1.

The career you have right now does not have to be set in stone, if you don’t want it to be.

2.

As long as you’re constantly trying to explore your passions, it’s okay if you don’t know exactly what you want to do right now; just keep doing something.

3.

Pretty much everyone you know is practicing the whole ‘fake it ’til you make it’ thing, so if you feel lost or uncertain, remember that you’re not alone.

4. 

It doesn’t make you a bad friend if you stop hanging out with toxic people who only bring negativity into your life.

5. 

It also doesn’t make you a bad friend if you stop hanging out with someone who never meets you halfway.

6.

Never forget that your parents were twenty-somethings once too, and that they might have some good advice for you, no matter what the situation.

7. 

Get a credit card as soon as you can; even if you only make one or two purchases a month, it’s the easiest and fastest way to start building credit so that you have it when you actually need it.

8.

Start maintaining a medicine drawer and keep it fully stocked, so you don’t have to run out for NyQuil at midnight on a Tuesday when you start feeling a bad cold coming on.

9.

When friends invite you to stuff, go, even if you don’t feel like it; friendships are a lot harder to maintain after college and these little outings are the building blocks that will make a friendship either last or burn out in your twenties.

10. 

Save those $30 bottles of wine for a time in your life when you can actually afford them.

11.

For now, a $2.99 bottle from Trader Joe’s will still do the trick.

12.

Always send handwritten thank you cards; and remember that you can thank people for their time just as much as you can thank them for a tangible gift.

13.

Remember that ‘being yourself’ can be really hard and scary and challenging, and it’s okay if you struggle with it.  

14.

Sometimes you might have severe anxiety or depression for no reason at all; this doesn’t make you weird or weak or broken – it makes you human.

15. 

Some of your friendships won’t survive your twenties.

16. 

Others will just be beginning in your twenties and will last for life.

17. 

Both of these situations are okay.

18.

You will save yourself a lot of time, energy, and anxiety if you just straight up tell your friend or significant other or family member exactly what’s bothering you.

19.

The person who needs to tell you exactly how much more successful or happy they are than you is usually the most insecure person you know.

20.

If it’s past one in the morning, the only thing that final drink is going to do is make you way more hungover tomorrow.

21.

You’ll always be happier when you buy less.

22.

Don’t go grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons.

23. 

Never underestimate the power and the value of a good meal with a good friend.

24. 

Make the choices that are the best for you and don’t worry about rationalizing them or explaining them to anyone else – it’s your life.

25.

No matter how lost or listless or insecure or uncertain you feel, always remember that you are not alone, that you are loved more than you know, and that you just have to take everything in your life step by step and day by day.