A recent 2023 global EY study shows that adults ages 18-34 are remolding our perception of what it means to have reached adulthood. Still, the average age at which people feel they have truly entered adulthood is 21.1 years old around the world.
That’s from a time when the old-school expectation was 18. A study in Norway recently showed that we’re waiting longer than ever to reach the traditional adult checkpoints, and that having children and getting married are all three to 10 years delayed compared to previous generations. But here’s what hasn’t changed: Some habits will keep you from having the life you want, no matter your age.
Postponing Doctor Visits as If They’re Tax Returns
You know the itch in the back of your mind when it hits you that you haven’t seen a doctor in a while. What year was that? All the same, a 28-year-old marketing manager from Portland, Ore, found out the hard way that what she thought was “just stress” was in fact high blood pressure.
She had been avoiding her annual checkup for two years. “I just thought I was too young to care about that stuff,” she says. The wake-up call came when she did finally seek care and found she needed medication.
What a Pig This Guy Is With Money
In 2024, Google Trends showed that searches for “how to stop overspending” reached over 8,000 monthly queries, ranking alongside some of the most desired habits to be broken.
Millennial credit card debt, in 2023, was, on average, $5,649, according to Experian. That designer handbag may be fabulous, but if you’re charging it while your savings account is gathering dust, you’re playing with fire.
Chasing Perfect Instead of Progress
It’s a bone-deep perfectionism that disproportionately affects about 20–30% of adults. What appears as high standards can often be disguised as procrastination, where nothing is ever ‘good enough’ to put ‘out there’ or finish. Dr. Brené Brown’s extensive work has documented that perfectionism is not a mark of success.
Still, it is a most insidious form of self-destructiveness, emanating from a shame-ridden and even biologically deep fear of disapproval.
Pretending You Don’t Have to be Mentally Healthy
Younger adults 18–34 face an outsized burden of anxiety, depression, and political anxieties. And yet, for many people, therapy or mental health support remains a luxury, treated as an “extra,” rather than basic healthcare.
60 % of adults with mental health issues in the past year didn’t receive treatment, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That’s millions of “closet sufferers” while help is available.
Being a People-Pleaser Professional
Boundaries aren’t mean, they’re necessary. Those who struggle to say “no” tend to experience higher levels of stress, burnout, and feelings of resentment.
Boundaries aren’t walls, Dr. Nedra Glover Tawwab, author of the forthcoming “Set Boundaries, Find Peace,” says they are more like protocols for how you want to be treated. When you respect your own time and energy, people respect you more.
Dying for Instagram Hearts and Twitter Likes
The average American checks his or her phone 96 times a day, according to Asurion’s research. That’s an average of once every 10 minutes of our waking hours, and that demonstrates just how completely smartphones have been integrated into our daily lives.
Digital validation, likes, comments, shares taps the same reward pathways in the brain, the dopamine-driven “reward network” activated by substances like drugs, gambling, or alcohol, says Dr. Anna Lembke, a Stanford psychiatrist and author of “Dopamine Nation.” This pursuit of digital validation can create a cycle of dependence, making it increasingly difficult for many people to disconnect from their screens, even when they want to.
Treating Exercise Like Punishment
In the US, just 24.2%of adults are getting both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines. One of the worst misconceptions is that we imagine that exercise needs to be intense or take a lot of our time. Consistent exercise isn’t just good for the body; it enhances mood, sleep quality, and energy. The trick is to find things that don’t feel like punishment, but a good time.
Blaming as a Competitive Sport
Personal responsibility might not be the sexiest topic. Still, it’s the difference between people who grow and people who stay stuck.
There is a quote by psychologist Albert Ellis that goes, “The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own.” This does not mean you have caused everything bad that happens; it means you control your reaction.
Flying Financial Blind
37% of American adults were unable to pay a $400 emergency expense with cash or savings, a representation of the financial insecurity that many face. Likewise, a mere 36% of adults have a written financial plan, which is a key component of reaching financial stability and long-term aspirations.
Flying without a financial plan is akin to taking a cross-country road trip without a map; you might end up somewhere. Still, it’s probably not where you aspire to be. A robust financial plan will keep you afloat when faced with unexpected costs, allow you to save, and keep you moving forward toward the future you envision.
Letting Fear Make Your Decisions
The World Economic Forum’s 2024 Future of Jobs report includes resilience, flexibility, and agility, among others, in the top five core skills employers look for by 2030. Yet many adults allow fear to glue them to situations that make them miserable.
50% of US workers are “quiet quitting,” meaning they’re passively working and doing minimal effort due to a fear of advancing their careers. Fear of failure, fear of what others may think, fear of change, these feelings are natural, but they are not to dominate your life.
Making Excuses Not Progress
But many of us have excuses for why we can’t teach ourselves new skills or make positive changes in our lives. By far the most frequently cited reason is, “I don’t have time,” with “I’m too old to start something new” a close second. These excuses are probably valid at the time; however, they often prevent us from reaching our full potential.
Growth and learning are effortful endeavors, and getting over these mental humps is crucial. As Edward Strecker said, “Emotional maturity is the capacity to stick to a job and to struggle through until it is finished.” This quote serves as a reminder that nothing worth doing can be accomplished quickly, and true success is built on patience, persistence, and the ability to overcome resistance, regardless of age or time.
Stretching the Truth Like It’s Yoga
The words “how to stop lying” are searched almost 7,000 times monthly, per Google Trends, highlighting the widespread, albeit seldom addressed, challenge many adults face.
We lie to others and ourselves for various reasons, including fear of being judged, the desire to get along, or the need to maintain a specific image.
Living Someone Else’s Dream Life
Social pressure to follow traditional paths is out there, but living up to other people’s expectations is a recipe for misery.
According to a 2023 Ipsos Global Happiness Report, adults who follow their personal passions for living are 2.1 times more likely to say they are delighted with life, even though they change jobs several times. Your life should suit you, not the recipe that made someone else succeed.
Still Treats Waiting for Permission Like You’re in Elementary School
Perhaps the most grown-up thing to do is to reinvent what a grown-up looks like and vote on your own agency, rather than continue to be an arcade game that free-lunch politicians drop a quarter into before you can earn extra lives.
It’s about following your gut, owning your choices, and stepping up without trepidation. Adults don’t wait for permission to be given to them; they give it to themselves, embracing the fact that the way forward is not perfectly formed or meticulously described in advance of their actions.
Dining Like a College Student, on Spring Break
Unless your metabolism actually sends you a cease-and-desist in the mail, it most definitely starts shifting its gears somewhere in your late twenties and early thirties.
That diet of energy drinks, fast food, and whatever was least resistant to being dumped out of the packaging when you were 19 is not going to function in adult bodies that actually need nutrition to operate.
Key Takeaway
Growing up, as it turns out, is not so much about answering all the right boxes on someone else’s timeline or now, suddenly, having all your stuff figured out. It’s about identifying patterns you dislike and having the courage to change them.
The grown-ups who appear to have it all figured out don’t; they’re just better at owning their choices, and making new ones when what they’re doing isn’t working. You don’t need to rehaul your entire life at once, but tackling one or two things can set off a chain reaction that ripples across your whole life. The aim is not perfection; it’s to become the person you would actually like to be.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information. It is not intended to be professional advice.
16 Grocery Staples to Stock Up On Before Prices Spike Again
16 Grocery Staples to Stock Up On Before Prices Spike Again
I was in the grocery store the other day, and it hit me—I’m buying the exact same things I always do, but my bill just keeps getting higher. Like, I swear I just blinked, and suddenly, eggs are a luxury item. What’s going on?
Inflation, supply-chain delays, and erratic weather conditions have modestly (or, let’s face it, dramatically) pushed the prices of staples ever higher. The USDA reports that food prices climbed an additional 2.9% year over year in May 2025—and that’s after the inflation storm of 2022–2023.
So, if you’ve got room in a pantry, freezer, or even a couple of extra shelves, now might be a good moment to stock up on these staple groceries—before the prices rise later.
6 Gas Station Chains With Food So Good It’s Worth Driving Out Of Your Way For
6 Gas Station Chains With Food So Good It’s Worth Driving Out Of Your Way For
We scoured the Internet to see what people had to say about gas station food. If you think the only things available are wrinkled hot dogs of indeterminate age and day-glow slushies, we’ve got great, tasty news for you. Whether it ends up being part of a regular routine or your only resource on a long car trip, we have the food info you need.
Let’s look at 6 gas stations that folks can’t get enough of and see what they have for you to eat.
