Hey there, this blog post has all the essential information to navigate through your adult life.
Documents / Administration:
- Insurance such as Car insurance, Health insurance, Dental insurance, Homeowner pet, etc.
- Figure your finances out. Learn basics; Credit cards for 101k savings, RRSP, etc.
- Medical appointments.
- A plan for debt, there is good debt and there is bad debt but a debt is debt. nevertheless. Plan to get out even if it's a baby step.
- Taxes - check on your taxes, make sure everything is correct and keep on top of it.
- Have an income - even if it's a cashier job - it's still an income.
- Never underestimate a step forward.
- Check your document expirees- passport, licenses, credit cards etc.
- Put all important documents split into specific locations specifically: passports, licenses, social security, birth certificate, marriage license, tax returns, registration, finance records.
- Suggest putting Security surveillance cameras in two different places, in case of a robbery or some unseen event.
- IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ONE BATCH OF DOCUMENTS, THE SECOND SET IS THERE TO VALIDATE YOUR IDENTITY.
- Go make copes of all those documents and put these physical copies in a third location.
- Appoint someone you trust with your passwords.
- If your computer has a lock, give a physical copy in case something happens to you, so they have access to these types of information.
- If there is something very important to tell someone before you pass away, write it down and put it aside just in case.
Immediate Rules:
- Keep places and items clean.
- Make a healthy lifestyle, especially eating.
- Enforce sleeping rules - if you are having sleeping issues, investigate first.
Healthy Lifestyle:
- Floss. Nothing makes you feel like you have your life as put together, then flossing.
- You can buy stick applicators that are way better.
- If you're doing that, you may as well get mouthwash.
- If you're flossing and doing mouthwash, may as well wear your retainer.
- Make your bed everyday.
- Buy a tool to measure your personal activity, like an app, fitness watch etc. - wear it constantly.
- For those sleep deprived: blackout curtains, earplugs, satin pillows, weighted blankets, stuffed animals, white noise, ASMR, no technology 1 hour before bed, reading before bed or natural supplements can help a lot.
- If you're getting tired after you're eating: this is often a symptom of a food allergy, food insensitivity or overindulgence.
- Make a skincare routine.
- Buy new socks and underwear.
- Put a counselor/psychologist on your yearly checkup list.
Career/ Income/Growth:
- Have an income.
- Make huge goal within reasonable limits - a huge goal does not mean being a CEO - it's what meaningful to you.
- Make smaller goals to get there.
- Make smaller goals for you to personally enjoy.
- Write down the things that would impress you, if you achieved.
- Pin it physically to a board.
- Get a whiteboard/corkboard or something you can physically see items written down every day.
- As mentioned above, make a plan for your income.
- Even if it's 1$ saved a week, that's still 365$
Emotional / Mental Wellbeing:
- Get your phone out and put your loved ones' birthdays in your calendars.
- Add important events.
- Add in your phone a once a month reminder to check in with loved ones to see how they're doing.
- In that calendar, make a note if one of your friends is going through a hard time, set a reminder to check in on them.
- Figure out what you want in life, especially dating.
- If you don't figure out what you want, you make yourself vulnerable to being used or being misguided.
- Identify your achilleas heel.
- What are you bad at? Just keep this in mind for later development.
Overnight Changes:
- Donate the pieces in your wardrobe that aren't you anymore.
- Start getting pieces that are.
- Think about where those are also from; consider secondhand.
- Start reading, get a bookshelf and begin to fill it things you love.
- Do what you want with your appearance as long as it's in alignment with your goals/vision of yourself.
- Volunteer even if it's just 3-4 hours a week.
- Retirement homes and aging populations, are some of the most valuable connections you can have.
- Go to the gym, watch what you eat, do all the advice prescribes.
- Go out of your way to teach someone something, even if it's just a tutorial.
- This will help you grow confidence in your own knowledge, sharpen communication and help connect to others.
Checkbox lists that will start to change your day:
- The 15 things you are afraid of on the list.
- Great, now go do most of them.
- The 3 things you should have done but ignored, instead.
- Great, now go do them.
- The 3 things you want to do this year but haven't got around to.
Not A Checkbox:
- the last 4 years of bad decisions you made and besides them, why you made it.
- Sit with that uncomfortable feeling for a while and accept responsibility.
- If you do not learn, the universe will try to teach you again.
- When you're done with those lists, print out a monthly calendar and jot down some important things you need to do.
- After you do that for a while, make a weekly to-do list, eventually, a daily one should result.
- Checkboxes are your friend and give you dopamine.
- Things I had to learn the hard way that I hope you'll avoid, making this world a better place.
- Always attend the wake and/or funeral.
- People die once.
- Stop being selfish and think of others.
- You will never regret going.
- Give more than you take.
- When you fail to make a decision, the rest will make it for you. It may be the wrong one, still.
- When you're too indecisive and finally make a decision last minute, the weight of that decision often come back to you, like a slap in the face.
- It's okay to be wrong and make mistakes.
- Hold yourself to a high standard and if no one is telling you that you can do better, I am.
Common bad habits:
- Unplug preferably from social media.
- If not, limit to 30 minutes.
- Quit ideally daydreaming, more so when you have other things do or work towards.
- Stop applying all your time to something that has little feedback like videogames - Consider adding another hobby.
- Stop staying up late at night - specially if it makes you feel groggy later.
- Quit feeling sorry for yourself and if you can't stop, go listen to someone else for a while.
- Failing to think/check-in/consider other people on a frequent basis.
- Running away from your problems through traveling, Instagram, Netflix, drugs, booze, dating etc. Stop turning your brain off all the time.
- You have good ideas up there.
- Monitor your recreation.
- Being bad with finances.
- Comparing yourself to others.
Small things that will pay off:
- Go learn basic history - especially go learn the basic history of the last 75 years.
- Have a basic knowledge of finances, housekeeping, driving, changing tires, etc.
- Have a basic knowledge of common mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, narcissism, etc.
- Ask your parents things you wanted to know; record a message from them, even if it's something small.