Sometimes it can feel like adulthood is a world away but then it comes all too quickly for most of us. There’s really no winning! The thing is that while adulthood looks neat and tidy, the reality is that most of us are still trying to figure things out while appearing together.
The reality is that there’s no such thing as a grown-up. Grown-ups are just a bunch of people who have mastered certain skills and ‘leveled-up’ to a sort of functionality that passes as adult.
Managing Your Finances
The first lesson in becoming an adult is learning to manage your finances. Balancing your income and outgoings is essential for keeping your head above water but it’s not quite as easy to manage things like rent and tax as it is to manage your pocket money. Managing your finances is even harder when you haven’t had to do it before.
The first rule of financial management is making sure that you always have more money coming in than going out. This is tough when you are still at the bottom of the career ladder but if you are determined and frugal, you will find that it gets easier over time.
Learning to Drive
One of the best ways to give yourself more freedom and open up more job opportunities is to learn to drive. While you might have some top rated car accident lawyers at your service, on balance, avoiding potential accidents is always cheaper and better for everyone!
There are lots of fun reasons to learn to drive but on the practical side, driving is the best way to get to and from your job, ferry your family around safely and pick up shopping too. The practical is never glamorous – that’s why so many middle aged men go for a flashy car during their midlife crisis. It’s the only way to rebel without losing the convenience that comes with being an adult.
Getting a Career Together
Most of your education is geared towards taking you from college to career. But at the rate that the job market is changing, it’s likely that by the time you start applying for various roles, they won’t be quite what you expected. That’s why being flexible and able to learn is now the most important quality in the workforce. You have to be able to adapt.
While the rules of the workplace are being torn down, the idea of getting a career together is still a high priority for most people. The only difference is that now, we are all much more likely to work for multiple companies and try out different and evolving roles. Don’t be afraid to walk your own path and figure out what you really want to achieve, it’s all about growth now.
Being a “grown-up” is mostly a myth, if we’re being honest, but these 3 skills will certainly give you the edge in pretending to be an adult. Now, all you need to do is learn how to pull of the ‘interested nod’ for boring dinner parties and art galleries and you’ll be middle aged before you know it.
