My Quarterlife Crisis
Let’s face it. Quarterlifers, people in their teens, 20s and early 30s, are overwhelmed! I know, because I’m one of them. Once we leave the protection of home and school, we are suddenly faced with many questions: “What should I do for a living?” “Where can I find Mr. or Ms. Right?” “What is my purpose?” “Who am I?” “How can I make money?” and “What is the meaning of life?” We turn these questions over and over in our heads as we venture into the real world for the first time.
It’s not only the questions that are difficult. It’s also the sheer number of them. Think about it. You’re looking for the perfect career, making new friends, choosing a place to live, searching for the right partner, contemplating a family, exploring your spirituality, questioning the meaning of it all, and wondering if you can even survive. Wow. The irony is that we all go through this, yet few of us talk about it openly.
Just a few years ago, at 20, I remember tossing and turning in bed at night with thoughts running through my head. I wondered why I seemed to be the only one who didn’t have it all figured out. I couldn’t understand how friends could already be getting married, committing to mortgages, and having children. I wanted to know why I was here on earth, and if my life mattered.
It’s the same frustration, confusion, and uncertainty that led a classmate of mine to commit suicide by throwing his body off the lip of the Grand Canyon. Depressed and frustrated, he chose to end his life rather than carry on. In fact, did you know that our generation has the highest rate of suicide attempts? Recent studies linking depression to suicide found that depression has doubled among 20-year-olds over the past 13 years. When asked why, the director of one study said, “Times are more stressful, students are faced with more pressure, more decisions, and more competition. There is more demand put on young adults today.”
Unfortunately, not only do quarterlifers have the highest rate of suicide attempts, we also top the charts in divorce, drug use, and alcohol abuse. Not to mention that from the time we graduate from college until we reach our mid-30s we seek a new job every year and a half, often in fields completely unrelated to what we spent years and tens of thousands of dollars studying!
Fortunately, my life changed the day I discovered that there are tools and techniques for navigating the real world. At the age of 24, I graduated from chiropractic college, moved to a new town, and opened an office. For the next six months I worked to build my practice, meet new people, learn how to run a business, find social involvements, stay in shape, and get to know my new town. I continuously felt stressed and full of anxiety. If you’ve ever had to give a public speech, do you remember that uneasy feeling of butterflies you experienced? I had that feeling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
It was that pain, along with the suffering I saw in my friends, which led me to pick up the telephone and call successful chiropractors and businesspeople. I began asking them what they had done when they opened their doors, and to my surprise they told me! Taking their advice, I made changes in my office and immediately began to notice positive results. Patients started signing up for care and referring family members to the office. Soon I was calling other individuals I admired and asking them questions about finances, relationships, spirituality, and personal growth. I took their suggestions, integrated them into my life, and experienced even more significant changes.
What started out as my personal questioning process eventually grew into hosting both a talk radio program and a talk television show. Now, each week, I interview the world’s leading experts on the topics of personal potential, business, politics, wellness, spirituality, relationships, finance, and career.
Not only have I brought together solutions from the experts, I’ve also interviewed over 400 of our peers.
Let me tell you a little secret. Our generation knows far more than we give ourselves credit for knowing. When I asked people 17 to 35 years old to address the hardest questions that we face and heard their answers, I was amazed! In many ways their insights have had the greatest impact on my life. Here’s why. Most of the experts I interview are in their late 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s. While you can’t put a price tag on their advice and wisdom, they grew up in a different era than ours and can’t necessarily relate to the problems, concerns, and obstacles of our generation.
Think in your own life about how easy it is to forget a problem once you’ve found a solution. Do you remember how much you agonized over which computer to buy? Once you bought, it all of your concerns became a distant memory as you moved onto the next problem. Now imagine how little of a problem you would remember if it occurred over 20 years ago. When I hit upon this understanding, I knew I had to focus a blog around quarterlifers.
I hope you'll continue to come back and share your quarterlife experiences. We know a lot more than we give ourselves credit for...now it's time to share it.
Jason Steinle
Evergreen, Colorado
It’s not only the questions that are difficult. It’s also the sheer number of them. Think about it. You’re looking for the perfect career, making new friends, choosing a place to live, searching for the right partner, contemplating a family, exploring your spirituality, questioning the meaning of it all, and wondering if you can even survive. Wow. The irony is that we all go through this, yet few of us talk about it openly.
Just a few years ago, at 20, I remember tossing and turning in bed at night with thoughts running through my head. I wondered why I seemed to be the only one who didn’t have it all figured out. I couldn’t understand how friends could already be getting married, committing to mortgages, and having children. I wanted to know why I was here on earth, and if my life mattered.
It’s the same frustration, confusion, and uncertainty that led a classmate of mine to commit suicide by throwing his body off the lip of the Grand Canyon. Depressed and frustrated, he chose to end his life rather than carry on. In fact, did you know that our generation has the highest rate of suicide attempts? Recent studies linking depression to suicide found that depression has doubled among 20-year-olds over the past 13 years. When asked why, the director of one study said, “Times are more stressful, students are faced with more pressure, more decisions, and more competition. There is more demand put on young adults today.”
Unfortunately, not only do quarterlifers have the highest rate of suicide attempts, we also top the charts in divorce, drug use, and alcohol abuse. Not to mention that from the time we graduate from college until we reach our mid-30s we seek a new job every year and a half, often in fields completely unrelated to what we spent years and tens of thousands of dollars studying!
Fortunately, my life changed the day I discovered that there are tools and techniques for navigating the real world. At the age of 24, I graduated from chiropractic college, moved to a new town, and opened an office. For the next six months I worked to build my practice, meet new people, learn how to run a business, find social involvements, stay in shape, and get to know my new town. I continuously felt stressed and full of anxiety. If you’ve ever had to give a public speech, do you remember that uneasy feeling of butterflies you experienced? I had that feeling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
It was that pain, along with the suffering I saw in my friends, which led me to pick up the telephone and call successful chiropractors and businesspeople. I began asking them what they had done when they opened their doors, and to my surprise they told me! Taking their advice, I made changes in my office and immediately began to notice positive results. Patients started signing up for care and referring family members to the office. Soon I was calling other individuals I admired and asking them questions about finances, relationships, spirituality, and personal growth. I took their suggestions, integrated them into my life, and experienced even more significant changes.
What started out as my personal questioning process eventually grew into hosting both a talk radio program and a talk television show. Now, each week, I interview the world’s leading experts on the topics of personal potential, business, politics, wellness, spirituality, relationships, finance, and career.
Not only have I brought together solutions from the experts, I’ve also interviewed over 400 of our peers.
Let me tell you a little secret. Our generation knows far more than we give ourselves credit for knowing. When I asked people 17 to 35 years old to address the hardest questions that we face and heard their answers, I was amazed! In many ways their insights have had the greatest impact on my life. Here’s why. Most of the experts I interview are in their late 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s. While you can’t put a price tag on their advice and wisdom, they grew up in a different era than ours and can’t necessarily relate to the problems, concerns, and obstacles of our generation.
Think in your own life about how easy it is to forget a problem once you’ve found a solution. Do you remember how much you agonized over which computer to buy? Once you bought, it all of your concerns became a distant memory as you moved onto the next problem. Now imagine how little of a problem you would remember if it occurred over 20 years ago. When I hit upon this understanding, I knew I had to focus a blog around quarterlifers.
I hope you'll continue to come back and share your quarterlife experiences. We know a lot more than we give ourselves credit for...now it's time to share it.
Jason Steinle
Evergreen, Colorado
posted by Jason C. Steinle at 9:32 AM
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