Commencement speakers love to give flowery advice: Dare to dream! Reach for the stars! Embrace the whole new world waiting for you on the other side of graduation! 

They’re a little less likely to mention what really matters when it comes to securing your long-term success. A lot of it involves adjusting to adult life and learning what it means to be healthy, both physically and mentally—and that's a struggle for many new grads. 

After you change out of your cap and gown, keep this cheat sheet on health mistakes to avoid in mind. You'll be #adulting like a pro in no time. 

Mistake #1: Going to urgent care for all your medical needs

We get it: you're young, you're healthy, and you haven't been sick since that unfortunate case of mono in the 11th grade. But building a relationship with a primary care doctor now establishes your baseline level of health and allows for continuity of care. And, in parts of the country where there are more primary care physicians, people live longer and have lower rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other medical conditions, according to study published in the International Journal of Health Services. 

If none of that's enough to sway you, then remember: on many insurance plans, a trip to the emergency room or urgent care is more expensive than a visit to a PCP. 

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Mistake #2: Skipping health insurance

Speaking of insurance, you really won't be saving any money if you don't sign up for it after you graduate. The Affordable Care Act says you have to be insured, and you can get hit with a fine if you don’t register quickly enough. You can usually be added to a parent’s health plan if it covers dependents and you’re under 26—even if you're living on your own. If you’re younger than 30, you can buy a catastrophic plan with low monthly premiums; you’ll pay most non-emergency medical expenses yourself, but coverage includes three primary care visits each year—as well as preventive care like shots and screenings—before you hit your deductible.

Mistake #3: Eating a sad desk lunch every day 

Chowing down in front of the computer might seem like a good way to gain traction at a new job. In fact, one 2012 survey found that 39% of employees spend their lunch breaks at their desks. Truth is, in the working world, many of us aren’t counterbalancing our hours of inactivity with regular movement (such as crisscrossing campus for classes). Moreover, “when we eat distracted, we tend not to enjoy, appreciate, or even register the calories—they’re calories eaten, calories forgotten,” says Katherine Zeratsky, RD, an associate professor of nutrition at the Mayo Clinic. “If you absolutely have to eat at your desk, appreciate each bite of food in your mouth, chew it, notice that you’re chewing it—and do so at least several times before you swallow it—and then type a paragraph or read what you have to read…

As the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine from 1965 to 1997, Helen Gurley Brown was famous—and famously criticized by feminists—for doling out endless advice on how to lose weight and how to catch a man. And while she often deserved the flak, she also dispensed gems of wisdom on countless other subjects, from balancing a budget to becoming an individual, at a time when most women’s magazines taught housewives how to whip up the perfect pot roast and wax the floors before their husbands got home. Here are some of the best life lessons, both big and small, I discovered while writing a new biography of HGB, Enter Helen: The Invention of Helen Gurley Brown and the Rise of the Modern Single Woman ($29; amazon.com).

Take your pleasure seriously

“What is a sexy woman? Very simple. She is a woman who enjoys sex,” Helen wrote in her 1962 bestseller, Sex and the Single Girl. It was a shocking message at the time (nice girls weren’t supposed to have sex before marriage, let alone enjoy it), and it’s one that she continued to deliver for the rest of her career: The more pleasure you get, the more pleasure you give.

Work hard and pay your dues

As a young woman, Helen worked 17 secretarial jobs before she became a high-powered and high-paid ad copywriter à la Peggy Olson. In Sex and the Single Girl, she shared what she learned along the way. Rule Number 1: “DON’T DEMAND INSTANT GLAMOUR.” “Give yourself time to get useful before you get difficult,” she advised.

Pack your lunch

I know it’s not the sexiest advice, but it is sound. When I worked at a magazine in Manhattan, I easily dropped $20 on an average meal, spending up to $100 a week! In Sex and the Office, Helen provides two Brown Paper Bag Plans designed to fill up the working girl without draining her wallet. “Home-lunch can be delicious glamor-girl fodder instead of junk,” she wrote, adding that you can even “save enough money to spend Christmas in Jamaica.”

RELATED: 5 Mental Blocks That Are Ruining Your Sex Life

Listen to people

“Never fail to know that if you are doing all the talking, you are boring somebody,” Helen wrote in her 1982 book, Having It All. A conversation should be two-sided. Sometimes it’s better to listen and learn.

Sit up straight

Helen gave a lot of nutty beauty advice over the years (she advocated wigs, plastic surgery, and lots of makeup), but this tip is timeless: “Sit up straight, stand up straight, posture, posture, posture!” she wrote in her 2000 book I’m Wild Again. “Good posture can make more difference in how you look than virtually anything else”—and the best part is, it’s free.

Let your problems be your fuel

A self-described “mouseburger” from Arkansas, Helen told and retold the tale of her childhood: Her father died young, her mother sunk into depression, her sister contracted polio, and the family fell on hard times…