You're a Twenty Something, You Are something

Wow. The Ted talk by Dr. Meg Jay below is powerful. Her words should be taken to heart by any twenty something, or even any college student. I turned nineteen years old five days ago. One more year until I will be one of those twenty somethings. Scary huh? It certainly is for me. It also may be scary for those of you who have followed me since I was born. I am about to begin the most defining decade of my life. Boo! That's my Halloween scare for this year.

Jay states three things that all twenty somethings should hear. The first one is that all twenty somethings should gain some identity capital. Twenty somethings should do something that gives them an identity. They should explore their opportunities, but not explore things that aren't productive. Jay is trying to get across to twenty somethings that the decade they are in is not a time waster. The decade they are in should be the decade that define who they are.

The second thing that Jay says all twenty somethings should hear is that weak ties can be the key to something better. According to Jay, 50 percent of twenty somethings are either unemployed or under employed. This can be disheartening for twenty somethings to hear. But the good in this statement is that 50 percent of twenty somethings are employed. It should be a twenty somethings goal to become a part of the employed group. They can do this by exploring their weak ties. A weak tie is a connection to an employer that is not obvious. This could be their friends dads neighbor who works as a boss at a company that employs people with their degree or skill set. If they had a strong tie to an employer, they would most likely already be hired. I believe this idea of exploring ones weak ties goes right along with the first habit to be proactive that Stephen Covey describes in his book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" . Life will rarely hand you a good life. Twenty somethings have to be proactive to get a job. 

The third and final thing that twenty somethings should hear is that they should pick their family now. I really liked the statement "The best time to work on your marriage is before you have one" that Jay made. Many twenty somethings see their friends getting married and having kids. They want to be married and have kids too so they sometimes try and make it work with the partner they are with at the time, instead of waiting and finding the partner that is right for them. Twenty somethings should instead discover who the right partner is for them and then find that person. This can be difficult for twenty somethings to do when the pressure from their peers to get married and have kids soon is very high. The old saying of being who you really are, and, patience is key, apply very well to this situation.  

Now that I have this knowledge of how to succeed as a twenty something I should be fine right? Lol, no. I am still growing and finding out who I am as a person. I hope to have a family and good paying job someday. But these things do not come easy. It takes hard work and self reflection. I could be the best motivational speaker by just repeating the words that I have heard from other people, but if I don't truly understand these words and their meaning, then a motivational speaker is all I will ever be. I will never actually be motivated.