In this Adulting 101 series, we talk about the major milestones and challenges of adult life—making independent financial and career decisions, managing personal healthcare and insurance, and still finding the time to nurture yourself and your relationships—to help you on your PURPLE journey.
You’re finally all grown up and making tough decisions. Every day is a balancing act of addressing urgent matters at work, figuring out the priorities for the day, remembering the bills due that week and making sure that you have enough in your account to cover the rest of the month, deciding if hanging out with friends that weekend is a good move given your work backlog, and… hold on… does the list of things to do ever end? And is there a manual that can help you go through it?
The short answer to both questions is “no.”
No, there will always be things to do every day. They’re called responsibilities, and they’re very much part of your newfound adult life. And no, there is no manual or handbook on adulting. The only person who can answer all the questions is the person asking them—and that’s you, by the way.
You’re in charge.
Those three little words may sound intimidating, but they don’t have to. Being in charge gives you the freedom—and the privilege—to be the architect of your own life. The captain of your own ship.
You get to define what “a good life” looks like for you, and you get to design it. You get to plan your next moves. You call all the shots, and, yes, that is a tremendous responsibility, but it is also a wonderful challenge that you should fully embrace and take on. From here on, every decision you make will decide where life will take you. Each choice, each action is one small step toward the life you’ve always envisioned for yourself.
So make sure every choice you make is intentional and aligns with your passions in life, whatever they may be. You get to decide those for yourself because, again, you’re in charge. And make sure every action you take is deliberate and takes you closer to your goals, dreams, and life’s purpose.
Being in charge means having the confidence to define what success and “the good life” mean to you, having the courage to choose what really matters to you, and having the drive to build a life around these choices.
