The pressure to reach certain milestones that we deem as important is increasingly becoming a source of anxiety for those in our 20s. Half of people aged 16 to 39 report feeling some pressure to meet certain milestones such as getting married or having kids and they feel incredibly trapped and hopeless when they don't. We have been sold a very traditional idea of what our lives should look like from a young age even if we don't explicitly realize it, says the author.
In our 20s, we face an increasing sense of pressure to reach certain important, life milestones, such as getting into our first relationship, graduating university, finding our career path, getting engaged and so many more. When we don't meet the expectations or the timeline that society gives us, we can feel like failures and begin to self sabotage or ruminate on our faults and flaws. This week we're going to explore the psychology behind milestone anxiety - the experience of stress and unease when we haven't achieved certain milestones by a certain age - why it occurs, the influence of social comparison and conditioning, how we can combat this feeling, practice self compassion and be excited by our own journey through life, and our 20s. Listen now.
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