A woman in her 20s is smiling
Adopting healthy habits in your 20s can help improve yourself physically, mentally and emotionally.

Ten Health Tips for Your 20s

Being in your 20s feels like the world is full of possibility, and your future is at your fingertips. It also feels like a time of confusion and uncertainty.

If navigating your 20s has been trying, consider these ten physical, mental, and social health habits to make your 20s the best decade yet.

Put Good Stuff in


Your body needs good food. This is not a surprising statement, but it is often forgotten by people in their 20s as time and money restrict their diets.

The truth is there are healthy eating options available no matter your budget or time restraints. Plan meals ahead of time and stock up on healthy snacks, so you are not caught off guard by sudden hunger.

Leave the Bad Stuff Out

The chances are high that someone in their 20s will overindulge at times. Whether it is bad food, alcohol, smoking, or drugs, it is unreasonable to think a 20-something will abstain from these vices completely.

You can turn this into a healthy habit by minimizing your intake of the bad stuff. If you do not wish to refrain totally, be sure to moderate your use and supplement with periods of being extra healthy to offset any harm.

Build New Relationships

Your 20s are an odd time socially. As long as you can remember, you were in school, sports, and activities with a constant supply of new friendship opportunities.

Now, your options are limited as college ends, and you enter the workforce or move back home. New personal and professional relationships expose you to a broad range of people with various backgrounds and beliefs, which results in a better understanding of the world.

Find Your Independence

Independence is a tricky yet healthy habit of aiming towards. Independence always sounds like a nice idea, but when life becomes challenging, do you look for the financial or emotional security of others or persevere?

Adversity could send you running back to your supports, or it could spark the unstoppable drive towards independence and success. Striving for independence can inspire resourcefulness you never knew you had.

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Ask Questions

You are in your 20s, a college graduate, and ready to take on the world. Your knowledge and confidence are at an all-time high.

The one feature you do not yet have is experience. Rather than stubbornly avoiding advice, know enough to realize you don’t know everything.

Asking questions to everyone with more experience than you can expand your knowledge. Your work and personal lives can dramatically improve with the information gathered from others.

Of course, you never have to accept the feedback from anyone blindly, but there is a chance the other people may know better than you. Ask questions to find out.

Set Goals

If you have completed college, found a job, and moved out on your own, you likely feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Celebrate your achievements, but set new goals for the future.

Thinking your life has peaked in your twenties is a scary thought. With so much life left to live, you have to plan for the next set of successes.

Goals will keep you driving towards self-improvements instead of becoming overly comfortable and lax. No matter where you are at today, there is room for improvement tomorrow.

Stay Flexible

As you grow, life changes. Sometimes these changes are incredibly wonderful, and other times they are utterly distressing.

The people who manage change well are those that practice flexibility and a willingness to evolve. Being overly rigid means you are stuck acting and thinking the same way your entire life.

Like other healthy habits, flexibility requires balance. Find a place of equilibrium between caving to every demand and sticking with every stale routine for the best outcomes.

Be Kind to Yourself

How have you been treating yourself? Your diet, exercise, and sleep habits will have a major impact on how you feel, but this healthy habit goes beyond the physical.

In your 20s, learning new ways to maintain and improve your mental health is essential. Many mental health conditions emerge during the 20s, and your coping skills can drastically improve or worse your state.

One way to practice kindness is by adjusting your self-talk. Self-talk is the constant conversation you have with yourself.

People who give themselves compliments, encouragement, and patience are the ones less influenced by mental illness. Offer yourself kindness to stay happy and healthy.

Travel

Just new relationships expose you to new beliefs and backgrounds, traveling exposes you to new places and cultures you have only read about. Going to other countries and immersing yourself in their way of life is a fantastic way to accomplish this.

The travel doesn’t always have to be so grand – or expensive. Taking a road trip away from your hometown can be an eye-opening experience.

Other people are going to have different thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Maybe their views are worth a second thought.

Minimize Regrets


So much of life is avoiding future regrets. A healthy habit for your 20s is to make decisions aimed at future happiness.

When you look back at this time in your 40s, will you be happy you took those uncomfortable chances, or will you wish you spent more time at the bar?

Doing the difficult things in your 20s could lead to life looking easier in your 40s. Be comfortable with the choices you make and do not make.