You might be an adult, but how much do you really feel like one? Whether you’re 20, 30, 40 or more, you can still feel like a little kid sometimes. It’s pretty natural to feel this way from time to time, but if you spend more of your life feeling like an impostor in the adult world than you do feeling comfortable, it might be time to get serious about acting like one.
Here are a few simple things you can do to get better at adulting right now:
Exercise each day
Yes, it’s boring and hardly original, but the fact of the matter is that being an adult means taking good care of yourself and regular exercise is the best way to do this. The older you get the more crucial it is to make your health a top priority. That being said you don’t have to hit the gym and spend an hour on the elliptical machine – you can have some fun with it by walking the dog, yoga with friends, or trying out a ballet fitness class. Being an adult does mean taking responsibility but it doesn’t have to be boring!
Take control of your finances
Adulting means not running to the bank of mom and dad every time you’re short. It means not blowing all of your paycheck on that amazing purse or one wild night out. It means learning the difference between secured homeowner loans and unsecured bank loans. It means paying into a pension fund and saving for a rainy day. If you aren’t particularly financially literature, check out a book on personal finance, download a budgeting app, and start learning.
Learn how to listen
Listening is one of the most adult skills there is. When we’re young, we’re often so wrapped up in ourselves that although it seems like we’re listening to friends and family, and we might even think we are, what we’re actually doing is getting lost in our own heads or projecting what we think people should be saying on to what they are actually telling us. If you can reverse this and really actively listen, your life will be enriched. Not only will you learn more, but you’ll be able to offer more support to loved ones, and everyone from employers to random strangers at parties will love you because who doesn’t love to feel truly listened to and valued?
Get enough sleep
Sure, staying at that hot new club until 4 may seem like more fun than being tucked up in bed by midnight, but if you choose the former more often than the latter, your whole life is going to suffer. A lack of sleep can not only leave you feeling permanently tired, but it can contribute to anxiety, depression, and even illnesses like heart disease. It will give you bags under your eyes and dull skin, and you won’t be your best at work or play. Prioritize your sleep and you’ll be a healthier, happier adult for it.
Don’t blame others
As an adult, you are 100 percent responsible for your own actions, thoughts, and feelings at all times. It may be easier to give your power away to a boyfriend, parent or boss and blame them for the way you feel or th things you do, but even if their behavior is not great, you need to realize that you have the ultimate control over your own life and you can make your own decisions. Remember that and act accordingly – that’s basically adulting 101!
Learn new things
One of the joys of being an adult is that you can control your own destiny. Part of this is being able to learn anything you want any time you want. Learning so you can improve your life and get a new job is always great, but if you really want to excel t adult life, you should be making an effort to learn something new every week, if not every day. Why? Because it makes you a better version of you; it helps you to mature and understand more about life; it’s also a real pleasure that you can even enjoy free thanks to platforms like Coursera. Take on a new cooking class, learn a new language, read books. With all this down time now is the best time to better ourselves and learn new skills.
Get things done
As an adult, there’s no point kicking your heels and screaming when you’re tasked with something unpleasant that needs to be done. Yes, you may prefer drinking with buddies to cleaning the kitchen or bathroom, but if it needs to be done, suck it up, get it done and then have your fun – life will be so much easier if you do.
Time to get adulting!
