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10 Key Pieces of Advice for Girls in Their Early 20s
Looking for key life advice for girls in their early 20s?
By Rebecca Blue · September 1, 2026 · 3 min read

Looking for **key life advice for girls in their early 20s?** Being in your early 20s is a transitionary period in your life. Following the chaos of your teenage years and the prolonged slump of college, you’re left in a strange place. You may expect yourself to have it all together, and not doing so can leave you with a lot of doubt. Perhaps you’ve taken those first few steps. You've gotten a job that isn’t flipping burgers or perhaps you have your own place. There’s a pressure to be very successful but really, we aren’t. There’s lots of **key life advice for girls in their early 20s**, but remember, it’s OK not to have it all sorted yet. ## 1. Friendships It’s a strange period for friendships. Many of your friends may have moved far away, you may have lost touch with many and could be feeling lonely. You may have a few friends who are a bad influence, those who never grew up and are content with getting drunk in their parent’s basement. It’s always difficult, but surround yourself with positive influences. Cut toxic people out of your life. Real friends will support you, but won’t let you destroy yourself. Evaluating your friendships is the top bit of **key life advice for girls in their early 20s.** ## 2. Dating The ultimate fear at this age is being single. So much of what you see in the media focuses on the idea of a perfect, long-lasting relationship. The fear of being single can be crushing, but it’s important to appreciate this time to meet new people and really understand yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in a lifelong plan: to have kids at 30, you need to be married at this age, engaged for a year, known him for several years, and so on. In that case, you needed to have met him yesterday. That’s not going to work, and you’ll only crush yourself under your own expectations. ## 3. Set Realistic Goals Your own goals and expectations can be the most overwhelming. You can aim for the stars and feel crushed when reality sets in. Truthfully, the only person you need to impress is yourself. It’s so easy to put ambition before health and happiness. Life is a journey, not a destination. We all move at our own pace. It’s OK for your goals to adapt as you grow and learn, and even to fail completely. The important thing is to get back up again. ## 4. Job For those who have graduated, the post-college blues are a very real thing. You graduate expecting the perfect job in a big city, with fast track for promotion and a CEO position by the time you’re 30. For some, you’re constantly told your dreams aren’t realistic. You’ll never be an artist so grow up and get a ‘real job’. Your 20s will be full of rejection. It can be soul-destroying, but it’s important to keep pushing through as one day you’ll look back on your mound of rejections and smile. ## 5. Career Goals Even worse, you may have no idea what you want to do. You may have graduated and now are saddled in debt with no idea what you want to do with your life. The future stretches out before you. It’s daunting. There’s so much pressure to have a concrete goal. Alternatively, you land that dream job that and it’s not what you imagined. You can be left feeling aimless. Remember that it’s OK to feel like that. You’re not alone. So many of us feel lost in our huge, complex world. You have so much time to figure things out. Perhaps it’s time to sit back and enjoy the ride. ## 6. Travel