad came to say good night because I needed to go to bed. I didn’t even look at him and just said good night. He kissed me on the head and said ‘I love you’ and I just sat there upset that I had to go to sleep. Little did I know, that good night would be forever.

I was 12 at the time, and for years I have struggled to come to terms with the last things I said to him, or in my case, the last things I didn’t say.

You see, tomorrow is never guaranteed. When you can tell your family you love them, tell them. If you can show someone some love, do it. When you have time with loved ones, cherish it.

3. Create & take opportunities

You’re young! Step out of your comfort zone and create opportunities for yourself. Whether that means working to save some money and travel, finally getting around to making that CV so you can get a job, or even putting into action that idea you’ve had for so long.

Too many of us sit around waiting for an opportunity to come knocking on our door when in reality, opportunity comes knocking once we’ve built the door.

Put yourself in the position to receive opportunities and when they come, take them, and make the most of it.

I hope you took something from this and if you have any questions or would like a chat, feel free to contact me.