Your 20s are going to end. This probably sounds true but abstract to you now, but your 20s are going to end. How are you preparing for that?

If you’re like me, you’re probably preparing by rushing to accomplish things, feeling bad that they’re not enough, pushing yourself harder, rinse and repeat. You might have a bucket list of things you feel like you “have” to get done before you’re 30. And when the big day comes, you might stay up all night repeating to yourself, “I’m still in my 20s. I’m still 29. I’m still in my- auuugh!” as the clock hits 12:00.

What I wish I had done was prepare myself for a seamless entrance into my 30s. By viewing the decade as another opportunity to get things done, to become who I want to become.

Let’s be real, the only reason why we think our 20s are the end is because all our favorite characters in books and movies are supposed to be 20s or younger, right? We’ve been conditioned to see only young people go on the hero’s journey and do big things. Start searching for the source of that narrative and challenge it. Because 30 is coming for you and nothing you can accomplish will be big enough to keep you from feeling like a failure when it does, unless you accomplish that paradigm shift first.