8 Things I wish I knew in my 20s (Love & Career) - for everyone feeling lost

Life lessons on reflection on my 40th birthday 😉 on navigating love and career in the 20s
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The 20s are hard but know that life keeps on getting better 😏 SHARE this video with someone who you think may benefit from it 🥰
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0:00 - My 20s & my mistakes
2:27 - the screw ups
3:44 - 20s is not old
4:35 - Look for the flow.
6:32 - Build your Privilege Early
10:12 - Don’t settle. Dare to dream.
11:24 - Care less
12:231 - Discard the list
14:14 - 1+1 can be more than 2
14:46 - You’re wrapped in marble.
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#whatiwishiknew #advice #lifelessons

[@JeanVoronkova]

Happy Lunar New Year today guys! 🎉🥳🍾 Skip the waitlist and invest in blue-chip art for the very first time by signing up for Masterworks 🖼: masterworks.art/jeanvoronkova 😊

[@tedklampett1737]

thought you were 28 !!!!

[@FC-fx7zu]

The hardest thing about my Asian upbringing was fear of making mistakes...I realized in the real world that people make mistakes. It has really helped pull me out of that trapped mentality. Your video is so encouraging. Thank you again. ❤️❤️🙏🙏

[@AkiraSuzuki-di3dt]

Asian upbringing too and same same. I've ended up making so many mistakes this last year however, and I have to say it's been so much fun, I don't know why I was worried in the first place. It's liberating to have the mentality of a kid painting on literally everything but the canvas. Paint the walls, the floor, your face...it's fun to make a mess, and you learn a lot more in the process as well.

[@dicktracy5066]

Just don't make any mistakes that could kill you or lock you up.

[@sb1206]

The privilege to CHOOSE has meant everything for me. Working to get a full scholarship to college let me graduate without debt and take on jobs I wanted not based on salary. My savings allowed me to leave jobs I hated or where I wouldn't be able to move up. That money also let me move cities, freelance, and go to therapy. I made sacrifices in order to get there--time having fun in high school/college, living at home for a while, generally being frugal. At 26 I feel so capable and I'm preparing to go back to graduate school next year, knowing what I'm good at and where I want to go. Don't let anyone throw you off your financial and life goals. The heartbreak, disappointment, or feelings of being left out will pass, but you are the one who has to live your life.

[@tonyson8721]

"Now you can love, now you can lose, now you can choose, that's the measure of a person."

[@nicky_bee]

I started doing a phd abroad at age 32, but because of things that happened in my life I am currently completely unmotivated and burned out on this academic path. I'm planning to take the leap this year to the life I want, so wish me luck! 🥰

[@angelinatkachenko__]

Good luck ❤

[@roshnik999]

Wishing you best❤

[@angelinasouren]

It's part of doing a PhD, at any age. So, picture yourself ten years from now and ask your future self what you would regret most. All the best. Technically, I started three PhDs, but really I did two, half, one in the US and one in the UK. I was 33 when I started the first one of those two. We ran out of funding and that was immensely stressful for me as I could not work off-campus on my visa. (The first one that I started technically was cancelled when they discovered that my very young-looking face really was in its thirties. So I emigrated to the US.) What's the life you want? Me, I have totally unsettled my life because I was really stuck only to get even more stuck, it looks like, and now I am trying to figure out what I did wrong if anyone and what now. I'm 63 and I feel more lost than I have ever felt before. Well, okay, admittedly, there is a very specific reason for my current confusion but... I think I want to do a 180 and sort of reverse my decision but on a different path or something. It's baffling, really baffling. This is so not me, so I guess I am running into what Jean pointed out in another video, that we are uncomfortable with being uncomfortable and uncertain. But I WAS stuck and I had to do something. I paid a huge price - it hurt - but maybe I really had to. Maybe I did.

[@donaldbutcher1260]

I have found that for me the learning process never stops, I will be 73 soon and every day I seem to find something,usually through reflection, that will make my tomorrow better.

[@JeanVoronkova]

love this note, thank you for sharing such a wonderful reminder to reflect and that tomorrows are always better :)

[@albertwong4832]

Perhaps the biggest benefit of choosing a simpler life is better physical and mental health. It is amazing how unhappy those strivers are despite their successes. Plus, you look amazing for 40. I have seen plenty of friends look old beyond their age due to the stress of work and keeping up with expectations. Do not discount this benefit. It is something that money cannot buy.

[@flat6fever680]

What a privilege it would be to watch this as a younger person and take this advice to heart. It's all here people. ❤

[@Sakurambo]

40????!!! Need a skincare routine ASAP 😭As a risk-averse person, always saving money and building options, many people don't understand why I do these things at such an early age -- but in hard times (I got laid off for example), I am so glad I did these things. Options truly are the biggest privilege in life. Thanks for your beautiful wisdom 🤍

[@ArielleDalia]

Thank you for making this video! I'm 29 now and have felt so lost throughout my 20s. I often feel like by age 30, I should have so much more accomplished than I do. I appreciate the reminder that we are all on our own individual path in life

[@JeanVoronkova]

you got this 😘

[@athenatam5226]

Now in my mid-20s, have been feeling very lost this past year. Some of my friends are still single, while some are married. Feels like we have to get everything together and build a good career, marriage, family within these few years, hence bringing a lot of stress. Thank you for the great reminder there is a long way ahead of us, and we don't have to be so fixated on certain ideas and deadlines ❤ This message really helped to ease me up a bit, and learn how to relax, let go and see how life unfolds 😊

[@Mark-hr9rm]

My mantra has always been " Regret the things you have done, Not the thing you have not done"...and I'm 60....Peace and JaYoe

[@JeanVoronkova]

that's a very accepting perspective on life lived - nice! thank you for sharing your wisdom Mark 🙏🙏🤓

[@Mobirin]

I love your lifestyle, your retirement setup and even the minimalism. As an Asian myself, where you either be a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer or a failure, life has been stressful. Working as a nurse for 10 yrs now and is currently looking into quiting the career my parents chose for me. I want to be an artist since age 3. Drawing and painting is my reason for existence. I am really tired of people pleasing all my life and chasing timelines which the people around me set for me. Thank you for this channel. It feels like I am not alone. Thank you.

[@byMarieA]

I love this video, it's just what I needed. A gentle reminder that you don't need to have everything together by age 30.

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you - its pretty arbitrary to set all those goals by certain ages - chuck that thinking out of the window and do what's truly beneficial for your life, with the right people consciously chosen xoxo

[@nikkic2120]

I needed this video

[@sydneystellier3142]

I would LOVE to live abroad but afraid I won't know how to make money. What do you do for work?

[@peatlejville5392]

Experience is a teacher none of us are perfect every cloud has a silver lining. Learning to be yourself and finding your true vocation takes time. Steppingstones are to me are about using your present situation as a way to learn but not necessarily be stuck there or living that way for all your life.

[@AlexRodriguez-ht1zl]

This has got to be the best video and articulated so well !

[@sportz101fan]

If you feel lost, you are simply drawing your "negative space". Such a powerful analogy.

[@rickbold9337]

Jean, you look absolutely amazing for 40 and you have a peaceful stress free life in paradise.

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Rick 🤓 the quitting corporate stress bit definitely helps stave off the lines a lil!

[@MrSridharMurthy]

You look so young like in your 20s and so very wise like you are in your 40s! So very beautiful too!

[@JeanVoronkova]

Thank you so much 😊

[@MrSridharMurthy]

@@JeanVoronkova You bet !

[@glenitamenckeberg7074]

Thank you so much for this video, being around 40 myself, it was nice to hear someone else acknowledge what I have also learned throughout my 20, 30, 35... Also your voice is one of a kind and makes listing to your videos extremely pleasant. Wishing you much more success. 🙌

[@JeanVoronkova]

thanks for this kind note Glenita :) I'm glad the video resonated. Let's make our 40s journey the happiest and most contented yet :)

[@kavindagunasekara1384]

Life begins at 40 :) I too in early 40s and had few mini retirements in my 30s. Now I am quitting my full time job end of the year and will spend 8 months in Australia and 4 months during winter in Sri Lanka in my farm. I too investing mainly in Australian property and US stocks ​@JeanVoronkova

[@kelvinth30]

My early 20s was busy and yet rewarding because i kinda like my job and i got few promotions in the company. Until change of top management and i started to feel miserable in the job i loved going to work everyday. Looking back 10 years from today , i had to thank those terrible new bosses who took over , it's them who gave me the courage to leave a job i've been with all my life . Now my finance , health , mental happiness are ten times better then it was 10 years back . Love the universe 💙

[@JeanVoronkova]

haha thanks KY for this note and for sharing so openly. It's gonna be encouragin for the rest who may be going through tough times right now. It was the same for me too, so painful when things were not going well and you're struggling, only to come out the other end of the tunnel and then realise - hey it was worth going through that to end up here now. :)

[@daniellem.gibson4658]

Kissed a toxic frog 😂 True that!! I’m in my 20s and I totally get what you’re saying. I thought I would have been further along by now, but I’m trying not to freak out as if I must accomplish certain life goals by a certain time. That’s unnecessary stress.

[@JeanVoronkova]

ahaa! so happy u caught that quip haha - don't freak out. All those supposed timelines are arbitrary. Like, if i had caved to pressure and got married to the guy that hurt me so much over 4 years, I would totally be in regret right now I believe, because he was a very selfish person objectively (now that i can see, with distance and hindsight). But I left him and chose to be single unless the right one came along - n at 35 i married my truly wonderful hubs - it pays to hold out and follow your truth.

[@daniellem.gibson4658]

@Jean Voronkova That’s wonderful encouragement!

[@gradstudent91]

You're right about the list. Society especially in the U.S. teaches us that in order for someone to be worthy he/she must come with an avalanche of qualities. Its hard to deviate from this mindset ; but I say no. Love me first and we can start from there. Thanks for the video with love from Atlanta, GA.

[@JeanVoronkova]

i hear you. We're so inundated by society since young that we must look for that list of criteria in our mate... but if the love is lacking, its never gonna work out how we want it eh

[@ian_ong]

Resonates. Life is 误打误撞。If we could rewind time…

[@irinayes]

Thank you for the video 😊🌷

[@jamesbotwina8744]

Such positivity! Love it!

[@ErwinTan80]

Thank you for sharing.

[@paulyeo2016]

I like the point 3. Thank you for sharing

[@paepaes7714]

This is so inspiring and genuine! Thank you Jean, love your authentic and sincere content. 💕

[@DavidChandra]

Happy Lunar New Year, Jean. Love your messages in your KZbin.

[@teacherbrad9534]

Very nice video. Love the advice given here.

[@ed-liem]

This video is very good. Thank you Jean!

[@LenaHo]

Thank you for sharing your message. That's all I can say. It was just what I needed this morning :)

[@evtimstefanov8377]

How can one be so charming and feminine and so grounded and wise at the same time...? I wish you all the best to both of you and keep it up! Your videos are really inspiring! 🍀

[@rosskennedy3987]

Jean is an amazingly inspirational lady. I love her insights.

[@JeanVoronkova]

Thanks Ross glad the video resonated 😊🌻

[@luna7453]

i feel the same

[@alxyanmail]

@@JeanVoronkova will be in bali next week, will be great to be share life perspectives over a coffee

[@JeanVoronkova]

@@luna7453 thank you dear

[@slee6593]

Great video...! Very refreshing and inspirational.

[@MissFluppy]

Always inspiring 🙏🏻 really love your channel 🙌 and your voice so soothing 💗keep it up 🥂

[@ronaldneehao9723]

A very big happy birthday to you jean thanks for your great work love to listen to your ideas and great advice ❤🎉😅

[@B_A_i]

It’s a great analogy about drawing

[@ameliap413]

I'm in my early 30s and still felt this message came right on time. Thank you and Happy Birthday 🎂

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Amelia, I really appreciate your kind note and so happy that the video brought you a lil smtg to mule over :)

[@DevlogBill]

Great video I really enjoyed watching it.

[@SLOlverStudio]

you are so amazing jean, thank you so much for this amazing content, very inspiring, best regards :)

[@Sky-yk5sw]

I really enjoyed this video ❤ Thank you so much for your words of wisdom and kindness! Your words and perspective really resonated with me and I can tell you took a lot of time with this video😊

[@dianaa.6268]

Very honest advice .i enjoyed listening

[@coconutlite9703]

Keep up the good work, the good video, the amazing wisdom, the truly original heartfelt contents, the wonderful Jean & Vitaly ❤ Gong xi fa cai, and have a blessed Birthday Jean 🤗

[@AS-yg5dt]

Finding your life path, living in harmony, positive energy, love - the video resonates. Thanks for sharing 🙏🏽

[@TheFirstAqua]

Your videos are soothing and therapeutic. You give such a healing energy, voice, and perspective. I feel so inspired to live my best life from watching your videos.

[@rhuezo67]

So much practical wisdom, I pray to God that your channel get one million subscribers and that more people hear, understand and then apply this wisdom.

[@JeanVoronkova]

wow, thank you, that's very kind

[@Martyna_G]

Thank you so much!

[@tiffanydalumpines4634]

I really like this video. Thank you for making this! Hopefully, you'll have more content about how life changes as you you pass your 20s.

[@c24cm49]

I could listen to you all day. I'm glad i found you and subscribed this morning. ✌️ and love ❤️

[@chizleseashells968]

I'm so happy I found this video. It's like talking to the big sister I've never had. Thank you!

[@ashitaanimaiya6784]

Happy birthday Jean and thank you for this beautiful message to the world. There is something very comforting and inspirational in the way you convey your message. Your words connect to me very deeply and I applaud your choice to share your journey and share your advice. Perhaps it will bring a smile to your face to know this was more of a confirmation for me of what I already know to be true in myself. Be blessed kind soul, as your aura is amazing! Keep shining your light! 🙏🏽♥️

[@mrright774]

Life is a journey, as I always say. It's not about the destination, but the journey itself. Everyone you meet is a teacher in your life. You will learn both from positive teachings as well as the negative teachings (things not to do) from people you meet. Both serve a vital purpose in your life. It's all about learning and growth. A person who do not encounter any adversity in life will be inexperienced dealing with one and usually have a low resilience level, they usually give up very quickly when things become difficult. I think you get my point. Perspective is what you gain over time, so I congratulate you reaching 40, as you become wiser and more experienced. The most important perspective I think is that an event is only negative if you label it as negative. If you treat everything as learning, you will transform inside out and life will become better and better.

[@Nadia-18]

I love the particular analogies you bring out such as echo chambers or drawing out the negative space in your life ❤ We can see that you have true wisdom through this, thank you for sharing it😌

[@raerae165]

i like the way you speak it is so calming.

[@markgorhk]

Happy birthday Jean and happy new year as well for you and your family! Enjoy your videos... both the general comments and your Bali info as well... looking also to simplify my life as best as I can... and perhaps even a move to Bali at some stage too... I have been living in HK quite a while and, as you may be aware, it has been a disaster since about 2016 for multiple reasons... already have good friend and his family bail HK and in Bali! Anyway... thanks for the videos....

[@cynthiaayuningtyas7659]

Thankyou Jane, I really enjoy watching this video❤ I love the energy you bring, so positive and calm. You are a wonderful soul. ❤ God bless you dear😊

[@kristinecelestin1487]

So eloquent, peaceful and positively affirmed, Jean, you would make a superb counsellor….well done and greetings from Australia

[@matalens48]

nice sharin my dear friend. success for you and all

[@Danielroams]

We all make mistakes in our twenties. You hopefully learn from them, grow and move on. One important difference for me is how I treat friendships. Yes, they are nice to have but not as essential in your 40s. I still enjoy socializing in small doses but oh how I love my solitude. Some people cannot stand being alone. That's very sad.

[@JeanVoronkova]

oooh i am totally with you.... i'm so happy being a hermit crab these days! I worry that I'm not valuing the friends around me enough sometimes but at others, like you say, solitude rocks! happy Saturday Daniel 😍

[@FC-fx7zu]

Your video and channeled wisdom is really helpful and encouraging right now. I'm glad I came across your video. I am a subscriber by the way. 😊 I feel a log better after seeing your video. I feel like I have direction in my life and hadn't fully given myself enough credit. I also had an Asian upbringing and luckily I've been recovering from that the past 10 years. I'm doing something I love and it involves teaching.

[@PZJBimha]

Thanks for sharing. I am an anxious 30 year old and this put me at ease.

[@Colamtho]

Thank you so much for your sharing ❤

[@JeanVoronkova]

cheers :)

[@calm700]

I could 100 percent relating to what you say. I’m turning 45 this year. Feeling so good listening to all your programs. Happy Lunar new year. Wish you all success, wealth and good health. ❤️❤️❤️

[@Summer-tk8yk]

I’m turning 40 this year as well. Thank you for this great content. ❤🙌

[@allanelliot1566]

So very positive!!! With a smile that match!!! Can take you anywhere you want to go. Good work really like your attitude!!! Its infectious. Thank you!!!

[@thialitamoura5134]

Thank you so much for this video! As I approach my 29th birthday I am starting to have all of these doubts and concerns with the deadlines… even starting doubt the carrier path I chose since it seems to be delaying my life from happening

[@Liquid725]

I am not articulate and sometimes fumble around the words that I am trying to say to ppl.But u def make me to make sense the thoughts that I always have in my mind.Thank u for sharing ur profound thought.

[@pokadotscutesiee]

Hi Jean, thank you for this video. I really appreciate it. Your advice is very soothing and comforting without the expectation from the preachy tone which would probably give me more anxiety than not. Thank you! ❤

[@sergedusengimana6645]

thank you for sharing this

[@JeanVoronkova]

you're welcome, i'm glad the video resonated :)

[@fomoyolope3573]

Hi Jean: Absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing your 20s to 39+. Ops not 40. Your insight and reflection are so meaningful. Your video reminds me of my rat race in SG, totally oblivious of my surrounding. It was like being put onto a track and soon had to run. I am glad I ended up in California enjoying the breeze, blue sky and snow!

[@bths11]

I needed to hear this. Thank you Jean.

[@JeanVoronkova]

Thanks Bryan, I’m happy the video brought you a lil smtg 🙏🦋

[@iolajanealajas8425]

Hi Jean! Your videos inspire me a lot. I love watching them.

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Iola Jane, I'm so glad!

[@desmondtan4207]

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Jean! Life is short! Live Life without regrets!

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Desmond! you sound so happy ha!

[@StudioSteep]

Thank you Jean, always sharing with my friends!

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you dear, that's so kind. Happy lunar new year!

[@alingkarina2979]

Thankyou fot sharing!

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you for your time to watch :)

[@ThatSinjiaporean]

Thank you for sharing. Happy Advance Birthday

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you! so kind!

[@alymar18]

Thank you for this video, Jean! It's crazy how this came to me at just the right time! Sending warm wishes!

[@JeanVoronkova]

I'm so glad to hear that! thanks for letting me know it made a difference

[@mayolasbones6831]

What a beautiful giving person. Best to you both, Dave from America

[@fudgepackor]

Such a lovely message. I’m 48 and always felt that the pressure to follow society by getting married. I’ve grown to realise that you don’t have to follow what society and mass media tells you. I love my own space and am glad I followed my own path in life.

[@HaNguyen-oq9iu]

Hi Jean,, thank you, you are inspirational!!!

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Ha, so kind of you!

[@trulyhojicha]

Love your videos. Inspirational😊

[@JeanVoronkova]

Thank you so much 🌹😍 happy Saturday to you :)

[@davidmaib677]

Thank you Jean, I always love your videos and how open you are.

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you David, for listening to what I've shared!

[@aigul3724]

love your peaceful energy and a calming voice, thank you

[@JeanVoronkova]

Thank you Aigul that's so kind! 😊

[@gabn5401]

thank you so much for this video

[@JeanVoronkova]

Glad it was helpful Gab :)

[@A.jmens65]

Such wise words! Thank you Jean😊

[@JeanVoronkova]

cheers!

[@gruxlocke]

This video is timely and hits hard at this point in my life. Thank you for this, Jean.

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Locke for letting me know it made a difference to you 🙏🌻 wish u well hey

[@inespaula2993]

Thank you so much Jean! I really like this video!

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Ines, I'm so glad! hope it brought you some value!

[@justincao70]

Happy Birthday, Jean! Love your positive attitude and style of thinking and insights into life. Best regards and wish!

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you Justin! Really appreciate this cheery note! u have a good week ahead!

[@restymacalisang]

I am drawing the negative spaces of my life and it's part of the picture. WOW!!!!!!! This made me emotional

[@tmc1373]

I love this video! I clicked because you don't look anywhere near 40. You look early 20s and I think that's in part to excellent genes, and you are quite lovely! I've noticed many Asians and Black groups tend to age very slowly especially when they take care of themselves. You are very blessed and wise! If you have time, please make a video for those just starting out in life at 40.

[@clairebremner5437]

Great video! Thankyou! It's so helpful to hear other people tell their stories

[@JeanVoronkova]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the note Claire

[@NikkiStylestylista]

Thanks for this, needed it so badly. Really and truly did.

[@JeanVoronkova]

So glad! Made the effort sunk into making this worthwhile :) u hang in there

[@p28682]

Loved how genuine and heartfelt your video was

[@JeanVoronkova]

i was very happy to make this video - i finally feel confident enough to share from the heart i guess. Thank you for watching 🌻

[@BradTeena]

I love your videos! Great job! You are definitely going to enjoy the next 20 years moving forward. Happy 40th! I think you’re doing life right!❤👍

[@JeanVoronkova]

thank you, haha I hope that's truly the case - we're in such a good place now as a couple it's hard to move on from the present i just wanna freeze frame our NOW!

[@unsaltedbeurre3411]

Whenever I watch your videos, especially when you talk about life, it's like you're telling my thoughts. I completely agree with all you have said in this video :)

[@JeanVoronkova]

Aww that’s so sweet thanks a lot dear. I appreciate you always leaving a note to let me know u were here! Hope u had a good day

[@mercyz6252]

Thank you!

[@JeanVoronkova]

cheers!

[@pkpknao.2604]

Gosh! You save me! Thank you!!!❤️😊🙏

[@JeanVoronkova]

You’re welcome 😊 I'm really glad you felt the video brought you something