15 Things Every 21-Year-Old Should Know About

There are a couple of big categories every 21-year old should know about: Money, Romance, Time & Life

MONEY

1. What to do with money? — Learn how you can best invest your money as soon as possible so it creates more money.
   My first starting place would be looking at Index Funds that have a compounding interest. If you start at age 21 and invest regularly, becoming a millionaire in your lifetime will be something you can do passively.
2. Legal Matters — Taxes, Bills, Insurances, Etc. You need to learn how to handle all of these as early as possible so you don’t overlap things.
   My advice is that you should always read how long a contract runs and when you have to cancel it. On top of that let your parents or someone else teach you the basics of taxes and interests so you know what you are paying and for what. No one likes doing this, which is exactly what most companies abuse. Do not fall into that same trap. You can save a lot of money with very little information here.
3. Sales — Learn to sell and you can find a job anywhere. Period. Selling is required in every single job; even if it is just selling yourself in a job interview. Learn this skill, master it, and you will get most jobs while also making more money than those around you.
4. Money doesn’t last — With all this money advice there is one more thing to know: Money is a tool and you cannot take it with you when you die.
   Yes, having money is important to survive in this world and to live a great life, but it is not a requirement and it is definitely not the key to everything. Know that money is just paper and it only has the value you give it. Do not rely on making a lot of money or on having a lot of money later on and rather use the money you have while you still can use it. Live a great life NOW, not later.

ROMANCE

1. Love is not easy — Relationships take hard work, a lot of conversations, some arguments and time and effort. You will not find someone like in the movies that loves you without you doing anything for them at all. Keep this in the back of your mind and rather talk one time too much than one time too little. Have the hard conversations, spend more time with your significant other and upgrade your relationship. You have to keep the spark going or the fire will die.
2. Do not become dependent on love — Becoming dependent on your partner is the surest way to become eventually miserable. Live your own life and take your partner along for the ride! That way you do not depend on them, which allows you to be with them because you want to not because you need to.
3. Give it your all — Of course you might get hurt if you do, but if you don’t you will regret it more. Love as much as you can, do your best in the relationship and be as open as you can be. Only then will people know you for who you are and only then will you find the one that loves you for you.
4. There is no one soulmate for everyone — The fact is, there are dozens of people that you can fall in love with and call your soulmate… maybe even hundreds! Don’t go for perfection but go for someone that you love spending time with. Relationships and love are grown just like most other things are. Find a person you love to spend time with and spend time with them. The rest will come from there!

TIME

1. “You are not too old to start, you are too old not to start.” — Kyle Cease -Don’t wait any longer. Trust me, there will always be a reason not to do it, which is exactly why you should do it anyway. Fight the odds, do what you need to do, and do it now. At worst you will learn from another failure. At best you will succeed and have everything you want to much earlier than you thought you could.
2. Persistence, above all else, wins — Talent, hard work, knowledge, timing, all of these things matter, but they all falter to persistence. Most people give up too early, which is why they fail and never make it to where they want to be. But a Musician that practices for hours every day, an actor that takes on every role they can, and an entrepreneur who keeps running business after business will eventually succeed. Stay on top with your skills, keep working on them even when the progress slows down, and you will be rewarded eventually!
3. The only time is now — Your past doesn’t matter anymore; everyone had a shitty childhood and it doesn’t make you special. What matters is not where you came from but what you will do about it now. You can keep complaining if you want to, but it won’t change anything. Instead, be brave, be bold, make the now the best time of your life and work towards the future.
4. How you spend your time determines where you will be — You have 24 hours in the day, just like everybody else. What you have done so far with those 24 hours every day has gotten you where you are today. If you want to go somewhere else, do something else. It’s as simple as that.

LIFE

1. You are responsible; no one else — All the decisions you made were ones you made. There was always another choice, you just didn’t bother to look or it was too difficult to take. But that means that you are responsible for what you have done, just as you are responsible for what happened as a result. Own that and stop blaming circumstances or people for your own mistakes. Once you take complete ownership of your own life you will start to live it by your own means, which will be the best thing you ever do.
2. You can have anything you want, just not everything — You cannot spend every day watching TV and, at the same time, run a very successful business. Some things simply contradict one another. But you can have either of these things! The question is: which one will you take? Sometimes you will have to sacrifice some things to make room for greater things. Know that the world is full of possibilities and you can have anything you want at all, as long as you do what is necessary and leave the rest behind. Then again, you do not need everything, you just need the things that matter!
3. Happiness is something you can have now — You do not have to wait for anything to be happy! Stand up, smile, shout your dreams up into the sky and you will instantly feel happier. If you wait for tomorrow to make you happy you will always chase a ghost. Find out what you can do today that makes you happy and live today like it were your last day. Because, eventually you will be right. (Lesson from Steve Jobs).

Originally published at Quora.com