You are scrolling on TikTok, and you see a video titled, “Get ready with me as a 20-year-old millionaire with three Ferraris and two mansions”. You take a look at yourself and wonder how someone your age can be so much more successful than you. Fortunately, you are comforted by the fact that this is just social media and everyone tries to make their lives seem more glamorous than what they actually are. So, you take a break from social media and talk to your friends to alleviate this sudden pressure you feel. In these beautiful chats that were meant to make you feel better about yourself, you discover that your friends are up for adult job interviews, planning to buy their first cars, and are almost fully financially independent. The pressure has officially gotten real.
We live in a time where unrealistic life standards are set for people in their early twenties. Think Blue Tree, a mental health service blog, speaks about the dangers of milestone anxiety, which is defined as the agonising worry of not attaining traditional milestones within an appropriate timeline. Graduating in record time, getting a job straight out of university, and getting married by 25 are typical, traditional milestones that are seen to be a global standard of life progression.
Besides the obvious social pressure and unrealistic expectations that follow the same norms as previous generations, let us take a look at this matter economically. EKN students, listen up. When looking at inflation, which is the general price increase, there has been a whopping 188.6% increase between our price levels in 2006 and 2026. This means that the R1 000 we have today had the value of R2 885 when our parents were young adults and living their best lives. After considering this information, you cannot help but wonder why we are expected to be financially independent or anywhere near that when circumstances are so different.
Comparison truly is the thief of joy, and, according to Dr Carolina Casillas from the Clinical Mental Health Counselling Faculty at the University of Phoenix, comparison helps individuals assess their social standing. But what happens when context and nuance are removed from the picture? Comparing yourself to someone who may have had a completely different upbringing in a different region of the world with a different economic standing is how we destroy ourselves from within.
Having goals and being ambitious is beneficial and should be encouraged. The most important thing to do, though, is be realistic and understand that you are running your own marathon. Do not make someone else’s deadline your own, and always remember that small progress is still progress.
