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A reassuring piece of advice that everyone in their 20s needs to hear Credits: Social Media
By Ellissa Bain

A reassuring piece of advice that everyone in their 20s needs to hear

By Ellissa Bain

Your 20s can be a difficult time as you navigate the adult world and decide what you want to do with your life – but don’t be too hard on yourself.

English novelist and journalist Elizabeth Day has shared a reassuring piece of advice that everyone in their 20s needs to hear.

Sad young woman sitting on bed at home
Sad young woman sitting on bed at home. Credit: Westend61 (Getty Images)

Message for people in their 20s

Day has a podcast called How To Fail which celebrates the things in life that haven’t gone right and what we can learn from them.

Speaking on Steven Bartlett’s Diary Of A CEO podcast, she told twenty-somethings that you’re not failing at life and you don’t need to pressure yourself to get everything right.

“A lot of people struggle in their 20s, particularly in this day and age because of the curse of comparison and because we live in a culture of curated perfection,” she said.

The first issue is that people in their 20s are constantly comparing themselves to others and the life they seem to be living through social media, which makes them feel like they aren’t doing well enough.

“For many people it’s the first time they’ve come out of full time education and come out of a system of exam and reward,” Day continued.

@steven

For anyone that’s in their 20’s (or at any age actually…) and are feeling overwhelmed, confused or anxious watch the below. This is a clip from an old podcast episode with the brilliant Elizabeth Day and she hits the nail on the head 🙏🏾 #podcast #podcastclips #clip #interview #20s #twenties #college #uni #school #students #youngpeople #anxious #anxiety #overwhelming #elizabethday #motivation #wisdom #advice #inspiring #powerful

♬ original sound – The Diary Of A CEO

However, there is no exam you can sit to show you’re being a good adult, which makes people in this era of life “feel quite lost”.

On top of that, the pressure to find your passion, make a career, earn money and forge your identity is totally overwhelming. Plus, you’re trying to have a social life, deal with relationships, eat healthily and everything else that comes with life – and it’s “just exhausting”.

“A lot of us fall into the trap of believing that we had to have our life sorted out by then, and actually your 20s are a decade of transition and discovering who you are,” she reassured.

Day said your 20s are a time for “grinding up the spices of life in your pestle and mortar,” a period of trial and error as you form your own future.

If you are currently in your 20s, don’t stress too much. It’s a special time for experimentation that you’ll never get back, a period of opportunity to explore different aspects of yourself, your interests, and your goals.

You don’t need to have your life in order and everything will work out in the end.