Twitter Poll: If You Were 20 Again, What Would You Do Differently?

I decided to conduct a Twitter poll for some research on an article idea I have and found the responses quite interesting.

I asked my Twitter friends what they would do differently if they were 20 again. The rule was that they had to be over 30 to answer.

Here’s what they said:

How to handle debt/money. Ed Gallagher, Author, Blogger, @egallagher2k

I live by no regrets so even thinking about doing it over again doesn’t make sense. We are because of our experiences. Lost in Office Space, lostinofficespace.com, @LIOSinCT

I would handle the politics of my in-laws a whole lot differently….it’s total hell now.  Rachel Martin, mominreallife.blogspot.com, @rbmmom

Wish I’d known how young I was; I made too many decisions thinking there wouldn’t be other opportunities. Ann Smiley, Graphic Designer, @annsmiley

That the choices you make at 20 create your future. Better choices better future. Frumi Barr, MBA, Ph. D, Founder of Frumi & Associates, LLC, @Frumi

If I were 20 again, I would have taken advantage of my school’s study abroad program. Vanessa Abron, @VanessaAbron

If you stop thinking about it and just do it, it will catch on one way or the other. Do more think less. Jack Stands, @LASnark, LAsnark.com

What I wish I knew: If you are qualified and intelligent people will pay you for your services. Leah Dossey, Graphic Designer, Founder of Blueleaf Creative, @CreativeWisdom

And lastly, this response came to me in an email from Farrah Hoehne.

Hi Nicole,

Your blog is great. I wish I would have had access to your blog when I was just out of college!

There are a lot of things that I wish knew when I was in my 20’s!

First, I would have done an internship while I was in college to prepare and leverage myself in my career. Personally I’ve had 7 jobs in 10 years. While each of these positions have been a great learning experience and have allowed me to gain a very diverse background, I wish I would have decided that I wanted to work in advertising first and followed it throughout my career. I feel that I would have been able to work my way up the corporate ladder and be in a better position right now.

In college, I wish someone would have told me that a bachelor of science in marketing with a minor in French is more valuable and goes further than a bachelor of arts in French international marketing.

I started my job within 2 weeks of graduation as well. I went back home which was a great move but I wish that people would have engrained in my head that I should have taken advantage of traveling before starting work. I never thought that I would be working and counting down the days until vacation and just waiting for one day off!

I also wish that I would have decided to get my MBA in my 20’s. After a failed attempt at the GMAT, I gave up and decided to continue working. I would have gone part time while I was living at home. Since getting married, life just becomes more complicated and it is harder to think about going back to school when you want to have a family.

Last but not least, I wish I would have started working with a financial planner in my early 20’s so that I could set myself up for a more financially stable future. I should have been more aggressive with my 401K before 01 and learned how to scale back when the market was crashing. If I invested in a financial planner, I feel that I would have been able to organize my finances much better.   -Farrah

Thanks everyone for such great responses!  I found it interesting how diverse each person’s answer was.  Anyone else?