6 Lessons I Wish I Knew in My 20’s & 30’s (This Will INSTANTLY Give You Direction!)
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 28.5K Ratings
🗓️ 21 November 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What’s one thing you wish you learned earlier in life?
What do you think would’ve changed for you if you learned it sooner?
Today, Jay reflects on the lessons he wishes he’d learned in his twenties and thirties, wisdom shaped by mistakes, growth, and years of inner work. He opens up about how easy it is to get swept up in chasing outcomes or living for other people’s expectations, and how those patterns can quietly pull us away from our true path. Jay also explains why success and happiness are completely different skill sets, and how understanding that early on can save you years of unnecessary frustration.
Jay also talks honestly about what healing really feels like, the side no one prepares you for. He explains that growth doesn’t always look inspiring; sometimes it shows up as exhaustion, confusion, or feeling like everything is falling apart. But that discomfort is often just old patterns breaking down so new ones can take shape. Through empathy, personal stories, and practical insights, Jay walks us through the “decade of firsts,” from first jobs to first heartbreaks, and reminds us that feeling lost isn’t failure. It’s a natural part of becoming someone stronger, clearer, and more aligned with who you’re meant to be.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How to Hear Your Inner Voice Again
How to Define Success on Your Own Terms
How to Build Confidence Through Self-Trust
How to Turn Rejection Into Insight
How to Break Free From Others’ Expectations
How to Heal Even When It Feels Messy
You’re not behind, you’re growing at the pace your life is asking you to grow. Keep showing up with curiosity, patience, and compassion for yourself. You’re building something meaningful, even on the days it doesn’t feel like it.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
Join over 750,000 people to receive my most transformative wisdom directly in your inbox every single week with my free newsletter. Subscribe here.
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
00:42 #1: Results Are Overrated
04:54 #2: Tune Out The Noise
07:44 #3: Success Doesn’t Equal Happiness
10:30 #4: Confidence Comes From Self-Trust
12:47 Four Habits That Will Transform Your Life
14:10 #5: Rejection Isn’t Personal
17:20 How to Handle Rejection Better
22:32 Four Signs You’re Healing
24:51 Confusion in Your 20s Isn’t Failure
25:29 How to Protect Your Peace
26:07 #6: Anchor to Values, Not Validation
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:03.9 | This is the biggest lesson you can learn in your 20s and 30s. |
| 0:08.6 | Most rejections are not about you. |
| 0:12.0 | When you stop personalizing rejection, you stop fearing it. |
| 0:17.6 | When something negative happens, we assume it's a reflection of us. It's a cognitive |
| 0:23.2 | distortion, a mental habit of turning randomness into self-blame. In truth, rejection often says |
| 0:30.8 | less about who you are and more about how many others were in line. The number one health and wellness |
| 0:37.1 | podcast. Jay Shetty health and wellness podcast. |
| 0:38.1 | Jay Shetty. |
| 0:39.0 | Jay Shetty. |
| 0:39.7 | He won, the only. |
| 0:41.2 | Jay Shetty. |
| 0:42.1 | If you're in your 20s or 30s, |
| 0:46.7 | no one's going to tell you this. |
| 0:49.0 | Not your friends, not your parents, |
| 0:51.4 | not even the people who love you. |
| 0:53.5 | But if you don't hear it now, you might waste |
| 0:56.1 | the most important decade of your life chasing the wrong things. I'm 38 and I do anything to go back |
| 1:03.7 | and shake the younger me. So before you scroll, just give me a few minutes. This might be the |
| 1:10.5 | conversation that saves you years of pain. |
| 1:13.8 | I'm going to share with you the lessons I wish I knew in my 20s. And I really believe that if I knew |
... |
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