It’s normal to feel a little immature well into your 20’s. Trust me, I still do. But in the last year I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a person and as a woman.

Here’s the 22 things I have learned since turning 22.

1. Love yourself. Fall in love with yourself. Take yourself out on dates. Go ahead girl splurge on that new bag. Get your nails done. Be you.

2. Don’t ever say no to knowledge. Do you think that everyone in the office you intern for knows what he or she is doing? Odds are, they don’t and you can never know too much.

3. Stay positive. Or at least try to. It can be hard, believe me but it’s worth it. Try to always see the good in any situation. There’s always a lesson to be learned.

4. Do not be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for directions. You can save a lot of time and frustration. If you don’t know something, there’s no harm in asking.

5. Practice balance. Everything is good for you in moderation but too much of it can be overkill. This goes for everything in life. Including people.

6. Know when to let things go. Sometimes the best thing is to realize that situations and relationships may be better off without you. Or you’re better off without each other.

7. Check yourself. When you do something wrong or make a mistake do not be afraid to throw in the towel and say you know what, my bad.

8. It’s ok to be a late bloomer. It is ok. Trust me, there are so many people in their 20’s who have yet to experience certain things. You’ll be ok.

9. Trust your gut. Always. That very first feeling you get when you enter a new situation is always right. ALWAYS.

10. Paint your own path. Is what everyone else is doing really what you want to do?

11. Help people whenever you can. It’s good karma and it will come back to you.

12. Be mindful of those around you. Everyone is going through his or her own battles. Being nice to someone can easily make their week.

13. Always stand behind your decisions. Good and bad. The only person,who is going to fault yourself for your decisions, essentially is you. I have this theory that the decisions you make based on your current situation or else you wouldn’t have made those decisions in the first place. Own up to it and therefore no one can guilt you.

14. Listen more and speak less.

15. Live with appreciation. You may not be where you want to be financially, romantically or even career wise but be happy with what you have. Enjoy the little things

16. There is no life plan. Life is built on spontaneity. If an opportunity arises take it, it can lead to some pretty amazing experiences.

17. Stand up for yourself. Whether it’s a work, school or with your close friends. Make sure people know who you are and what you’re willing to take. Suddenly the quiet petite girl in the corner isn’t so quiet anymore.

18. It’s ok to have only a few close friends. Trust me, I’ve been there. Whenever I’ve tried to expand my booklet of friends, it’s almost always backfired on me. I think mainly because I don’t need anything else.

19. It’s ok to grow apart from people. We get older, busier and wiser. It’s ok not to talk your friends everyday. And it’s ok to miss the memories and not the people.

20. Sometimes you miss the people and that’s ok too.

21. Always try to try something once. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it again. Ever.

22. Stay gold.