25 Lessons From 25 Years

Maybe Your 20s Really Are About Figuring Things Out and Learning Along the Way

Today is my 25th birthday… what the heck?! How is life moving so fast?

I just got back from my long run (honestly the most fitting way to start my day) and am now sitting down to write and reflect. When I was younger, I used to think that by 25 I’d be married with kids, living in my dream home, with life all figured out. Safe to say… that’s not exactly how things have played out. I mean c’mon… kids and being a homeowner by 25? In this economy? (Kidding… kind of.)

But the older I get, the more I realize life rarely unfolds exactly the way we imagine it will, but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful.

While my life may not look the way younger me envisioned, I feel incredibly grateful for the experiences, relationships, challenges, lessons, opportunities, and growth that these past 25 years have given me.

So in honor of turning 25, here are 25 lessons the past quarter of a century (okay… typing it like that sounds aggressive) has taught me:

my friends made me a birthday sourdough loaf :)

1. Hard now, easy later or easy now, hard later.
The discomfort you avoid today usually waits for you tomorrow. Every rep you skip, every hard conversation you avoid, every dollar you don’t save… you’re just borrowing from your future self. Dig your heels in now and do the hard thing.

2. Your body is the one home you live in forever.
Nourish it. Move it. Love it. Stop treating health like punishment and start treating it like self-respect.

3. Small acts of gratitude can change your entire perspective.
A smile, a thank you, a sunset, your morning coffee, a conversation with someone you love. Life is usually found in the little things.

4. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
You can’t expect a different life while repeating the same habits, routines, and mindset every day. The dream job, the body you want, the relationships you crave… none of it appears without habits and systems to support it.

5. It’s okay to say no.
Protecting your peace isn’t selfish. Your time, energy, and attention are finite. Spend them on what, and who, actually matters.

6. Discipline creates freedom.
At first, discipline can seem restrictive, but it actually creates more freedom in the long run. The more you keep promises to yourself, the more confidence you build, and the more freedom you have to build the life you want.

7. You’ll get where you’re meant to be, just not always in the way you imagined.
Some of the best things in my life came from plans not working out.

8. Great leaders bring out greatness in others.
Leadership isn’t about being the loudest or most impressive person in the room. It’s about making the people around you better.

9. You can’t always control what happens, but you can control how you respond.
You may not control every situation life throws at you, but you do control the energy, perspective, and actions you bring into it.

10. Learn to sit with discomfort without immediately trying to escape it.
As someone who loves structure, routine, and feeling “in control,” I’ve had to learn that discomfort isn’t something to fix immediately. It’s often something to sit with, breathe through, and trust. Most growth lives on the other side of discomfort.

11. Just start.
There is no perfect moment, so stop waiting for it. I would rather start and fail than never try and spend my life wondering “what if?” We get one life. Start the thing.

12. Your willingness to fail is directly connected to your ability to grow.
Every meaningful thing requires vulnerability. If you’re never failing, you’re probably playing too small.

13. Eat whole foods, move your body daily, get outside, hydrate, sleep well, and build real connections.
I know, I know… you’ve heard it a million times before. But it really can be that simple sometimes. Most of the answers to how we feel are hiding in the basics we keep skipping.

14. Learn to view life with childlike awe.
There is so much beauty in the world when you slow down enough to notice it. Look up at the sky more. Watch the sunrise or sunset. Go on adventures in nature. Breathe in fresh air fully.

15. Nobody is thinking about you as much as you think they are.
This one is equal parts humbling and freeing, and something I’m still very imperfect at. People are too busy worrying about themselves to analyze your every move. So go “embarrass” yourself. Post the video. Wear the outfit. Try the new thing. Stop letting the imaginary audience hold you back from being your authentic self.

16. Consistency matters more than perfection.
One healthy meal won’t change your life. Neither will one missed workout. It’s what you repeatedly do that matters. Reps on reps.

17. Rest is part of the work.
Recovery, sleep, and stillness are productive. Burnout isn’t a badge of honor. Give yourself permission to rest before you’re running on empty.

18. Comparison steals joy faster than almost anything else.
Run your own race (I mean that literally too). Measure yourself against who you were yesterday, not against someone else’s highlight reel. Someone else succeeding doesn’t take away your opportunity to succeed too.

19. Growth often looks boring before it looks impressive.
In running, this looks like slow miles, consistency, patience, repetition. Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, you’re able to run a marathon at your goal pace. Trust the process and let hard work compound.

20. Your environment impacts you more than you realize.
The people, content, conversations, and spaces you surround yourself with matter. Energy is contagious, habits spread, and outlook rubs off. Choose your people and spaces carefully.

21. Confidence is built through action, not overthinking.
You become confident by doing hard things and keeping promises to yourself.

22. Healing isn’t linear.
A bump in the road doesn’t mean you’re failing or backtracking. This is something I’ve learned deeply through healing my relationship with food and body image. Hard days still happen. Toxic thoughts still pop up sometimes. But that doesn’t mean I’m back at day one. Growth is rarely a straight line.

23. The people who truly love you won’t require you to become smaller versions of yourself.
As you grow through your 20s, you may outgrow certain friendships or drift from people you once felt close to, and that’s okay. We aren’t meant to stay deeply connected to everyone forever, especially the people who make us feel small.

24. There is so much power in being present.
Some of life’s best moments are happening while you’re busy rushing to the next thing. This is something I’m actively trying to work on. We live in a go-go-go society that tries to optimize every second of every day. Pause sometimes. Be where your feet are.

25. Life moves fast.
Call your family. Take the trip. Watch the sunset. Start the dream. Say how you feel. Don’t wait forever.

Final Thoughts

Something I always hear is that your 20s are for figuring things out. And I can tell you that at 25, I definitely don’t have life fully figured out, not even close. But I’m starting to realize that maybe no one really does.

What I am learning is that a meaningful life isn’t built through perfection or having every step planned out. It’s built through presence, courage, gratitude, growth, and continuing to show up as yourself over and over again.

And if these first 25 years have taught me anything, it’s that life becomes a whole lot more beautiful when you stop trying to control every part of it and start fully living it instead.

Drop a comment below. What’s one lesson life has taught you so far?