11 Things To Pat Yourself On The Back For Today

We spend so much of our 20s worrying we're doing things wrong, or actually being told we're doing things wrong. It's a time of learning and trial and error, for sure. But with so much focus on the negative, we forget to leave room for the positive. While it's good to be hard on yourself sometimes, you want to establish structure and be true to your ambitions and passions, but sometimes you just have to stop and look at everything you've already done.

Sure, you might be a work in progress. Sure, maybe you just got fired. Maybe you're behind on a few bills. Maybe you screwed up the dates and forgot your mom's birthday. Maybe your boss is bad at you. Maybe you're slacking on social responsibilities because you're obsessed with a show right now. We all screw up, and when we do, we pay for it. But we also do great, right, wonderful things all the time, and yet never take the time to build ourselves up for it.

If you feel like you've been extra hard on yourself lately or that your attention has been stuck on your faults or failures, shift your focus to these accomplishments that you didn't even realize you were making in your 20s.

You Learn How To Take Care Of Yourself

If you're reading this, you've made it! You've clearly figured out how to take care of yourself without relying on other people. You no longer need your parents to remind you to take care of your body, you do it because you need it and you respect it. This is an invaluable skill that will enhance your own care-taking abilities.

You Maintain Friendships

Holding onto the people you love isn't that easy. It takes constant compromise and consideration. If you're still holding on to some old school besties, you should be proud of yourself for your ability to maintain and evolve in those friendships. If you still have them they must be special.

You Find The Balance

If you haven't tried to run away to outer space, you've clearly figured out a way to balance all the craziness of this age. The work, the lack of work, the bills, the drama. If you're still chugging along, you've figure out how to balance your work life and your person life and that's huge. It will be an ongoing effort, but you should feel good about considering it.

You Learn How To Be A Better Daughter

Your relationship with your parents will change over time. But in your 20s, you'll start to realize that your parents are people too. They're not just therapists and vending machines and bank tellers. The more you start to go through the things they go through as parents — paying bills, holding a job, having relationships — the more you'll start to respect them, and become a better child because of it.

You Learn How To Be A Good Partner

After you have a few relationships, you'll start to see what kind of partner you are and you'll naturally evolve and improve throughout your 20s. You'll start to learn about what you bring to a relationship and how to best support someone else and how to communicate efficiently.

You Become Reliable

If you want people to trust you, you have to be reliable. In your 20s, you will become so, out of necessity. But once you understand the importance of being honest and dependable, you'll increase your character's worth, tenfold.

You Build A Reputation

It's only a matter of time before people start to notice you for what you do. By your late 20s, you'll have built a portfolio of work that you'll be proud of. It might scattered. It might be varied in quality, but it's yours and you made it. If you get a job that you want, it's because you deserve it, and because your employer was impressed by your reputation — you can't talk yourself out of your worth by blaming it on luck.

You Mature

Maturity has a different clock for everyone. Some people mature quickly, others more gradually. But all of the things that life will force you through in your 20s will help you to balance out and really become your age. You'll be more understanding, more compassionate, and develop the ability to be empathetic and logical when needed.

You Develop A Work Ethic

If you don't have a work ethic, you won't get work. This accomplishment will happen naturally and out of necessity, as you need it to stay employable. Even if you're not actively trying to have a efficient ethic, you're building one, and it's going to set a rock solid foundation for the rest of your life.

You Find Your Voice

After years of hiding behind other voices or allowing people to talk over you, you'll finally understand the value and importance of having a voice. As you become more confident, your voice will become louder. Finding a voice is like finding power. Be proud of yourself for finding it and never let it go.

You Show Your Resilience

Your 20s force you to be malleable and sturdy. In order to keep the world from crushing your shoulders, you have to learn how to stand up talk and bounce back quickly. While it might feel like you're spending the majority of this time getting knocked down, you're failing to realize that you're persevering. That's the important part — you know how to get back up.

Images: primeimages/E+/Getty Images; Giphy