10 Mistakes Most Young People Make and Regret Later in Life

If anything is too exciting, you can suspect something is probably wrong with it.

Glorin Santhosh
6 min readJun 26, 2023
Photo by Duy Pham on Unsplash

Adolescence and early adulthood are just too exciting, no wonder most of us make several mistakes at a time like that. In this article, I’ll be sharing with you 10 mistakes most young people make and regret later in their life.

If you’re still young, you’ll have the opportunity to correct some of these mistakes. If you’re already 75, well, I’m sorry.

1. Young People Spend money on Trivial things

Most young people want to have fun. They want to enjoy their life and feel among themselves. They look at others and want to live the way they do. Young people are more likely to run after fashion, style, fun, and many more. There’s nothing bad in being fashionable and buying the latest iPhones except it’s making you poorer.

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As a young person, your primary assignment should be to build a solid financial foundation for your life. To do this, you should have the habit of saving and learn about investing. You can buy everything and anything your heart desires, but that’s after you have built wealth.

I know, that’s a bit of ugly advice for anyone in their 20s, until you’re 50 and know what it means to be broke at such an age.

2. Thinking Shooling is enough to get Rich

Maybe this isn’t their fault actually. Maybe we should blame society for this. Our education actually truly starts the day we leave school. You may not like to hear this but it’s the truth. The real world is very different from the four walls of the classroom.

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Truly successful people are people who learn daily. Even two decades after they’ve left school. Read good books. Listen to great audio programs. The school doesn’t teach you as many things as you’ll like to believe.

3. Young people tend to Give up Easily

It is so easy to just quit when something feels too hard. The idea of giving up what you’re doing is not the best option, just try something different. It might be that you don’t like what you are doing. But the biggest mistake you can make sometimes is to give up.

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Pushing through the hard times is what makes a stronger and well-rounded person. When things start getting a little tough, don’t take the easy way out. Keep on pushing through and you just might surprise yourself. When you work through something tough and come out on the other side, there is no better feeling.

Don’t give up. Keep on fighting!

4. Young People Trust whatever they Listen to and Believe Blindly

Young people are people with great minds, full of opinions, but they rarely challenge what they hear from older people.

Youth should be a time of learning. Questioning what you are told and even getting deeper into your own best thoughts and points of view. Experience may lead you to discover issues that seem black and white, which were actually many shades of gray.

Age doesn’t necessarily develop wisdom, and many young people too easily accept what they hear from older generations. Following your instincts can take you a long way if you know how to follow them well.

5. Young People Invest Without Proper Research

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Reading and hearing stories of people who have made millions investing in the stock market can make it very tempting to give it a go yourself but don’t do that.

Investing can be a very rewarding thing but it’s not as easy as just throwing your money away on random shares. As a young person, you need to do some research. If you invest wrongly, it can mean you lose a lot more than you put in. If you truly want to master investing, the best way to go about it is to study some really good books on that subject. Taking time to read 10 good books about the stock market or real estate can save you from an unnecessary headache that comes with losing you're hard to earn investment.

6. Young people always want instant Gratification

Maybe this is the biggest mistake young people make. Young people today are under great pressure to establish a successful career as soon as possible, to find the perfect partner at the earliest opportunity, and most importantly, to enjoy themselves right here and NOW.

They always want everything NOW and that usually leads them into unnecessary shortcuts, debt, and an unhappy future.

7. Most Young People don’t Save Money

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A recent survey of 1,003 people from Bankrate found that 69% of those ages 18 to 29 had no retirement savings at all. Your retirement may seem far off, but you’re redoing yourself a major disservice.

If you don’t recognize the importance of saving as soon as possible. It’s not the only retirement you should save for. You should save for investment and also for emergencies.

It’s hard to save when all your mates are buying new stuff but if you think you have a better future than theirs, you’ll be disciplined enough to save.

8. Young people think that Love alone is enough to sustain a Relationship

Love is undoubtedly a key ingredient in making a relationship work. However, it is not sufficient. It is possible to be very much in love with someone. Yet realize that the two of you are fundamentally incompatible. The best relationships are based not on romantic love but on shared values, dreams, and goals.

Communication skills and the ability to argue without hurting one another for the sake of it are also vital. Since choosing a life partner is an important decision you’ll have to make in your 20s, knowing this truth will help you. A long-lasting relationship is about love, but not just that. Your partner must share a significant part of your values, goals, and aspirations, or else you won’t last together.

9. Young people try to please Everyone

When you’re starting out as a teenager in your early career, it can seem natural to want to be on friendly terms with your boss, clients, and all of your schoolmates.

It may be disappointing when you found out that some of them simply don’t like you and you’ll start bending to fit into their expectations. This is a big mistake.

Because there’s no formula that guarantees that everyone will like you. You must learn how to deal with haters.

10. Young people Blame others for their Misfortune

Don’t blame others for your failures. They have nothing to do with your life. You are the one who holds responsibility for the success and failures. If you think the best is not good enough, get out and fix it. Don’t be someone who blames you, rather be someone who takes responsibility and failures.

It’s your life and you’re the only one who is responsible. “Your failure or success is yours and not your parents”.

Learn to take Responsibility. That is what makes a Leader. Be a Lion, not a sheep who just follows the leader. Take risks and failures, All that does is mold you into a better person.

Summary

  • Delay gratification
  • Don’t buy things because everyone is doing
  • Learn how to save for investment and retirement purposes
  • Don’t believe everything. Ask questions and challenge the status
  • Don’t fall in love because of love alone. Think about values and compatibility
  • Don’t think you’re educated because you have degrees
  • Learn every day
  • Try things and don’t give up easily
  • Don’t blame your parents or the government for your failure.
  • Take responsibility.

Hope You like this article. Thank you for Reading and Keep Hustling!

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