Non-millennials may be unfamiliar with the term “quarter life crisis”, as any kind of life crisis is something we normally associate with someone in their 40’s or 50’s. If you’re between the ages of 20 and 30, it’s more likely that you have come face to face with the latest dilemma of our generation, the quarter life crisis. The adaptation period from adolescence to adulthood is proving every year more complex, and many young people feel in turmoil about how to deal with the transition. To help you recognise the symptoms, here are 10 signs which indicate that you’re dealing with a quarter life crisis.
With the huge influence social media holds nowadays over almost every aspect of our lives, it’s impossible not to feel insecure and compare yourself to others. So and so’s just got engaged. So and so’s having a baby. So and so’s just got a new job. With everyone’s lives moving down different paths and taking different directions, social media has become a tool to remind us just how well everyone else around us is doing, thus making us feel inferior. If this is something which really gets to you, try shut off from social media every once in a while, it’ll do you the world of good!
This is one that I feel can apply to most young people. You can be happy and in a stable career and still be worrying about the future, wondering whether you’ve gone down the right route in life, always considering the “What if?” battle in your head. The future seems to be approaching faster and faster and you don’t know if you’re at all ready for it. To help yourself feel more prepared, why not structure a plan of things you want to achieve over a certain time frame, having goals set might help to soften the fear of the unknown.
Partying in nightclubs, working restaurant and bar jobs, living at home with your parents, drinking in the park on a sunny day…the list goes on! The confusion of being between adolescence and adulthood is that you still have a lot of the same interests and might feel the same as you did, let’s say, 5 years ago, but you start to doubt whether these are still deemed “appropriate”. At the end of the day, you’re only as old as you feel (to a certain degree), so try not to worry too much about appearances!
Whether you’ve lived away from home before and have temporarily moved back, or have just never quite managed to leave the nest, living at home as a 20 or 30 something-year-old can have its challenges. Can you really be fully independent and a true adult if you still live at home with your mum and dad? If this thought has gone through your head before, you probably are facing a quarter life crisis, but remember, it doesn’t have to be permanent – you can make the change!
The average young person will have already had multiple romances throughout their life. If you’ve hit 25 and still not found the one, meanwhile watching other people find success in their relationships, you will undoubtedly start to feel isolated and worry about the future. Just try and remind yourself that you’re not the only one, and take this as a time to focus on YOU! Any personal improvements you can achieve will only help benefit your relationships with others!
A key aspect of any quarter life crisis is searching for advice in any way, shape or form. Starting your day with a horoscope puts you on the right path to positivity, and maybe that’s something you’ve become sort of dependent on. There’s nothing wrong with this, but try not to follow it too literally, as fate can act in strange and unpredictable ways. Learning to take life as it comes is a huge step towards overcoming a quarter life crisis.
Maybe you feel quite settled in your career but are longing for more, or you are starting to realise that your job may not be feasible as a long-term career choice. This sort of doubt is unavoidable in the quarter life crisis, and is a difficult one to overcome. My only advice would be that if you feel really unsure about your current lifestyle, make a change, and you’ll soon realise if it was for the better or the worse.
Ah, yes. The true millennial dream. The quarter life crisis escape way. Save up some money, book a flight, and forget all your troubles. It can’t be denied that getting away from it all and reflecting on what you really want in life is beneficial in more ways than one, but the pressures of modern society may also hold us back from even considering this dream. Travelling nourishes the soul, it’s just a matter of being brave enough to wing it!
It’s normal to face a battle between wanting success in your relationship and wanting success in your career. The unfortunate thing is that both of these things can hold each other back. Maybe companionship is a huge priority for you, but it might force you to sacrifice your career, and vice versa. The truth is, you’re young, and you have all the time in the world to settle down, so do what seems most urgent and important to you personally!
If you are in your mid-twenties and still have absolutely no idea what you want to do, this is a clear indicator of the dreaded quarter life crisis.
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