 In life, you have to be careful with things that are just too exciting, else you will get carried away and abuse them. Adolescents and early adulthood are just too exciting. No wonder many young men make so many mistakes at this stage of their life. In this video, I will share with you 9 mistakes that every man should avoid in their 20s. 1. Not Save In Many men in their 20s do not give thought to saving for the future, because they assume that there is still enough time for them. However, this thought could not be more wrong. It is never too early to start saving even for retirement. If you do not cultivate the habit of keeping in your 20s, it will be tough for you to develop it in your 30s and beyond. No matter how little you are depositing into your retirement account, in years to come, it will be a lot of money. Besides retirement, money saved up can be used for emergencies, business investments as well as personal development. American religious leader, Braham Young once said, If you wish to be rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money, but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his advantage. The mistake of not saving enough while they were young is one that many retirees regret. 2. Not Holding Yourself Accountable For Your Life The 20s is the best decade to read yourself of your parents' previous faults and step into a new season of your life. However, many young men spend their time complaining about the things their parents did or did not do. Even in the mishaps of your life that are not a direct result of your actions, you alone can choose how to react, whether to pass blames or make amends. Accepting to respond in line with the former will amount for a life full of accusation and regrets, but if you art for the latter, you will be shocked how the universe will work in your favor and make right all negativity in your life. In the words of inspirational author Shannon L. Arder, Blame doesn't empower you. It keeps you stuck in a place you don't want to be because you don't want to make the temporarily painful decision to be responsible for the outcome of your own life's happiness. 3. Reckless Living Because YOLO For a fact, you only live once, but that does not in the least bit suggest that you should be careless and reckless. The acronym YOLO has made many young men fall into grievous potholes, but YOLO ought to be a form of motivation for you to go out and do something with your life that matters, something that would leave your footprint on the surface of the earth even after you pass on. Partying every single night in the week and having sex with virtually every lady you come across is not the best way to spend your one life. Living dangerously in your 20s is like starting a house on a shaky foundation. Even though it is well designed and beautifully crafted, sooner or later, when the rain comes, it will collapse. You are a building. In your 20s are your foundation. American actress Mae West once said, you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. 4. Spending More Than You Earn Many people assume that the term living from hand to mouth is related to jobless beggars alone. When as a matter of certainty, many working class individuals equally live from hand to mouth. What is the difference in living between someone who goes to the street daily to beg for money, spend it all on the day without plan for the future and goes back again to beg the next day and a person who goes out to work, gets paid at the end of the month, spends it all and waits for his next pay. The difference is just the occupation. The pattern of living remains the same and this is what it means to live from hand to mouth. If you want to amass wealth later in the future, your 20s is the best time to live below, not even within your means. If you spend more than you earn in your 20s, you are going to end up paying bills for the rest of your life. 5. Not Taking Care of Your Health A lot of young men in their 20s get so carried away by their dreams and desire to make money. They neglect their health. Later on in years to come, they get sickly and drop their goals to chase something that they once had for free. Good health. If you do not pay attention to your well-being now, you will end up spending all the money you have amassed on matter of bills in the future. One crucial mistake you will make as a young man is to ignore the advice of the Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett, which says you only get one mind and one body and it's got to last a lifetime. Now it's effortless to let them ride for many years but if you don't take care of that mind and that body, they'll be a wreck 40 years later. It's what you do right now, today that determines how your mind and body will operate 10, 20 and 30 years from now. 6. Neglecting Relationships Many a time the hustle and bustle of everyday life in your 20s navigating through professional career, starting up a business or even trying to build a relationship may cause you to be unstable in your relationship with family and old friends. Sincerely, making old friends your top priority is quite impossible but they shouldn't be taken for granted. It is not just about creating new networks and building new relationships, the friendships we've had growing up should matter. You never know if someone in that circle might be the person you will depend on when things get tough. Besides, if you do not develop the habit of keeping communication with your old friends and colleagues it won't be easy to stay in touch with new ones and in the end, you will end up being someone who has met lots of people yet has no one to turn to in difficult times. 7. Playing Safe From the time we can walk, we are cautioned to be careful. A parent's primary job is to keep their kids safe from harm. So, even as we become older adults, our subconscious mind has been programmed to always remain in a safe path. However, it is rarely the case that a hugely successful person reached their level of success by playing it safe. Many young men miss out on great opportunities because of this safety mindset and often they end up in regret and wish they chose to take risks while they were much younger. The question, what if it goes wrong, is one that limits many young individuals from taking necessary steps. It is needful for you to know that even the courageous feel that fear too. However, they encourage themselves with a counter-question what if it is successful? In the words of PotiD, the rate of people who play safe and those who leave boldly are the same things. Hence, dare to take the risk. 8. Giving Up When It Gets Rough Have you heard of the saying, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going? The truth is, life will always have difficult phases. In those challenging moments, what do you do? Give up or get tough? Quitting seems to be the quickest and easiest option to take. However, pushing through the hard times is what makes a better and well-rounded person. If you give up when it gets hard, then you will never know how it feels to make it through. Neither will you experience the sense of fulfillment that comes from just trying harder. It is the journey that makes the success story worth it. When things keep getting tough, don't take the easy way out in compromise. Else, you will end up regretting and wishing you pushed a little harder when you had the energy. Your 20s is a time to build persistence and tenacity. Don't give up. 9. Rushing Into Marriage There is a school of thought that there is no wrong or right person. You only need to make yourself right. Although there is a place of you making efforts to be a better man, still, there are certain women who are wrong for you and your future. Often, young men in their 20s get carried away by that tingling feeling of love or mere attraction that they rush into getting married. Marriage is a lifetime decision and hence should not be taken for granted. Studies have shown that every 14 seconds there is a divorce in America which means there is 277 divorces in one hour, 6,664 separations per day, 46,523 divorces per week and 2,419 196 divorces per year. What is more alarming is that while 41% of first marriages end in divorce, 60% of second marriages end in divorce and a whopping 73% of third marriages crash. These statistics show that after the first divorce, settling down in another marriage is more laborious. Thus, the wrong first choice might cause you to become a lonely man in your old age. Mistakes are natural and everyone makes mistakes. In fact, as a young man, you should make as many as you can learn from. Nevertheless, you must bear in mind that not all mistakes are equal. Hence, it is essential to look at the lives of older people and take a cue from them.