The Quarter-Life Crisis

STOP TAKING ON UNNECESSARY PRESSURE TO SUCCEED

You can’t blame your parents for this entirely, and you can’t entirely blame modern society, but both baby-boomers and modernity are responsible for an increase in the phenomenon known as the quarter-life crisis – at least, according to Forbes.

Part of the reason for this being a generationally derived phenomenon is because the Baby Boomer generation not only accomplished a lot, but demands a lot from their kids. As a result, when millennial adults start hitting their mid-twenties, an entire cavalcade of pressures tend to deluge their minds and snatch away their peace, resulting in a mid-life crisis of some variety.

But modern society is also partly to blame, because the current occupational environment just doesn’t have the same opportunities as our parents’ America did. Sure, there’s the internet now; however, there are also more tax, business, and residential law than ever, and that trend isn’t changing. So our parents come at us with their perceptions from youth and are sort of “Grandfathered in,” as it were, thus missing the modern changes. Most Baby Boomers have trouble using the internet when compared against their millennial progeny.

But then again, Baby Boomers with established careers don’t need the same kind of digital job security, do they? Dad’s got his pension, business, or 401k in the bag. What does he need Facebook for? Meanwhile you and I in the Millennial sphere get bookings and network through Facebook, so without this platform we would actually lose income. I work as a standup comedian, and most of my gigs end up being booked through this or another social networking platform. That’s not something our parents had to deal with.

Technology fixes as many problems as it creates, and while the internet has increased convenience, it has also created pressure to succeed via media. And that pressure has a greater tangibility to it than the corresponding pressure our parents experienced in their less-saturated technological age. Most young people today have in the back of their minds a kind of mantra preaching success by any means necessary.

The good news is, most of these pressures are really put on us by ourselves, and once we’ve realized the man behind the curtain is a little old snake-oil salesman from Kansas and not some massive holographic wizard of Oz, the pressure goes away like a foul odor on a strong breeze. Don’t let a false perspective push you into a quarter-life crisis.

Combatting the Quarter Life Crisis

Today many young people feel as though they haven’t met their goals because they’re not autonomous and rich by the ripe old age of 25. That’s poor thinking. Here are some things to consider if a pressurized depression of this variety has latched onto you lately:

• People are living longer. Just because you’re not a millionaire at the age of twenty-seven doesn’t mean you’ve failed in your career ambitions. Did you know Rodney Dangerfield didn’t hit it as a comedian until he was in his forties? Keep plugging away and don’t give up just because technology has shortened your attention span. Modernity preaches immediacy, but that’s not necessarily reality, so don’t let it put a false standard in your mind.
• Consider the bigger picture. If you’re reading this article, it means you’ve got it better than 774 million adults who can’t even read. Can you imagine if you were twenty-five years old and without the ability to read? Be thankful for what you do have. You may not be rich, and you may not have become the world’s next big novelist by your mid-twenties, but you can read, or you wouldn’t be reading this, and you’ve got enough spare time to do so and access to the technology required in such an operation. That’s more than most the world. Consider that you don’t often see quarter-life crises in underdeveloped countries. Why? They’re not enforcing a false perspective on their daily activities. Also, if you live in a jungle and dress in a loincloth, you’re probably not worried about filing your taxes, getting a job with a 401k, or buying a house in a good neighborhood. (I’d rather have a house and a family, personally; however, there’s something to be said for such a natural connection: no quarter-life crisis, for one!)
• Quarter-life crises are real
  that’s what the whole film Garden State was about, among others. Don’t let the panic get to you, and don’t give up because you haven’t conquered the world at 25. Recognize certain expectations are unreal.
• Be content with what you have. King Midas was already a rich king, but he wanted more and look at what happened to him! He got a gold finger and became a tongue-in-cheek joke for one of the most famous James Bond films.
• Ignore the media as best you can. The media tells you a minimum wage job can get you a lifestyle like the people on Friends. That’s just subtle propaganda; don’t be taken in by it. Fictional realities aren’t real ones.

Thoughts to Digest

A part of doing a GUDEjob requires understanding the life that you’re living today to make a better tomorrow. So understand your quarter-life crisis is real, but can be overcome, and isn’t necessary. Be grateful for what you do have, and allow natural enthusiasm to color your actions. This will require determination, as a certain personal dissatisfaction has been pushed from the top down in first-world countries for decades. But what are your options? Sink into depression and accomplish nothing, or overcome pressure with contentment and still become what you want to be? I’d go for the latter, if I were in your shoes.