Even if your news feed says different…

By Emma McCormack 

So we’re taught to think we can have it all, right? And that it’s going to be super easy… Wrong. Despite the heavily filtered, whitened image portrayed via social media, having it all doesn’t happen over night and expecting it to happen in your 20s may be a little naïve. But this belief in many ways is no fault of your own. Our perception of reality is viewed through rose-tinted glasses, and you only ever see the aspects of other people’s lives that they want to put on display for the world to see. So step back from your Insta feed and set yourself goals that relate to your aspirations, not someone else’s.

Your 20s are all about self-discovery, finding out what makes you tick and what really doesn’t. Realising you absolutely detest something is more than okay. Now is the time to do it. These moments of realisation pave the way for the rest of the journey, but they’re not the be all and end all of life.

Plus, that path to success and recognition isn’t always a smooth one. Take the likes of fiction powerhouse JK Rowling. She didn’t hit the big time until she was 32 years old, when the Harry Potter series began. Before then, Joanne Rowling experienced extreme lows and signed up for welfare benefits in her 20s. Turning a certain age should not be a flashing beacon of doom. It’s not now or never, and you’ve got the rest of your life to work it all out. 

So what is having it all anyway? Where’s the fun in that? If we did, we’d become lazy and would never push for more.

Ultimately we need to stop putting so much pressure on ourselves and step away from social media when we set our goals. Instead of aspiring to be like the Insta stars, why don’t we aim to be a better version of ourselves instead?

Put down your phone and set some old-fashioned realistic goals. No-one else has it all figured out either. That’s the beauty of it.

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