What To Do After Graduation: Practical Advice For Navigating Your Early 20s

Hey LinkedIn, 

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For years, I’ve received hundreds of social media DMs, comments, and emails from young adults in their early twenties struggling to navigate life. By far some of my most frequently asked questions revolve around feeling lost, being trapped by the expectations of parents and loved ones, and not knowing which path to take after college. As we get closer and closer to graduation season, I thought this was the perfect time to address some of these issues. 

Whether you’re preparing to cross that graduation stage this May or June, you graduated some time in the last five years, or you’re not quite sure what your path is just yet, this is for you. 

Two Key Reminders For Your Early 20s

First off, let there be no confusion. Regardless of if you’re graduating from college or not, there are two things I believe every twenty-something-year-old should always keep in mind:

1) You are entering some of the GREATEST years of your life.

2) This is your time to be MASSIVELY risk-oriented.

Many of you reading this have got it all wrong. You’re approaching life like you approach school–trying to follow the rules, get things “right,” and do what you’re “supposed to” do. The reality is, there is no right or wrong. There is no syllabus and there are no teachers telling you what to do or which way to go. These are the years where you decide what’s best for you. 

Before you say, “but Gary, I can’t,” I want you to consider this. Most of you at this age have few real world responsibilities. You likely haven’t gotten married or started a family yet. You don’t have to take little Sally or Rick to their soccer lessons every day after school. That means you can afford to take risks that you might not be able to take in another 10, 20, or 30 years. You want to learn to snowboard? Do it. You want to travel the world? Do it. You want to start a podcast with your buddies, or build a t-shirt business, or move to another country? You can. 

It starts with getting really good at tuning out the outside noise and asking yourself one question: What do I want to do? 

Do What Works For YOU… Not Your Parents

At 20, 21, 22 years old, so many are stuck in a comfort zone of doing what other people want them to do. How many of you picked a major in college because your parents thought it was the best choice? How many of you went to college in the first place because your parents thought it was the safest bet for your future, when really you wanted to start a business? 

This is not me judging parents; I’m incredibly empathetic to the fact that parents just want their children to be okay. On the other side, I’ve also seen what that pressure can do to kids. Many of you think that doing what your parents want you to do is the right thing, but what you’re really doing is setting yourself up for tons of resentment down the road. You want to actually have a good relationship with your parents? Sit down with them and have an honest conversation around your likes, dislikes, and what you want for your future. Then–and this is the hard part–actually go and do that. 

For some of you, they may not get on board. That’s okay. I promise you that the short-term discomfort of disappointing them upfront is way better than the long-term pain of realizing you lived your whole life based on somebody else’s thesis. Life is way, way more fun when you die on your own sword, AKA when you follow your own convictions, even if you lose. 

Get Off Your Parents’ Payroll

Now, all that being said, if you’re gonna follow your own convictions and die on your own sword, make sure you’re doing it on your own dime, not your parents’. I see way too many young people talking down or complaining about their parents, yet mommy and daddy are still funding their entire lives. They’re paying for their Ubers, their gym memberships, their rent, etc. 

If this sounds familiar, it’s time to stand on your own two feet. You are capable–more capable than you think. Yes, I think you should follow your dreams because regret is by far the biggest poison in life. However, if you’re gonna follow your dreams, don’t talk down on your parents while living on their dime. Of course, it will be tougher to make your own way, but the adversity will lead to happiness.

So much of success is just developing that grit and tenacity needed to keep going when other people would stop. That might mean making some sacrifices. Maybe you don’t need the fanciest new car or apartment. Maybe you don’t need to pay for five streaming subscriptions. Maybe you need to take a serious audit of your life and what you’re doing with your time after work. Is it pushing you closer to your goals or further away? 

Believe me, taking the step to stand on your own can be scary, but it will also help you build the confidence and trust in yourself that you’ll need to navigate the next chapters of your life.

What To Do After College

By now, some of you are thinking, “Sure, this all sounds good. But I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.” To that I say, of course you don’t–you haven’t tried anything! Think about it like this. For many of you, your twenties are the first time in life when everything is entirely up to you. If you’re feeling “lost” or “stuck,” I’d argue that you simply haven’t tasted enough things to figure out what you’re interested in. So, here are some ideas: 

1. Travel And Learn

Too many kids never leave the town they grew up in, or they take one study-abroad trip in college before working their lives away. No more. Now is the time to travel the country or the world. Grab a few buddies and take a road trip. Make use of your network and couch surf with friends in other states. Too expensive? Go sell some stuff from around your house, or educate yourself on flip life and travel hack for inexpensive flights. It’s possible. 

2. Take On Risks

Now is when you go high risk, high reward. How you define “risk” is up to you and what you’ve cared about up to this point. It might be “risky” to go against your parents’ wishes. For someone else, “risk” might be quitting the safe, stable job they hate for a lower paying job they think they’ll love. Either way, you only perceive these things as risks because they don’t live up to the opinions of other people. You don’t want to disappoint, but guess what? That’s fake hard. You know what’s really hard? Living a life full of regret because you never took the risks to do the things you felt drawn to do. 

3. Find An Internship

So many people think internships are all about learning an industry and gaining skills. In reality, that’s about 3% of the equation. I think the biggest value by far of being an intern is in building relationships. Don’t be a wallflower–network, put time on people’s calendars to meet over lunch, etc. I don’t care where you intern, but you need to have a “shake hands and kiss babies” type of mentality. Meet everyone, be kind, take initiative, and please understand that the human connections you make will be the only true ROI of an internship. 

4. Start Your Own Business

Even if you’re about to graduate college, most people stay stuck in a high school mentality where they’re too afraid of what other people will think or say to actually execute on their ideas. If you want to start a business–and I’m talking, if you have true entrepreneurial DNA–you’re going to have to get over it. Get over the noise, get over the trolls, get over the comments from the naysayers. Put your head down and do the work. 

Get really great at making content on all the platforms that matter. Build a personal brand and give away as much value as you can for free. If you’re just starting out, it will take time to leverage your content to land clients, but if you’re good enough, the clients will appear. (But first, you have to give yourself permission to actually start the business.) 

5. Take A Lower Paying Job You Love

If you didn’t know by now, more money does not equal more happiness. If you have a job with a great salary that pays you for your great life in your great house, but you hate your life Monday through Friday, that’s not winning. Winning can look like taking a different job for lower pay in a new industry that you’re excited about. Trust me, there’s more to life than living for the weekend. Go find a job you enjoy.

6. Launch A Creative Project With Your Friends

Go start that podcast, that band, that startup, that YouTube channel, that comedy troupe–whatever! If it’s on your heart and you have a couple of buddies down for the cause, do it. Use your twenties to flex your creative muscles as much as you can. 

7. Taste Different Things

This one is for those of you that don’t know where to start because you don’t know what your passions are. If you don’t know, good news–you can try literally anything. Taste things. Try different jobs, industries, and projects just to get a sense for how they make you feel. If you ever feel pressured to do one thing or fit neatly into a box, just remember that I do garage sales, sports cards, wine, business, etc. There IS no box unless you put yourself in one. 

Staying curious about yourself and your interests is the quickest way to build self-awareness around who you really are.

8. Build Interpersonal Relationships

Making connections is key even outside of the office. Not a social butterfly. That’s no excuse. Social media makes it easier than ever to insert yourself into existing conversations and build relationships with people by sharing your two cents. If you’re not sure what I mean, check out my article, The $1.80 Strategy To Grow Your Business Or Brand. I wrote this back in 2017 about Instagram, but the message holds true today. Whether on Instagram, LinkedIn, X, etc., this is how you network in today’s landscape. 

9. Build Your Personal Brand

Last month’s LinkedIn newsletter was all around the importance of building a personal brand, and now I’m doubling down. Please understand, this is the perfect time to start building your brand. I was 30 years old before I made my first piece of content–don’t be like me. Start early, AKA right now. No matter where you want to go with your life and career, you should be documenting everything you possibly can. Make things–write, draw, paint, sing, film, edit–and then post it. Put yourself out there, provide value, give it away for free, and build a community around just being you. You’ll be amazed at how many opportunities will come.

10. Go Try To Become Beyoncé

You probably think I’m kidding here, but I’m 100% serious. Too many young people half-ass their dreams of a music career because someone–mom, dad, ex-partner–told them it wasn’t practical. The truth is, what they’re really afraid of is that they’re not good enough to “make it” in music. If music is what you love, you should absolutely pursue it, but you’ve also got to be good. It’s not as simple as loving music. Are you leveraging social media to maximize your exposure? Are you putting in the reps of creating new songs and posting daily? Are you reaching out to peers for collaborations? Especially in today’s modern social media landscape and platforms like TikTok, one piece of content can change your life. The opportunity to be “discovered” in music or arts has never been higher. 

Go release a song every day on TikTok until something pops. Go produce 100 beats and collab with other artists. The simple fact of the matter is, if you want to be Beyonce, you’ve got to “bleed” like Beyoncé. Dream big, but make sure your actions match the ambitions coming out of your mouth. 

11. Find Your Idol And Provide Value

In your early twenties, it’s not about stacking money. It’s about stacking opportunities. Want to be an artist or a designer or an entrepreneur or whatever? Go find your idol–that person whose life you want to live–and offer to work for them. The great thing about being in your twenties is that when you’re that young, a lot of the time what you have to offer is sheer energy, grit, and humility. You’re often in a place in life where you can make sacrifices that others can’t, so go the extra mile, figure out what the decision-makers need, and deliver on that. 

Get “close to the sun” of whatever it is you want to be and make it worth their while by providing so much value, they can’t deny you. You’ll get a hundred “no’s,” but all it takes is one “yes.” 

12. Live With Eight Roommates

Some of you are probably freaking out, wondering how you can actually do any of this without real money. My answer to you would be that sometimes, you have to be willing to take a step back financially to take a step forward in life. These are the years where you can live in an apartment with eight roommates and split rent. These are the years when you can afford to eat inexpensive, crappy food. Too many people are unwilling to downgrade their lifestyle temporarily, even if it means upgrading their happiness. Ask yourself, what’s really important?

Give Yourself A Little More Grace

Lastly, if you’re in your 20s, chances are you’re probably being too hard on yourself. Give yourself some grace. Enjoy the process. Too many of you are constantly beating yourselves up for not being “there” yet. Where is “there,” anyway? Who gets to decide but you? 

Wherever you’re trying to get to, you’ve got a ridiculous amount of time. When I was 34 years old, I was still working in my father’s liquor store. I’m 49 now and I’m still ridiculously excited because I know I still have another 50 years to play the game. If I’m not worried about “running out of time,” why are you? 

Trust me, the “come up” is the best part. Don’t stress in your twenties; revel in the joy that you’re just starting. My friends, if you’re under 30 years old, you haven’t even started yet. 

Last year, I had the pleasure of giving the commencement speech at NYU Stern Business School. I would love to leave you with the video of my speech as I really believe it can help every new graduate and young person under 30:

As always, thank you for reading. If you got value from this month’s newsletter, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. I’d also love it if you shared this with any young professionals, new, or soon-to-be graduates you know.

P.S. Don’t forget to tune in to a special two-hour edition of Tea with GaryVee tomorrow, April 1st from 9-11 AM EST. Submit your questions here for a chance to join me live or have your question answered during the rapid fire segment. 

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