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5 Things No One Tells You About Adulting

By Patrick Banks | Published March 28, 2023 | 5 min read

Adult life gets to us, eventually.

We may put it off for a bit later, but it will hit us all at once.

So denial is not an option.

We must embrace reality instead, with all its vast transformations, expectations, conventional wisdom, and the things we need to do that we really don’t feel like doing.

Here are some things no one talks about but which we all realize.

Check out these adulting quotes to help you adult like a pro!

What No One Tells You About Adult Life

1. You can’t have it all.

Many people strive for success in everything.

They want to have it all, to have it now, and to be better than others.

But all that doesn’t create a happy, fulfilling life.

It becomes a constant competition, a quest to get more out of life, giving nothing back.

So it’s better to accept the truth now: you can’t have it all.

But before you make a sad face, here’s something else: you don’t need to have it all.

Not everything we think we want can make us happy and successful.

Not every skill will come naturally to us, and not every career will fit us.

2. You need to be selective.

Another difficult-to-grasp but important thing to know is that our time is limited.

Basically, we’re getting closer to the end of our lives every second.

And again, there are two ways to look at this.

We can either get depressed about it or start living life to the fullest.

Now that you know that, you’ll need to be more selective with your time as an adult.

Don’t invest it in unproductive and meaningless activities.

Remove some things on your to-do list that don’t need to get done.

And stop spending time with people who don’t respect you for who you are.

At any moment, we’re making a choice.

We can do many things, but what we decide to dedicate our precious time to must be pretty important.

3. Other people’s opinion doesn’t really matter.

You will be judged and criticized more than you’d want.

And if you let it get to you, you’ll fail at achieving your goals in life.

But guess what?

Other people have nothing to do with that.

The sooner you stop caring what others think about you, the better.

It’s your journey to take, so you’re allowed to make as many mistakes as you want, to try new, extraordinary things, to act on a whim, and so on.

Another crucial thing to remember when entering adult life is that by judging you, other people are actually showing deeper issues and insecurities of their own.

Everyone’s fighting a battle.

Knowing that can help you show compassion to them instead of getting angry or answering with judgment too.

4. The only failure is giving up.

If you’re after something in your life, you’ll fail.

A lot.

If you don’t, it means you’re not taking action and moving forward.

But none of these mistakes are bad.

Each teaches you what doesn’t work so that you can try something else instead.

And after each, you’re more experienced, wiser, and better prepared.

That strengthens you too.

There’s only one type of failure, it’s the only thing that’s tragic about the human soul and which we can accept as a defeat.

That’s giving up.

Once you get to that point, it means you don’t believe in yourself, are tired of challenging yourself, are out of hope and faith, and choose the easier option – not to try again.

That’s one of the saddest things adulting can lead to.

It’s bad for everyone else around you too.

So make sure you don’t get there.

Always remember that every successful person in history (and in present) has more failures than successes.

But we rarely hear about the mistakes he made on the way.

If you truly understand that, you can live your life courageously, adventurously, and with a sense of pride and accomplishment at every step.

5. Opportunities are everywhere in your adult life.

Many adults aren’t satisfied with their life.

They don’t have what they want and blame life for not giving them enough opportunities to get it.

But knowing this one thing about them, I can say they make many other excuses every day why they can’t change their life.

They also blame outer factors for what they don’t have and never take the responsibility for what happens to them.

Such people find comfort in anything else but action.

They often overthink a situation but don’t get out there and fight for what they believe in.

They also don’t ask for what they want, don’t speak up, don’t try new approaches, etc.

Don’t be like that in your adult life.

Instead, open your eyes to the countless opportunities that present themselves to you daily.

Life gives us plenty of them, but it’s our job to notice them and take action.

So instead of wishing for things to be different, start doing your research, talk to people who’ve already achieved what you’re after, get a new job, end your current relationship, move to another place, start an online business, and so on.

Just do something you haven’t done yet.

Then, make sure you make the most of the opportunities on the way.