So this is for the person who just turned 20 or is in their early twenties, maybe you spent your early 20s not doing much, being a bit too lazy, and now the realisation hit you “I have to do something with my life” but you’re not exactly sure in which direction to head. Some people tell you to attend University and get yourself a degree and others tell you travel, go live in another country, get away for a while. Well my perspective is a bit different. I say don’t do any of these.
What do you mean?
Well first let's look at the perspective of the traveler.
He finishes Highschool, and maybe he already finished a while ago and now he has all the time and freedom in the world. The doors of the world are open to him and he wants to travel. So he sets off, maybe with a bit of money and travels to a few countries, does a few work and travel programs, and it's all good. A few pass by, his money gets a bit low because he has to spend here and spend there, and he's getting a bit stressed now, travel is not as fun as it used to be. Maybe he borrows a bit of money from his parents or friends, maybe he spends a bit too much on his credit card and he has no choice but to go back home. Well he gets back home, and where is he to stay but with his parents. Same old room, same family drama, same influences. He doesn't have money, he doesn't have his own place, he doesn't even have any skills. Although his travels might have given him life experience, he can't really do anything with that, or make any money with that. His parents are a bit upset at him because he isn't working, he can't pitch in for rent, and the stress gets to him...
Now the other side.
Here is the studious University student. He decides that instead of travel he's going to go straight to Uni, he didn't really give himself any time to try out different trades, he goes for the one that his peers say will make him the most money. Accounting it is. Four years pass, he studied hard, got good marks, and now ends up with a Degree. He's excited because now he can go into the real world and put his skills to use. He might find a job at some accounting firm, where he gets paid a decent income. But he loses his freedom. Months pass, he's still working at the firm so that he can pay all his student loans, all of his credit card bills, and maybe pay of that nice car he got a few months ago. He might meet a woman, it's 'true love' he tells himself. Now he gets more responsibilities, he's got to work more hours, and to let go of all the stress he goes out with his friends and drinks it all out. He's 26 now, "oh how time passes", he totally forgets about how he wanted to travel the world because the responsibilities occupy all his attention. He gets fired, goes back to living with his mother, the end.
Maybe this is a bit dramatic, but these are two pretty common scenarios, you either go one way or the other. But what I think is that you should avoid both of these if possible, because these will lead you to an unhappy place, or back at your mother's house - and maybe living with you mother is nice for some, so IDK.
And now let’s get into my perspective
You finish Highschool, maybe do a bit of travel and f*** around for a year or two because that's just what young people do. You hit your 20s and the realisation of "now I'm an adult?" arrives, "I should do something with my life", you're given the two paths above and most likely are influences into either of the two by your peers or Youtube gurus. Instead what you should do is…
Build a passive income business on the weekdays and travel on the weekends.
Why build a passive income business?
Be your own boss
Later on in life you don’t want someone to boss you around and tell you what to do - it’s the worse thing when you have someone else controlling your life and decisions.
Travel later on - no work responsibility
If you want to travel later on in life you job isn’t going to stop you from doing so, nor any job responsibilities, you can run a passive income business online and can work in anywhere in the world - no matter the language barrier.
Decide how much you get paid
You decide how much you make by how much work you put in
Learn about business and money
These are probably the two most important things you need to learn about if you want to gain full freedom over your life. Money rules the world, so you need to learn how to rule money. And without a business you’re gonna work pay-check to pay-check.
Why travel on the Weekends?
First off, lots of people don’t travel, they rather go to a bar, or go to the club, waste their money on alcohol hoping to get laid. Well when you travel you escape this trap, instead you get to see the world, and experience the world. You don’t even have to travel that far, maybe even to nearby cities and see how people live there - but this will give you perspective and new experiences. And when you travel you meet other people, and sometimes those people are pretty girls that are looking for a bit of an adventure.
But how can I travel for only two days?
This is just my schedule, but you can design your own and even take a week off every 4th week, make it your own way, but just make sure you work 70% of the time and travel 30% of the time.
Why all of this is important?
It’s important because years will pass you, you’ll grow older and older and eventually you’ll get tired of dealing with other people’s bullshit and rules and you’ll want to get your own place, maybe move to a different city, try something different, but you won’t be able to because first you’ll be working for someone else, second you will have bills to pay, and you’ll be trapped by responsibilities and expectations. That’s why set yourself up early on in life so that way you can do whatever the f*** you want later on.
I'm 24 and I didn't really do this. I went the traveler's route. I traveller to different places, did a few work and travel programs, made a bit here and there, got a few experiences under my belt, but I never really took business, or setting myself up for the future seriously. I bumbled around from place to place, working for people in exchange for accommodation, and trying to keep peace with all of my host - as they all had their own rules for work, food, curfew, and once I was done with helping them I didn't have a place to go back to, well I did, but I didn't want to go back to my mother's house - and it's not a good feeling if that is the last option. But lucky enough that I started doing freelance work, moved to Europe, traveller a lot and had my Grandma’s house as a safe-heaven. And this is where I begin what I should have done for the past 4 years.
Consider this advice, and see if it can apply to you, because now we live in the internet Era, and we should take advantage of the opportunities we have.
Good Luck!