Today I have a sponsored guest post by Alex Berger.
Adulting really is HARD sometimes. The struggle is REAL. Here are 4 reasons why...
As children, we look forward to our future. We count down the days until we can drive ourselves and move out of our childhood home. We want to finish school, get out into the real world, and experience life ourselves, not with our parents.
But, when we get to that point in our lives, a switch flips and we immediately start wishing that we still lived with our parents and did not have bills to pay. I know that I constantly think about how I took my high school and college years for granted. I hated school and I was bad at it, but they were still some of my greatest years. I did not have much responsibility, I had the whole world at my fingertips, and my parents were there to help lead me through life.
Now, I am on my own and it’s terrifying. Adulting is a lot harder than I thought it would be and I now understand what my parents meant when they told me to slow down - that I really needed to appreciate my childhood days.
Of course, being an adult definitely has its perks - I love getting to do what I want to do, whenever I want to do it. I love working for myself and not having to go to school, take exams, or listen to anyone else. There are so many amazing things about being an adult that I definitely do not take for granted, but that does not mean that it’s not hard. Here are four reasons why adulting is harder than I thought it would be:
Solving problems on your own
According to Elite Daily, “Millennials are finding it difficult to separate from their parents. In 2015, nearly 40 percent of Millennials were still in mom and dad's house. We just aren't moving out of the house very quickly. We're staying in our childhood homes and continuing to let mom prepare us dinner. We're just fine living under the watchful gaze of our parents and relying on the comforts of home.”
I know that even though I am out of my parent's house, it is still very hard for me to solve each problem that arises on my own. I relied on my parents for so long and there is a lot that I do not know. For example, we had a water leak last year and I just had no idea what my first step should be. Obviously, you turn off the water source, but what is next? Do you immediately call a plumber or your insurance? Should you cut a hole in the wall to drain out all of the water? What if it got in the floor, under the tile? I just had no idea what to do and I had to call my dad to ask. Luckily, each time we call our parents (or someone else that knows a lot!), we are learning more and more about how to solve problems on your own, in case something like that ever happens again.
Taking responsibility for mistakes
I make a lot of mistakes and a huge part of being an adult is admitting that and taking responsibility for the mistakes that you make. This is hard because who wants to admit that they made a mistake? Not me. I work hard and I take pride in my work, so it is very hard when I do make mistakes, but they happen all the time.
Luckily, when it comes to work (blogging), I have only made two huge mistakes in all of my three years. The first time, I was working on a campaign for a pet company and I purchased, shot, and wrote about the wrong product. I had no idea that it was the wrong product until I submitted the post, too. Luckily, they were so nice and gave me until the end of the day to fix my issue. It was so stressful, but I definitely made it right!
The second time was actually two weekends ago. We were in New Orleans doing some brand photography for a hotel and I was supposed to work with a restaurant while I was in the area. The PR company made the reservation for Friday, but for some reason, I was convinced totally convinced that my reservation was set for Saturday. So, on Friday, we were at another dinner and I got a call from the restaurant. I assumed it was just to confirm our Saturday reservation, but they left me a voicemail saying that we were late for our dinner reservations. I felt so bad and at that point, I wanted to just curl up in a ball and not admit that I made a mistake. But, as an adult, I knew I had to admit it and apologize. I immediately reached out to the PR firm, so that I could tell them what happened and I apologized. They were so forgiving and it made me feel much better! If I would have just gone on with my day and not been ‘adult’ enough to admit my mistake, I would have lived with the guilt forever.
Learning about finances
In the same article that I linked to above, Elite Daily also says in it, “...and even if we do move out, we aren't necessarily cutting the financial cord. Forty percent of Millennials report getting money from their parents as well. Clearly, mom and dad tend to keep covering some of our bills well past the age when previous generations would have started living independently.” Learning about finances is hard and it takes some trial and error. There were times in my college days where I had no idea how I was going to pay a bill (I was a broke college student!) and it was the most stressful situation ever, but I made it somehow and now, I know more about finances. If you are ever in the same stressful situation, I highly recommend knowing all of your options. For example, I never knew about low-interest loans until I recently heard about Chapes-JPL. Established in 1980 as an alternative to banks and traditional pawnbrokers, Chapes-JPL provides low-interest loans to over 18,000 customers nationwide. With interest rates as low as 3% (the lowest in Atlanta!), Chapes-JPL is committed to getting you the money you need at an affordable rate. Unlike a traditional bank, they loan strictly on collateral, so they do not require credit checks, tax returns, job verifications, or personal references. The typical loan is done in minutes, not days or weeks.
The reason that I’m telling you all of this is that I wish I would have known about Chapes-JPL before now. High-interest credit cards are offered constantly and it is so very easy to take credit card companies up on their ‘great’ offers when you need money, but trust me, that ‘good’ offer is not so great when you have a $500 monthly payment, that goes mostly towards interest. If you do need help with finances, please consider every single option and do your research before jumping the gun and signing up for a credit card for a quick fix.
Improving communication skills
If there is one thing that the majority of adults struggle with, it is communication. I am pretty good at communication myself for the most part, but I still do struggle with life gets hectic. Overall, I’d say that I far exceed most people in this department. If you think that you struggle with communication skills, this should definitely be something to focus on. A few ways that you can focus on it is by writing a to-do list for each week (so that you remember to get back to people and get things done), asking for feedback from people you’re communicating with, and also work on your body language.
What is one reason why you think adulting is HARD??
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