10 Best Things I Did For Myself in My 20's

What's up, guys? Welcome back to the podcast. This week I'm going to be sharing with you some of the 10 best things I did for myself in my 20s. So my 20s aren't fully over yet, but I am in my final year and I thought I would do a little reflection on some of the things that really stand out to me about this era of my life, some of the things that I've done during this decade. That have really helped shape who I am, have changed my life in some way, have made me a better person, have helped me grow. So I've put together a list of the 10 best things that I did for myself in my 20s, and I'm going to share them with you today. Let's dive in.

Welcome to the Makeshift Happen Podcast. I'm your host, Samantha Daly, entrepreneur, life coach, and your no BS bestie, here to bring you all things mindset, manifestation, and personal development. This podcast is designed to help you expand your mind and uplevel your life. So turn the volume up and roll the windows down if you're coming along for the ride.

Let's go make shift happen. Number 1, one of the top things that really stood out to me when I thought about this idea for the podcast, it just jumped out at me. It's one of the best things I ever did, and it fully changed my life. If you listen to the podcast for a while, you know that this was a domino that led to so many other things in my life, and that was studying abroad. I'm so glad that in my early 20s, when I was still in college, I was a junior in college, I studied abroad for a semester in Spain, and that's how I met my partner. It's how I started to become fluent in another language. It's how I ultimately decided that the corporate world wasn't the place that I wanted to get into right away. I had no idea what my plan was going to be, but the experience of going to Europe and studying abroad and just seeing how other people live and the different pace of life and the different values that people have in other parts of the world really opened and expanded my mind and my view of what was possible and what was important. And it changed so much for me moving forward. Like, it really was one of the most pivotal things in my life. Nothing would be the same if I hadn't gone on that trip and studied abroad. So it's crazy to think about. But yeah, that's definitely one of the best things I ever did. So I was a junior in college, and I had been studying Spanish. And I always wanted to travel. I always wanted to go to Spain. My best friend Sam and I, we had this dream when we were in high school, because we took like honors Spanish and AP Spanish together. And we just, we we had this dream that the summer before we went away to college that we would go to Spain together. And we talked about it all the time. And we like had so many plans. But we were kids, we were high school kids. And when we realized how much it was going to cost just to even get there, it just like wasn't really feasible for two 18-year-olds. So that dream sort of died there. But as I went into college, I started thinking about how I could get to Europe and how I could potentially live in Spain or travel through Spain. I was really, really committed to wanting to go there, and I knew that I was gonna have to continue to study the Spanish language if I ever wanted to be able to study abroad, because I needed it to make sense with my education in order for my parents to support it and in order for my school to support it, for it to make sense for my credits to graduate and all those things. So I was, I was very smart in that way that I chose to continue studying Spanish, Honestly, mainly just for the purpose of being able to study abroad, if I'm being really honest. And then there was the logical side of me, which also of course knew like it's going to be great if you can speak a second language. And, you know, Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Like it's so useful for business, for life, for travel, for— so I knew there were a lot of benefits to it. But if I'm being really honest, the main reason why I kept studying Spanish through college was because I knew that it was my golden ticket to being able to study abroad. Uh, so that's how that story kind of came to be. And I studied abroad by myself, so I didn't actually go with my school. I went with like a third-party organization. So when I got to Spain, I was in a group of a bunch of other kids from all over the US, from all different universities. No one that I knew, a bunch of strangers, but I was in a group of, you know, Americans that were studying abroad for as part of their, you know, university experience for college credits. But I went completely on my own. It wasn't affiliated with my university. I didn't know anybody. And I chose to stay with a host family because I really wanted to get the most immersive experience and live with a Spanish family and be forced to speak and really improve my understanding and my ability to converse in Spanish. So it was a really, really big, like, growing experience. Even thinking about doing that now, like imagining going to another country where they speak a language that I'm not familiar with, like a Spanish-speaking country, that would be fine. But if I imagine going to a country where they speak French or German or Japanese or whatever and living with a family and having to communicate, I mean, I think like when you're young, you just— you're not as afraid, like you don't care as much. So I'm really glad that I did it when I did it, because the older you get, the more addicted to your comfort zone you become. I heard a quote one time that was like, aging is a disease of seeking comfort or something like that. And because in all of these ways we just continuously seek more comfort, it makes us age faster, kind of accelerates that, that aging process. We stay home more, we move less, we don't make new connections. We don't put ourselves out there and it's all in the name of comfort, which eventually, you know, leads to our sort of like decline and, and helps us age faster. So anyway, all of this to say, it was one of the best ways to get so far out of my comfort zone. Like, I know sometimes we're like, oh my God, should I go and try this new class or go to this like networking event or something? And that feels like, like getting out of your comfort zone on another level. But Imagine moving to another fucking country where you know nobody and you have to live with a family and coexist with them in their environment, with the meals that they make and how they interact as a family. And they're speaking a language that you're not fluent in. Like, man, am I grateful that I did that when I was young because I don't know if I would want to do it now. I don't know if, if I would have the same like level of excitement or ambition to do that. But I'm so glad that I did it in that way with no one that I knew. And I stayed with the host family and all those things. So anyway, I mean, not only for becoming fluent in the language, which I guess sort of happened later once I moved to Europe, which we'll get into, but it was definitely a big learning experience of Spanish language, of getting outside of my comfort zone, of connecting with new people and making friends all on my own and, you know, living in a totally different culture and dynamic. But I also got to travel a lot while I was there. I traveled to— I was only there for like around 4 months, but I traveled to over 10 countries while I was there. We were basically traveling almost every weekend, which again is another huge growth experience, like being able to pack in tiny suitcases, getting budget airline tickets and just like hopping all around Europe and going to all these different places and trying all the food and the culture and the art and obviously partying and going out and just like immersing yourself into the lifestyle of so many different cultures and languages and places. Was one of the best things for me as a 21-year-old. Like, it really just expanded me in ways that I don't think anything else ever could. So studying abroad and traveling around Europe specifically is number one, top of my list. It has to be like at the very top of the best things that I did for myself in my 20s. And it changed my whole life, right? Because that was the trip where I met Jaime and I fell for him and we started our kind of like little relationship. It was a fling at the time. We didn't think we were going to stay together. But, you know, things, things change. Events transpired. And here we are. We're still together. So I did not know that that trip was going to change my life even more than it did just in the ways of, you know, getting out of my comfort zone and learning a language and meeting new people and traveling to new places. But that also I would meet my person and like my lifelong partner and build this beautiful, loving relationship. Like, man, yeah, I think that one just has to be at the very top of the list because it changed everything. These actually aren't in order. I guess they're just in order of like my brain, which maybe is, I guess, a subconscious order of importance. But I didn't really structure them to be in an order of importance. But I do think that studying abroad was So important. So it's at the top, but no order from here on out. Number 2 of the 10 best things I did for myself in my 20s was I had a fun single era. And I think every young woman and man needs to have a fun single era. But I'm going to speak to my ladies. I feel like the men typically find their way into having a fun single era.

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I just, I'm so grateful that I had, I wish it was longer to be honest, but I can't complain about the circumstances because I met Jaime and, you know, here we are. So you meet your person when you meet your person. You can't— I guess you can't change it. But I do sort of wish that my single era had lasted a little bit longer because I'm a relationship gal. I love to be in relationships, always have. I had a couple of boyfriends in high school, one really serious one that, you know, went for years and, and bleed over into college a little bit. And then we broke up and I had like this year of being single at school and it was literally the best year of my life. Like, college got 20 times better when I was single. And there were people that were always kind of like telling me that, like, you would have so much more fun if you didn't have this boyfriend. And I didn't really believe them. Obviously, when you care about someone, when you love someone, you don't think that that's true. But it turns out we weren't meant to be together, so it's fine. The breakup happened and it was for the best and it was my doing. So I wasn't really as, as like torn up about it as, you know, a lot of people go through. If you're in a really painful breakup where you're blindsided or if someone is unfaithful or something, you know, really dramatic happens or whatever, I just got the ick, to be honest. And I was like, I can't do this anymore. And that was it. And so I kind of just like moved on really quickly in terms of being able to pick myself up, dust myself off, and go back to having a great time. So I had this really fun single era while I was at school, and I just think every girl deserves one. Like, you deserve to be in your hoe era, you know, because you only get— you only get a certain time frame for you to do that if you end up meeting someone and then, and then that's canceled, right? So I'm just really glad that I had this kind of experience where I got to go away to school and just be myself and go out with my best friends. And I was living with my best friends at the time, and it was just so much fun, like living with your best friends, sharing outfits, pre-gaming, getting ready together, going out multiple times a week, like having all these fun weekend plans. There's always something to do. You're always with someone. There's always fun hungover stories to tell. Like, you run into your friend's bedroom in the mornings and you, like, laugh at everything that happened the night before. And then you go out to brunch or order food to the house. Like, it was just such a fun fucking time. Truly, like, one of the best eras of my life. So I'm really glad that I had one. So if you're someone who also loves relationships and you tend to go from relationship to relationship, maybe, maybe it's a sign for you that single eras can be really, really fun and you deserve to experience one if you haven't allowed yourself the time or the space to have one. And I think you get to know yourself really well too. Like I said, I wish my single era was longer, but when I studied abroad, I ended up meeting Jaime. Like I said, And, you know, the heart wants what the heart wants, and we're not complaining about it either. But I think when you have like a really good single era, you get to know a lot about yourself because everything that you do and your plans and whatever, it's not being filtered through what somebody else likes or what somebody else wants to do or somebody else's time schedule or plans or family or values or whatever. And it's really just all about you. And I think like your 20s are about discovering who you are and what you care about and what your values are and who you want to be in the world. And a lot of that comes through like trial and error and discovery and honestly just fun. And being single, I understand, like if you are single for a long period of time, it can get annoying and it's like, okay, I'm over this already. Like, I want to find my person. But I think just in general, like being single is a gateway to being able to have a lot of fun. Not that you can't have fun in relationships, but it's just, if you know, you know. If you've had your era, you know, it's a really great time. I highly recommend. Okay, number 3 is piggybacking off of number 1, which is moving to Europe. So after I— maybe this, the order should have been changed around a little bit because then we could have gone in chronological order. So basically, I had my fun single era, Then I studied abroad and traveled all around Europe and met Jaime. And then I went back to school and finished my last year of university, and then I moved to Europe. So number 3 on the list is moving to Europe because, like, come on, you know, as someone who's not from Europe, like, I get if you're listening to this and you're from Europe, you're like, eh, boring snooze. But imagine if you moved to like Los Angeles or South America or like some just really cool, fun, foreign, strange place. It's such an eye-opening experience and such a fun journey. I think there's so many Americans that dream about moving to a little place in Europe and living that sort of slower lifestyle. And I'm just really glad that I got to have that experience. And I feel so fortunate because it was obviously certain circumstances that collided that allowed that to be possible for me or to even be on my radar. But after Jaime and I had been long distance for a year after I left Spain, we weren't intending to stay together or to like have any sort of serious relationship, but we kept talking and then we realized how much, you know, we, we loved each other. We had like these really strong feelings for each other and we just, we couldn't deny what was there. So we kind of kept our connection going for a year of long distance and we visited back and forth. I went back to Spain for Christmas and I met his family and then he came to the US and he saw me graduate from school and he met my parents and we went to my parents' house and, you know, for a week in the summertime and went on the boat. And it was this whole thing he did, ended up doing a semester in New York City during my last year of school. So we were a bit closer then. I was in Ohio, he was in New York. I went to New York City and spent like a weekend with him. And we had some, some time to visit each other in that like year of, of long distance. But after that, I just was in this headspace of like really understanding after my corporate internship the summer before, once I got back from Spain, of like, I don't know if I can go into corporate America right now. Like, I don't know if this feels right for me to like sit at a cubicle. Do I really care that much about PR and marketing? Like, I thought that I loved this. I, I really just want a job where I get to like work with people and, and I get to like use my skills. But I didn't really know what that was like. The whole reason I went and went to study marketing and PR and communications was because I literally Googled it when I was in high school. Like, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And I kind of like Googled my skills and things that I liked. And that was really what came up. And I was like, oh, this seems cool. So doing those internships allowed me to realize, like, I don't really know if this is what I want. You know, I saw people that were older than me, my bosses, people that were in their 40s and 50s, and just like that image of them in the cubicle, like working those hours and asking for vacation days. And I don't know, it just— it all was like a really big turnoff to me at the time after I I'd just, of course, you know, been to Europe and traveled to 10 countries and seen all these different ways of living and how people really prioritize experiences and life. And, you know, when you're in Spain especially, but other countries in Europe too, I'm sure people are just so full of life. Like, you walk through the streets and it's a Monday, it's a Monday or a Tuesday or a Thursday, it doesn't matter. And all of the, like, outdoor terraces are full of people hanging hanging out with friends, having beers, smoking cigarettes, laughing, enjoying, like, and they have to work tomorrow and they're not stressed about like making sure the dishes are clean. Like they really prioritize living life. And Europeans a lot of times will even tell you that, that like, you know, Americans, the classic like live to work or work to live, like they really view American culture as so hustle culture, go, go, go. Like the only thing that we care about is money, status, success, and climbing the ladder where they just kind of have this different sense of a value system there. And it serves them in some ways and it's hurtful in other ways to productivity and to the speed at which things get done. Like everything is just slower in Europe because people don't give a fuck, right? But It's— it was just such a cool experience to be able to move to a foreign country and truly, like, immerse yourself into the culture and actually assimilate. Because when I was studying abroad, yeah, I was living with a host family, but I was only there for like 4 months, you know. When I moved to Europe, I moved to Europe. I lived there for over 6 years. So I had a lot of time for that to become my total new normal. Like, I learned so much about how just things work differently in other countries. And it was one of the best experiences of my life. I met so many different people. I— that's when I truly became fluent in the language because I had so much time and I was kind of forced to. I did a full-on job interview for a marketing company in my second language kind of early on in my time there. It was maybe my second year there. It was the most nerve-wracking shit of my entire life. But it was just like experiences like that that really, really force you to grow. And then of course, all the fun like being able to travel and stay at Jaime's family's beach house in southern Spain every single summer. We would go there for a month and just live at the beach, and we would go to Ibiza every summer. We would go to awesome concerts at Ushuaia Beach Club in Ibiza, which is like my favorite. I saw Kygo there and it was like the best day of my life. I don't know why. I think I talked about this on the Ultra episode because I was so bummed when he didn't come to Ultra this year in Miami. But the Kygo concert at Ushuaia, like, is top 5 moments of my life. Maybe that should be on this list. I don't know why it was so amazing. I can't describe it. I'm not even like a super fan of his. I don't even really follow him. It's just there was like the— there's no other way to describe it but like the best vibes, the absolute best vibes where everything just feels happy, blissful, like you are in a fairy tale, fairy tale like bubble of just happiness. There's like confetti falling all around. The vibes are high, the music is loud, everyone around you is happy, everyone's hands are in the air. There's like flames coming out of the stage, there's like an airplane flying overhead. You know, like you're in Ibiza on the beach at this amazing like little hotel beach club. Like it's just ultimate vibes. So there were lots of parts of living in Europe that made it obviously a top-tier experience, but I just couldn't make this list without putting that on it. And I know it's not realistic for everybody to be able to just, you know, pick up and, and move to Europe. But there are a lot of people that have the opportunity to travel, or maybe you have like family that are European, or you could get a European passport in some way because you have grandparents or someone in Europe. And I feel like people, a lot of Americans don't really capitalize on that enough and they don't really like take that opportunity seriously. And I just think if you have an opportunity to move to Europe or even, you know, go and visit there for a time or just do like your— what's it called— like your tourist visa where you're, you know, 90 days in one place and then you got to move on and go to another place and then you can come back in if you want to literally travel for like a weekend to another country and then come back in and stay for another 90 days until you can't do it anymore. Like, There's, there's ways, there's ways to get around it. But even like my assistant Lori, she has been wanting to move to the UK for the longest time. And when we met up in New York City last year, we were just talking about it. And I am just the biggest hype girl for having a European era while you're in your 20s especially. So I was just like, literally, you're going to die. And if you don't do it, you're going to regret it. There's nothing better. Get out of Australia, like sort out your visas, get over there. Who cares? Do whatever you have to do. Like, it's going to be the best time. And she's doing it. I feel like I've been like the person who's convinced several people in my life to literally like quit their jobs or figure out some way to move to Europe. So anyway, I'm the ambassador of having a European era in your 20s. If you can do it, just fucking do it. Like, there's, there's no reason not to.

Okay.

Number 4 is that I tried many things in order to find my passion. And moving to Europe was something that kind of afforded me this opportunity because I was out of my comfort zone. I was out of the, I was out of the general path of, you know, like what you're supposed to do in terms of after you like graduate from high school, go to college, get a job. Like that whole journey kind of got disrupted by me moving to Europe. And I was forced to do kind of like unconventional things for work because I was on a student visa at the time and there was only so many things that I could do, right? So I was kind of like forced into this, into this space of like having to get creative and try lots of, lots of things, which I'm really grateful for. But I think if you're intentional about this, you can do this no matter where you are, even if you live in the same place that you always have. Have. But that was sort of what allowed me to do this, because I don't think I would have thought to do that otherwise, right? If I hadn't moved to Europe, I probably would have just gotten a regular job and I would have done that. I wouldn't have been like trying to do side hustles or pick up other skills or do other things because I wouldn't have given a shit, you know what I mean? So I had to try a lot of different things in order to end up at finding out what my passion was.

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Love you guys, and thanks for supporting Makeshift Happen. I started out teaching English in Spain. That was was what— that was the job that initially got me over there and, and got me a visa to be able to go there. So I was teaching English and working in schools, and there was a time when I was younger where I thought that I wanted to be an actual school teacher. So I wasn't super like upset about the fact that I was going to have to work in schools and work with kids and teach English. I actually thought, what if I find out that I really like teaching? And what if I want to teach forever? And I don't know, I'll just explore this, right? Because I had my degree in marketing, PR, communications, and I was unsure about that. So I was just kind of like, whatever, we'll see what happens. I was just really open and I didn't really care. So I was teaching English. I was open to that maybe being something that I like fall in love with and want to do long term. Ultimately, it wasn't really— I love to teach. I love being a teacher, but I didn't want to teach academics. I didn't want to teach English, right? But at the time, also while I was teaching, I picked up— I got involved in network marketing. And so I picked up like this, this side hustle of learning how to like social sell and use my Instagram for selling and like studying and learning all about a product in order to be able to share it with people and started reading lots of personal development books and marketing books. And sales books and really like getting into this world of social selling. And there were parts of it that I loved and there were parts of it that weren't like— it just wasn't fully there. And I think the piece that was missing there was that I loved the products, but they weren't mine. So I didn't feel this like deep connection to wanting to talk about it all the time or like continuously promote it and, and help get it into more people's hands. Right. I loved the products for myself and I enjoyed talking about them at the beginning, but then I sort of got tired because it wasn't— there wasn't enough passion in it because it wasn't my thing. And some people are really great at promoting someone else's product. I'm just not the best at that. Like, if I'm going to promote and sell something, it needs to be my thing that I made or that I discovered or that's a service that I provide that I'm obsessed with. Like, it has to be really rooted in a deeper mission and something that I love, and it has to be connected to me. It can't just be somebody else's product, right? So there was a disconnect with network marketing, but I learned so much in doing that, like literally so fucking much, so much about social media, about selling, about marketing. Like literally that is the strongest foundation that I could have ever built for later on building my own business, which we'll get to next. But I also did an unpaid internship while I was in Spain and I helped run yoga and meditation retreats, and that got me deeper into the world of mindfulness and meditation and even just like the retreat business and kind of seeing how transformational that was and how much like I wanted to be able to facilitate that and do that on my own. And that was all for me. Doing this unpaid internship because I just wanted to grow my skills and find something that I loved and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. And because I was in Spain and I couldn't like work like regular jobs until I had my residency, I was sort of afforded this opportunity to play around and say, fuck it, you know, like at one time I literally had 3 jobs. I was teaching in a school, I was, you know, making sales with my network marketing business. And I was working as an intern, unpaid. Eventually that turned into a paid position, but then I got fired and then I was unemployed. And we've told the story on the podcast before, but it was a whole big thing. And then that led me to starting my business. But I also during this time did my yoga training because I was like, oh my God, maybe I want to infuse that into something that has to do with meditation and mindfulness. And I knew that I wanted to maybe do something on my own someday, but I had no idea what it was going to look like or what it would be about. But I just figured that the yoga training would really help me solidify those skills. And so I did my 200-hour yoga teacher training, and that got me so much deeper into like mindfulness and meditation, which then of course served me in certain aspects of starting my wellness business, which was all about helping people transform their mindsets and reprogram their subconscious minds to change their lives, their careers, their relationships, their bank accounts, all the things. So I got my life coaching certification, and that leads us to number 5, which is starting my own business. So I mean, without a shadow of a doubt, starting my own business is one of the best things, of course, that I did for myself in my 20s, because I wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here. Like, you wouldn't be listening to this podcast. Yeah, we wouldn't be friends. We would— we wouldn't know each other if that didn't happen. So it's such a huge milestone in my journey that changed my life forever. Like, my life story will never be able to be told without this era of me becoming an entrepreneur and a business owner and building a personal brand and developing, you know, a following and clientele and a podcast and a platform and all of these things. Like, it just changed the game for me. It changed the whole trajectory of my life, my career, my finances, of everything. So, you know, among that, there was also the piece of starting your own business teaches you— well, forces you to teach yourself, let's say, forces you to teach yourself so many new skills. Like, I went to YouTube University, y'all. I went back to school. I got a degree in social media, in business development, and online business, and course sales, and all the things from YouTube and from courses and from my coaches. But I basically like went back to school in a sense because I had to learn so many new skills. I'll never forget, like, starting the podcast, I was like, holy shit, this plugs into where? And how does the sound get to there? And if I have a guest, like, where is their sound coming from and how do I record it and how does it go out onto the Spotify or Apple? Like, I just had to learn so much and I had to, like, teach myself and also invest in courses and coaches and experiences that were going to help me. Hone those skills and get better. So I learned a lot. I also took on a whole new level of responsibility. Being in charge of your own income is a new weight of responsibility that I had never felt before. And the pressure truly is on. Like, it's up to you every single month. If you're not making sales, if you're not progressing, then you're not going to get paid and you don't have money, right? So it's like this whole new responsibility of being able to take care of myself, take care of my home, take care of my family. Through this work of building a business. So the responsibility thing I think was huge in terms of something that made me grow and mature a lot. And then of course there's like the financial piece. Obviously I made more money than I ever would have been able to if I had gone into a corporate job. You know, like the company scaled to half a million in just a couple of years and that I don't think in many job paths that I would have had available to me that that would have been possible. Right. So there obviously that changed my life. That is what allowed me to move back to the US. It's what allowed me to buy my home. It's what allowed me to buy my car. Like it's— yeah, it's changed a lot about my life. I also think in this process of building a business, some of the best things that came out of it was that I built such a deeper sense of self-trust and I became even more confident. Because when you have to rely on yourself and then you continue to prove to yourself that you can do it and you've got your own back and you're there for you and things are working out and that you actually are good at this and you have amazing skills and people want to pay you money and you're changing people's lives and holy shit, when you see the results of your clients and they're making more money, they're changing their careers, they're growing in their personal lives, they're getting into healthy relationships, they're shifting patterns, they're repairing relationships. You're like, oh my God. Like, it also creates— it feels so good to be able to give that to others. But I have to recognize that it also gives something to me and it provides me with, with more inner knowing of the work that I'm doing is important. And it gives me like more confidence. And your self-trust just gets stronger and stronger the more that you bet on yourself and the more that you take a risk. And then you continue to figure out through that process like, oh, I'm fine, I'm good, I got me right. Like I took a huge risk or I invested a scary amount of money or I, you know, quit my job and I went all in on myself. And then you're like, wow, and I didn't fuck it up and I've got me like that really fosters a deeper sense of self-trust. And I'm so grateful for that because I think everything in your life gets better when you trust yourself on a deeper level. So that was a really important piece of just the benefits of me starting my own business. Okay. Number 6 is that I moved in with my partner. So backtracking a little bit in time, I think I was 23 and Jaime was probably 24 when we decided to move in together. So I had been living in Spain for a year already, the first year that I moved there. I lived in a, in an apartment in the center of the city with a bunch of people. I shared a flat with 9 other people, so there were 10 total roommates in this little European flat, um, which you can imagine is an experience in and of itself. Uh, it was very interesting. We had no dishwasher, uh, but we did have 3 or 4 bathrooms, so we were good on that front. But yeah, it was— things were tight, you know. I think we had one European-sized refrigerator, so you got a little shelf and that's all that you had for your groceries for the week. You had a little shelf and then you had to deal with people not washing their dishes and there's no clean plates and there's eggs crusted to pans and all the not fun stuff about living with a million roommates. But then also, you know, you go out and you have a great time and you meet these people from all over. I had roommates from Finland, Brazil, France, Belgium, Mexico, like literally all over the world. It was such a smorgasbord of people. And there were two American girls in that flat who are still my super close friends to this day. I convinced both of them— this is a total tangent, but it's a fun fact— I convinced both of them to get Tinder because that's how I met my boyfriend in Spain. And I was like, you guys, Guys, you're single, you're in Spain. I gotta tell you, if you get the Tinder, you might get a boyfriend. And lo and behold, they both found their boyfriends and they're all still together. One of them is married, the other one's on the way. Like, I'm just a matchmaker. This should be an ad for, for Tinder. Um, Tinder, will you please sponsor this podcast? Thank you very much. So I lived with all these people for the first year and it was a really fun experience but also kind of chaotic. And because I had spent my whole college experience away from home, also living with a bunch of people. I lived in a sorority house with 35 girls. Then I lived in a, like an old off-campus house with 6 of my best friends. And it was just, you know, after that and then a year of living with 10 people in a small European flat, I was like, 5 years of, you know, the chaos of living with a bunch of roommates in your young 20s when people just really are not responsible and drunk all the time and whatever. I was like, I'm over it. I can't do this anymore. So I got to get my own place or move in with Jaime. And so we decided to move in together. So we got an amazing, beautiful apartment thanks to his parents were so helpful in finding an amazing place and helping us invest in something that would make sense. And so we were afforded this like amazing opportunity to like live in a really beautiful apartment with lots of great amenities. And we had parking, we had a pool, we had had like a paddle court, which is kind of like tennis. It was just like— felt like a dream. Like, I don't know, it was like I never thought that like that would be possible. So it was a little one-bedroom apartment, but it had this amazing terrace, and there was all these parks around that were amazing for the dog, which is part of this story of, you know, moving in with my partner and why it's important, because even though we had like really incredible, like privileged opportunities and resources and we were able to live in a really nice place, there were still parts of like living together that were a challenge. And the main part of that happened once we got the dog. Like we literally almost broke up over the dog, which I'm so glad that we got a dog before we ever decide to have children someday because we got that out of the way. Our understanding that we are— we handle responsibility very differently. And one of us wants to quit much faster than the other. I'll let you— I'll let you think about which one is which. But yeah, like, I'm— I think it's one of the most foundational things that I did for myself in my 20s, moving in with a partner, because especially the person that I intend to be with long term is because we got to learn so much about each other and we had to really like learn how the other person operated. And I feel like, you know, it's, it's relatively easy to be happy in a relationship when you are spending a lot of your time separate. You live in separate houses or separate parts of the city, and you guys dating is like meeting up a couple of times a week for date nights or sleepovers. Like, it's very easy for that to be be like an amazing, no-argument, no-struggle type situation. But when you're with someone all the time and they start to get on your nerves and you see the different sides of them, or someone has like an emotional reaction or breakdown, or you have differences with household responsibilities or whatever it is, like that's when you truly get to understand, is this going to be someone that I can partner with? Not someone that I can date and like have a relationship with, but someone that I can partner in life with. That's how you figure that out, is by living with that person. So I highly recommend living with someone before you get married, unless that's, you know, against your values or views. But I just think it's the best way to find out who you are individually and together as a true, like, team and as a partnership. So that was important for me to do in my 20s because it fortified my relationship. It let me know that we could go through struggles and we could still come out the other side happier. And that just because things get hard or we get annoyed with each other or we go through, you know, times where everything isn't perfect, that there are better days waiting on the other side of us doing the work and having the hard conversations, and that you can actually love someone more over time and you could feel even more honeymoon-y like we've had phases in our relationship where we're like, this is sickening how honeymoon-y we are right now. And we've had phases that like that go on for like a year like that where we're just so like giddy and in love and like things just, they ebb and they flow and they go up and down. But by living with someone, you learn to understand that none of it has to mean that, you know, oh, since this is bad now, we should break up or I'm bored and or, you know, we're not going to make it through this because we're having lots of arguments or whatever. Like, you just learn that, like, you can get through anything and you find out if your partner is someone who will actually be a good teammate for you to help you move through things as a unit. So I think that was like super important for me in my journey was being able to actually live with my partner in my 20s. Okay. Number 7, I came off of birth control and I invested in starting to repair my gut health and my hormones and my skin. So this might be controversial. I don't think it should be, though, because everyone— I think every woman is entitled to her choice of what she chooses to do or not do with her body. I believe that birth control should be made available to absolutely everyone who desires it. It should be accessible, it should be free. But in my case, I had been on birth control for over a decade without really understanding what it was doing to my body. I just had no idea. I was a teenager when I got prescribed the pill, so I wasn't really told that I was going to stop ovulating and that my body would be running on synthetic hormones instead of my real normal, you know, hormonal cycle. I didn't know what was happening by taking that pill every day for months and years. And I wanted to get back in tune with like the natural rhythms of my body. And I really wanted to make sure that my hormones were in check and that everything was still functioning properly and that once I came off the pill, I was going to be able to have a period and to ovulate and have a normal cycle. And I knew that that was going to take time. And I just like got to this point where I was like, I think it's time. I just think it's time. And it's one of the best things that I did. And I can't say that it's made my life easier. It's definitely made my life more challenging. I'm not going to lie, because once I came off birth control, I— my periods definitely got worse, more painful. Like, I guess it just became so clear to me being off the pill how much of like a robotic fake cycle I was on being on the pill because I didn't even experience my period when I was on the pill. Like, I didn't— like, I got a period, but I didn't feel anything. Like, there was no pain. There were no signs or symptoms. Like, I had no idea when it was going to come except for the fact that my sugar pills were coming up in my packet. Like, there were no warning signs. Like, my body didn't start to, like, change or give me signals that it was coming. Whereas now I can really truly feel the day that I'm ovulating. Like, I can feel that happening in my body. I can feel like leading up, oh, I'm going to get my period soon because I have this feeling. I have this little twinge in my head, like I have a slight headache. I can feel like I can feel my chest starting to get like tender. So I didn't have any of that. So of course it was great. Like, no, no pain, no symptoms, no signs. Like, That's great. It made my life more challenging to actually have a natural cycle, but it makes me feel better that my body is fully functioning on its own and that it's learning to restore that balance. And some people say it takes years for your body to get recalibrated into a balanced cycle after being on birth control for decades, which I guess is understandable, right, if you've suppressed that for a while. So it's been over 3 years for me now. But I had— so I had more like period symptoms and then my skin also, that's when it started like acting up and getting bad. So I don't— I never had bad skin when I was growing up. But like I said, I also went on the pill when I was a teenager. So potentially, like, I could have maybe had skin issues as a teenager if I hadn't gone on the pill, but I didn't know, like, I just had no experience with that because, like, birth control helps you not have acne, right? Like, and that's one of the reasons why a lot of people like to take it. But I wanted to figure out what was actually going on and I wanted my body to be able to function normally without a synthetic hormone. So that was important for me because it allowed me to realize where my hormones were out of balance. It allowed me to realize that I actually had a form of leaky gut and that I had gut dysbiosis. So my gut microbiome was totally out of balance and that needed work. And then I had breakouts and my skin got really bad and I got acne and I got rashes. It was all just really showing me what was actually probably happening underneath the surface and things that were ready and in need of healing. And it's— it hasn't been fun. Like it— like I said, it's gotten— it's made my life more challenging, but I'm really glad that I did it because everything is sort of getting better over time. And I'm glad that I'm 3 years down that track now instead of having that kind of looming over my head of like, oh God, I got to do this someday because I can't I can't do this forever. I knew I didn't want to be on birth control forever, so I'm glad that I bit the bullet and I started going into my healing journey and investing in nutritionists and skin coaches and Ayurveda practitioners and lots of people to just help me get my shit under control and start to heal. Okay, number 8 is that I bought my beach condo. Like, how could we not have her on the list? She's fab and we love her. So if you've been following the podcast for a while, last summer we— well, okay, last year in 2022, we moved back from Spain to the US and started house hunting. And then in the summer, we bought our beach condo here in South Florida. And moved in and been here ever since. Live across the street from the beach. Like, it's a dream come true. Nothing makes me happier, truly, than waking up every morning and opening my blinds and being able to just see palm trees, blue skies, water. Like, there's nothing better. It just— nothing can compare. And like I said before, me starting my own business was a catalyst. It was a main player in that being possible. So that's important to mention as well. But what I want to say about buying the beach condo was not just like, why? It's, oh, because it's like a cool thing that I did in my 20s. I actually think the experience of buying a home on your own is so challenging and it really made me grow in a lot of ways. Like, it taught me so much. I was running a business full time, like running a company, taking care of clients, like building, scaling, you know, moving everything to the US, changing bank accounts, LLCs, like doing all this stuff. We were deep in an immigration process for Jaime. We had so much going on. And on top of that, I was buying the house by myself and I'm the American citizen. And so I had to do everything. My name was on everything. I was responsible for everything. And it just like, it taught me a lot about how much I can hold at one time because that truly was such a chaotic time. So it helped me learn a lot about my capacity and how much I can hold. But I also was forced to learn all kinds of other things about mortgages and insurance and property value and investing in real state, and I really understood adulting for the first time being an official homeowner. I didn't understand why people were like, oh my God, adulting, it's so hard. I never got it. I never understood until I was in the process of buying a home and furnishing a home and getting insurance for a home and all the shit that comes with being a homeowner. So I think the biggest reason why it's on this list is not because it's like a fun, shiny, cool thing, um, but also because it really made me grow. It stretched my capacity and it taught me a lot of things that I previously knew nothing about. Okay, number 9 is investing in my personal and professional growth, and this is basically just like personal development. Number 9, personal development. Like, this includes everything from courses to coaches, going on retreats, hiring my business mentors, hypnotherapy, working on my money mindset, studying subconscious reprogramming. Like, all of these things were investments into my personal and professional growth. Going to Tony Robbins, like, all of that falls under this umbrella of investing in my personal and professional growth. And I couldn't be be more grateful because I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't have any of the things that I have. I wouldn't have the relationship that I have. I wouldn't have the business that I have. I wouldn't have the home that I have. I wouldn't have or be any of what I am if I hadn't invested into becoming the type of person that could have those things. So that truly like just changed my whole identity. And I think the piece about money mindset is so important. Like if you're someone who's listening to this and you're in your 20s and you haven't really done a lot of deep money mindset work yet, Highly, highly recommend because it's worth it for your life and for your future. If you ever intend to make investments or buy property or do anything big with your life or your money, you've got to have like an abundance wealth mindset and a healthy relationship with money. It's going to serve you. It's going to serve your potential children someday, your family, your partner. Everyone around you is going to benefit from you having an awesome, rock-solid relationship mindset and inner voice when it comes to money. Okay, and the last one, number 10, is that I lived with my parents for 7 months. And I feel like this is the wild card of the 10. It's maybe the one that's like not expected, because when you're in your 20s, at least in America, I feel like people, you know, the goal is really to move out of your parents' house and to to go off on your own and, you know, get your own apartment or buy a home or whatever it is. And although that's, you know, all great, the reason why this is on the list for me of the top 10 things that I did for myself in my 20s is because there's this statistic that says that by the time that you're 18, you will have spent 90% of the time with your parents that you'll ever spend with them in your whole life by the time that you're 18. So by the time that you finish high school and go to college, you've already spent 90% of the time that you'll ever spend with your parents. So I know this is different for people that have challenging relationships with their parents, or, you know, there's non-healthy dynamics and things like that. But I'm lucky enough to have two amazing parents who I love and cherish and are some of my best friends. I'm so grateful for them. I wouldn't be or have any of the things that I am without my parents, and I love them so much. And so it was a really great experience to be able to live with them for 7 months once we moved back from Spain, and we were just able to make so many more memories. And I also think it's fun to like live with your parents after you've been away from them for a long time because you actually just really want to be there and you appreciate each other's presence so much more. Like when I was 18, I moved out of my parents' house. I went away to college. I went to a totally different state. I was like 5 hours away. I barely saw them. You know, I maybe saw them like twice a year, once for Christmas and once probably in the summertime if I wasn't, you know, working an internship or off somewhere doing something. So I was basically gone from the time that I was 18. And then after college, I moved to Spain and I was really far away then, and I probably only saw them once or twice a year. So we got to make lots of memories that I know I will cherish forever. My parents aren't going to be around forever, and I'm always going to remember this like era of my life between Europe and the US when I moved in with my parents and I lived with them for 7 months and we shared a house and we shared meals together every single day. And it was just fun to like be in the same house as my parents again and see them on a daily basis and know like the happenings of their life and and all the little, like, daily things that you kind of miss out on when you don't live with someone anymore. You know the big stuff, but you don't know the little micro details and the micro things. So I just— I loved it. I appreciated it so much. And it's one of the top 10 best things I did for myself in my 20s. So I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. If you did, please take a screenshot, share it to your Instagram stories. I'd love to know if there's something on this list that inspired you or made you want to do something or try something. And what are some of the best things that you've done for yourself in your 20s? Maybe you want to make your own list. Maybe this is like a good journaling prompt or something that you can do in your free time is kind of thinking about the best things that you've done for yourself in this era of your life and just reflecting on all that you've learned and the things that have made you grow in the biggest and best ways. I think it's really valuable to like have these conversations with yourself. Obviously the podcast gives me an amazing outlet to do that, but for everyone else who's listening, maybe you want to do this in your journal. All right. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you guys so much. If you have a friend, a sister, a coworker, someone who you think would enjoy this conversation, copy the link to this episode and send it to them in a nice little text and let them know you were thinking of them. I will talk to you guys next week. Bye!