29 Uncomfortable Signs You’re A Successful 20-Something (And You Don’t Even Realize It)

1.

You’re constantly trying things that make you feel out of your element or outside of your comfort zone.

2.

Because you’ve learned that being successful and finding joy and thrill in life often means trying new things and putting yourself out there, even when it’s scary and intimidating.

3.

You only spend time around people who lift you up, people who make you feel good, and people who make you want to be a better person.

4.

And that means you’ve also found the courage to walk away from friendships and relationships that have only hurt you, depleted you, or brought out an ugly side of you.

5.

You’ve made efforts to face your insecurities head-on, and have done everything you can to understand your own self-esteem issues and how they might affect the choices you make.

6.

You’ve stopped being so obsessed with ‘chasing’ happiness.

7.

And you’ve come to look at happiness as more of an ongoing process, in which you’re trying to find more joy in the little everyday things rather than convincing yourself that your next big ‘want’ is the thing that will finally make you happy forever.

8.

You’ve been rejected from a job you really wanted, or an audition you had, or a promotion you went for – and you learned how to deal with the sting of it. You learned how to get through it, how to address the hurt and the shame, and how to still feel proud of the fact that you put yourself out there.

9.

And after giving yourself some time to recover from the rejection, you got right back on the horse and continued chasing the things that you cared about and the goals you wanted to achieve.

10.

You’ve started being honest with people, even – and especially – when being honest involves the more uncomfortable route.

11.

Meaning that you give your friends tough love when they need it, you speak up when a coworker is making you uncomfortable, you reach out for help to loved ones when you’re struggling with something and you need support, you ask your boss for advice on how you can (continue to) improve and do better instead of asking for praise. You’re not afraid to seek the truth, because you understand that it’s more important to your life long-term than feeling coddled or comfortable.

12.

You’ve learned to find joy in ‘the process.’

13.

You’ve done kind things for other people without ever telling anyone.

14.

You’ve finally come to terms with the fact that prioritizing your mental health is just as important as prioritizing your physical health.

15.

And you understand that this often means doing challenging things or trying things that make you feel uncomfortable – such as therapy, meditation, changing your eating habits, abstaining from alcohol, cutting ties with friends who exacerbate your anxiety, etc.

16.

You’ve made a serious effort to stop putting other people down and to stop talking about other people behind their backs, especially when you were doing it just to make yourself feel better about your own shortcomings.

17.

And when you caught yourself feeling the urge to trash other people, you took it as a cue to look internally and figure out what insecurity you were feeling in yourself that made you want to put others down instead.

18.

And even though it was an uncomfortable mirror to look into, you felt ten times better for trying to confront your own self esteem issues head on than you would have if you got a two-minute high from talking poorly about someone else.

19.

You’ve gotten to a point where you truly believe that your job and your overall success is important, but your health and your loved ones are more important and always will be.

20.

You’ve still gotten out of bed on the days where you just wanted to hide. And even if the day was incredibly mediocre (or even awful), you still reminded yourself that, hey, at least you got out of bed.

21.

You’ve experienced heartbreak in some way. And even though the pain seemed at times unbearable, you got through it and have come out on the other side more fully aware of how strong you are.

22.

You’ve stopped trying to act like you don’t care what other people think.

23.

And you’re now in the mindset of being okay with the fact that you’re human, and that sometimes other people’s opinions affect you even when you don’t want that to be the case.

24.

But most importantly, you’ve learned that it’s okay to sometimes feel anxious and stressed about what other people think – as long as you never let that stop you from listening to your gut and making the decisions that you believe in.

25.

You’ve become a person who does things instead of a person who always talks about doing things.

26.

You’ve gotten to a place where you truly love and cherish your alone time.

27.

You’ve stopped trying to ‘explain yourself’ to others. And you’ve used that energy to keep doing what you care about instead.

28.

You’re less afraid of failure, and more afraid of wondering ‘what could have been.’

29.

You’ve learned that bravery isn’t about being unafraid – it just means that you do things anyway, regardless of how scared or intimidated you might feel. And every day, you work towards being that person – the one who is always trying, always fighting, and always taking the leap, no matter how scary it might seem.