14 of the biggest misconceptions 20-somethings have about success

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The 20s are a confusing and crucial decade for anyone pursuing a life of happiness and success.

In fact, the goals you set for yourself when you were 20 are likely to be completely different from the ones you are hoping to achieve at age 30. And you very well could find the path you expected to lead you to success is nothing like the one you've taken.

Here are 14 misconceptions people in their 20s have about success:

This is an update of an article written by Aaron Taube.

1. That their role models will be able to give them the right advice.

Oftentimes we look to people we hope to emulate for words of wisdom on how to be successful like them, whether it's a boss at work or a leader elsewhere in our field.

But for all of their success, these people aren't always the best people to look to.

Energy mogul T. Boone Pickens says young people should instead ask themselves these three questions before accepting advice from someone: "Is this person smart?" "Do they have a conflict of interest?" and "Do they love me?"

2. That doing what they're told will help them get to the top.

Many young people leave the structured environment of college with the idea that they can be successful in the real world by following the directions given to them by their bosses, perhaps in the same manner that they passed tests in school after being told which readings to study.

In a column for Forbes, Comparably CEO Jason Nazar writes that the only way for people in their 20s to get ahead at work is by taking initiative and doing things that need to get done, even if those tasks haven't been explicitly assigned to them.

"You'll never get ahead by waiting for someone to tell you what to do," he writes. "Saying 'nobody asked me to do this' is a guaranteed recipe for failure."

3. That they have any idea what will make them happy in the long term.

Most 20-somethings just coming out of college have no clue what will really make them happy.

As self-help writer Mark Manson — who previously worked in marketing for a car parts manufacturer and as a dating consultant — puts it: "Out of the dozens of people I've kept in touch with from high school and college (and by 'keep in touch' I really mean 'stalked on Facebook'), I can't think of more than a couple that have not changed jobs, careers, industry, families, sexual orientation, or who their favorite Power Ranger is at least once in their 20s."