Rohit Patnaik's Key Ideas from The Defining Decade
by Meg Jay

Don't just build your career around your passion blindly. You may end up being jobless, or barely making ends meet. The truth is that you have to work hard, no matter how passionate you are about something.

Find something that is satisfying enough, so that you can work on it for a long time but also ensure that you will be sufficiently paid for that work.

The most important decision in your life regarding your happiness is choosing whom you are going to marry. This single decision will greatly decide how happy you will be in the future.

You are going to spend most of the rest of your life with your spouse. So put as much effort into this as you put in your career, instead of simply leaving it up to luck.

Do not slide into a Living Relationship too soon. Many couples start living together casually just out of convenience or to spend more time together.

While it is true that cohabitation might help you to understand your partner better, you should make sure that you are committed enough to that relationship. Otherwise, due to many years of living together, you might get locked in a relationship you don't want to be in.

Our brains do not fully get matured until about the age of 25. So in your early 20s, you are more likely to act out of your emotional part of the brain-amygdala, instead of thinking rationally with your prefrontal cortex. Hence it is vital to decide anything only after carefully thinking about it.

And in your twenties, your brain gets the last growth spurt for making new neural connections. So use it to learn important skills like controlling your anger, thinking rationally, coping to stress, etc.

Confidence doesn't come from within. Instead, it comes from the things you have accomplished in the past. So don't sit around waiting to get confident.

Push through the procrastination and do something you want to accomplish. And that will give you the confidence to do more things.

Fertility peaks in your late twenties. After that due to older sperm or lower-quality eggs along with poor hormone regulation, babies born to couples older than 30 are more likely to have neuro-cognitive disorders like autism, dyslexia, and lower intelligence.

Hence it is important to plan kids earlier, preferably before your 30s to avoid any fertility related issues.

Life continues even after your twenties. It is not the end of the world. Don't believe those Netflix shows which make it look like your twenties are all the time you have got to enjoy and to "live" your life.

Statistically speaking, you still do have a lot of time to "live" your life after your 20s. Life is still fun and exciting after your 20s. Make a timeline and think about what you will be doing in your life in your 30s, 40s, or even older.